The Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources (DOER) has published a finalized version of its SMART 3.0 Program Year 2026 Annual Report that includes added capacity following lower-than-estimated application numbers for the current allocation.

The program, which takes effect on January 1, 2026, will have 600 MWac of total capacity available, up from the planned 450 MW allocation that was in the report’s initial draft. The increase, per DOER staff, is a result of the limited number of applications for the existing capacity year that opened October 15.

According to updated data from December 1, DOER has received 387 applications for Program Year 2025 so far totaling 191.9 MW of total capacity: 301 applications totaling 190.8 MW for projects larger than 25 kW, and 86 applications for projects ≤ 25 kW, accounting for 1.1 MW. This makes up about 21.3% of the available allocation for 2025, which closes at the end of the year.

“This number is significantly lower than initial estimates from stakeholders during the SMART 3.0 rulemaking of approximately 750 MW of existing project pipeline capacity and indicates the existence of a significant pipeline of projects that could be captured in Program Year 2026,” DOER staff wrote in the final report.

Specifically, Eversource’s available capacity is 294.06 MW; National Grid’s is 270.9 MW; and Unitil will have 35.04 MW. All utilities have specific set-aside allocations for community shared solar projects, low-income property projects, and standalone projects between 25 kW and 250 kW and those between 250 kW and 500 kW. Those details can be found in the attached report.

Applications for SMART 3.0 will be accepted throughout 2026.

DOER published the draft for the 2026 program on October 1 and collected public comments through the end of the month. Per the final version of the report, commenting stakeholders emphasized the “unique circumstances and uncertainty” created following the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) and executive orders that followed it in 2025.

“Stakeholders have generally indicated that securing a Preliminary Statement of Qualification is a critical path item for project financing. This is even more so in Program Year 2026 given the need to secure the financing so that projects can start construction prior to the July 2026 deadline,” DOER staff wrote in the final report. “Stakeholders in the solar development community have indicated to DOER that, given the additional risk of solar financing after the elimination of the ITC, they are no longer looking to develop ‘new’ projects and are instead focusing on ensuring their current portfolio of projects come to fruition.”