How MassCEC incentivizes clean energy production in Massachusetts

In December, green tech experts told Tech Brew to expect large shows of state support for climate tech and renewable energy during the second Trump administration—and that seems to be coming to fruition.

One of those climate tech powerhouse states is Massachusetts, which is working to be “the global leader in climate tech” with the help of the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, or MassCEC, a quasi-governmental economic development agency that helps climate tech startups in the state get off the ground, guides consumers to getting access to clean energy rebates, and manages Massachusetts’ green tech infrastructure.

Tech Brew talked with MassCEC’s CEO, Emily Reichert, about the agency’s work and how it’s meeting a moment in which federal support for clean tech has declined.

This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

How does MassCEC incentivize and encourage climate technology and renewable energy innovation in Massachusetts?

We are really the tip of the spear, the innovation arm of the Massachusetts state government when it comes to energy, clean energy in particular. And we do that in a number of different ways.

So first, our portfolio is looking at early-stage technologies and supporting those to go-to-market. That is supporting young companies coming out of universities and providing them with grants and competitive grant opportunities to move their companies forward to the point where they can demonstrate their technology, often in a real-life environment, and we have grants for that. We also have a small investment fund, and MassCEC has been doing this emerging climate tech work, supporting early-stage companies, for a number of years now. I would say that we started out focusing mainly on clean energy, and now we support all of climate tech—which is all the sectors that need to be decarbonized, whether you’re talking about transportation, buildings, the grid, manufacturing, or agriculture. We see companies starting in Massachusetts, in all of those areas. And our goal with all of this is to make Massachusetts the place where climate tech companies want to be.

The second thing we do [is what] we call accelerating decarbonization, and this is looking at products that are already on the market—so heat pumps, electric vehicles, and technologies like that, smart meters for the home—and in that case, the technology is already developed, but oftentimes the technology is not to the point of adoption that we’d like to see it. So we run programs specifically to help identify and devise strategies to overcome barriers to mass adoption…across the state of Massachusetts…We look at a lot of different options, and then try to guide the rebates and agencies that provide those rebates in the most efficient way to deploy incentives or information that helps get that technology adopted at scale.

The third thing we work on is large-scale deployment of renewable energy. So for example, offshore wind is an area that we’ve worked in quite a bit. Our role in that is to support the development of port infrastructure…We have done a lot of work to provide the workforce for offshore wind: the training that they need, for example, safety training that can often be used in other industries as well, but is really important and essential for the offshore wind industry. As well, we work in the solar energy field, mainly supporting the state [renewable energy certificates] process…MassCEC monitors the several hundred thousand generating units of solar energy, and actually now additional kinds of energy that exist in the state.

Then the final piece that really underpins all of it is workforce development. So we know that there are incredible careers in clean energy and in climate tech, but a lot of times, people don’t know what they are, or they don’t find their way to those careers…So we provide grant support for tools from the time of junior high through high school…And we also work with community colleges where there’s credentialing programs…And finally, we have a Clean Energy Internship Program, which supports college students who are interested in learning about clean energy careers.

Can you tell me a little bit more about how MassCEC works on rebates and tax incentives for clean tech? Should the federal clean tech tax credits from the Inflation Reduction Act go away, would there be any difference in how Massachusetts would incentivize state buyers to invest in clean energy products?

Clean Energy Lives Here is a website that is for consumers in the state of Massachusetts to enable them to find their way to rebates, but also the information they need in order to step by step decarbonize their homes…We have the ability, through another program of ours—actually it’s in a pilot form right now, the Home Modernization Navigator—where we will actually walk you through that on the phone…[and] help you understand what the costs are going to be, what paperwork you’re going to need to fill out, and where to go in order to get the best and highest rebates possible for what you’re trying to do.

In terms of the federal piece of it, we have worked hard as an administration—and here I’ll speak for beyond just Massachusetts or beyond just MassCEC—we have worked hard to secure a lot of funds, specifically that could be applied through tax credits to help consumers decarbonize their homes in a cost-effective way…Unfortunately, our government partners at the federal level are not honoring those obligations…So right now, there’s a lot that still is being figured out in the federal courts, but I will say that Massachusetts already provides very generous incentives for a number of different aspects of clean energy, and we will continue to do so. What the [federal government] provides really goes above and beyond an already pretty rich set of programs that we offer here in the Commonwealth.

Has MassCEC’s work changed since the start of the second Trump administration? Are you facing new obstacles? Something that comes to mind is MassCEC Managing Director of Offshore Wind Bruce Carlisle’s comments about the offshore wind moratorium.

A lot has changed since the beginning of the new federal administration. But I think whenever you think about offshore wind, the fundamentals have not changed. The world—when you think about China or Europe—is moving forward with implementing a lot of offshore wind. So this market, this industry exists. Whenever you think about the most accessible wind power—or, as I’ve heard it said by my colleagues, ‘Where is the Saudi Arabia of wind in the United States?’ It’s right off our coast. So we feel that it makes sense for us to continue to make long-term, no-regrets or low-regrets investments in the industry to be ready for when it comes back, because we do believe that it will come roaring back to the United States.