• NuGen prioritizes acquiring operating or late-stage DG solar projects in the Northeast.
• Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York are NuGen’s top target markets for asset acquisition.
• Regulatory uncertainty has paused NuGen’s investments in Rhode Island.

NuGen Capital is targeting the first allocation of its capital deployment towards buying operating or late-stage DG projects in Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey and the Carolinas, said Laura Frazier, NuGen’s Managing Director of Business Development and Strategy, in an interview with NPM.

The Providence, Rhode Island-based NuGen committed roughly USD 30m of its USD 150m in deployable capital towards this strategy, which was announced on February 2 increasing its initial commitment.

To date, of the committed capital, about 60% has gone towards operating portfolios and the remaining 40% towards near-term projects which have reached Notice to Proceed (NTP), said Frazier, adding that it aims to secure all funding under the plan by the end of the year.

“We are being very selective and holding out on those operating portfolios that make their way to us…I think people are starting to realize that by taking some of these assets off their balance sheets they can keep their pipelines alive,” Frazier said. “We’re not looking to chop down somebody’s value on what they’ve already created that’s there. We’re trying to be as fair and transparent as possible.”

The DG industry has been inundated with sellside inventory as of late as larger corporates such as RWE Clean Energy have engaged bankers to spinoff its DG platform, while well capitalized DG IPP-types such as Altus Power America, Aspen Power Partners, and Standard Solar have continued to actively acquire portfolios from developers. The trend is further illustrated by Dispatch Energy’s acquisition of Green Lantern Solar earlier this year, highlighting ongoing consolidation in the industry.

“What’s the most probable to get through NuGen is going to be the DG and community solar projects—those we know well,” Frazier continued. “We also have a tax equity side of the business that we can monetize those tax credits if a developer wants to become an owner.”

Frazier said the company is focused primarily on operating portfolios in the Northeast, but are also open to near-term projects as well, so that they can work with developers to bring projects to operation or step in, due to varying reasons where their experience is needed.

“If we step in prior to construction, this will use a lot of capacity so we’re also working with developers that are open to taking things to COD to keep our capacity down. I’m not looking to grow a huge team,” Frazier added.

Top markets

“Northeast is where we really play because we know it so well,” Frazier said.

With most of the company’s expertise laying in Massachusetts, NuGen considers the state at the top of their list for acquiring assets.

“We’ve been able to grab projects that were distressed that didn’t necessarily have offtake or a program and solve that problem,” Frazier said. “There’s a couple we’re working with and talking with right now and then there is one that is part of the capital we currently have committed.”

The company is currently looking at about 15 MW projects, that may be considered distressed for multiple reasons, in Massachusetts.

Frazier considers New Jersey as the company’s second most desirable market and New York as its third.

NPM Interconnection queue data is tracking 1,566 pre-operational community solar projects in established community solar markets Massachusetts and New York and 169 pre-operational community solar projects in New Jersey, which launched its permanent community solar program since late 2023.

Other markets

Rhode Island, which was once the company’s top market and a state where it has developed two of the largest rooftop and landfill solar projects, has moved to the bottom of the list as new challenges emerge in the regulatory landscape.

“How sites were viewed about a year ago is currently not what the future looks like with some of the discussions going on regulatory wise in Rhode Island,” Frazier said. “It’s still to be seen on how that’s going to all play out. So, unfortunately, until we understand what’s happening with net metering in Rhode Island, we will not be investing in net metering projects there.”

“We, like other investors who live and work in Rhode Island, have two big projects here that could be impacted after we really invested capital in the state, believing in the programs being promoted to support the larger community,” Frazier said. “We want to just make sure that all plays out correctly and then Rhode Island will probably jump right back up to the top.”

Rhode Island’s largest rooftop project, the Briggs Solar Project, is a 6.5 MWdc project located in East Greenwich. The project, which went live in June 2021, includes offtakers from the Town of Bristol, Town of Barrington and Barrington Public Schools, according to NPM data.

NuGen also developed the state’s largest landfill project, the Bristol Landfill project, a 7 MWdc project. The project has been operational since 2024 and supports “the largest labor employer and commercial energy consumer in Rhode Island” as the offtaker.

While the Northeast is a priority, Frazier said the company has other markets on their radar such as Maryland, Delaware, and Pennsylvania. However similar to Rhode Island, the company is not interested in anything net metering in Pennsylvania because of the regulatory landscape, “but if we could get a larger portfolio of 20 MW or more, it would make sense for us to invest because our vision is any state we go to we’re going to replicate what we’re doing with the portfolio currently.

NuGen owns and operates all projects in their portfolio and has never sold a site, to date.

With their first project going live in 2012, NuGen retains a portfolio of more than 65+ MW of projects primarily in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and New Jersey.