Belmont Light Weighs Reviving Dormant Solar Program

Municipal Light Board · Meeting of October 8, 2026

Belmont Municipal Light Board opened a long-range rethink of solar and battery incentives without taking any vote. General Manager Craig and guest Roy Epstein, who helped write the utility's original solar policy over a decade ago, discussed reviving incentives now that the state's SMART program and the federal 30 percent solar tax credit have both lapsed. Staff said Belmont Light serves a little over 400 solar customers, with a preliminary review of 23 of 436 tracked batteries showing a 26 percent cut in peak-hour demand worth about $6,500 a year.

Epstein cautioned, "I never thought that was good policy, but that's how the market evolved." Craig separately reported three post-storm outages affecting up to 660 customers on Concord Avenue, and said he raised the utility's winter power hedge to 85 to 90 percent by purchasing 5,000 megawatt hours for six 2027 months.

In the full story:

• Call to Order and Minutes
• Public Comment
• Executive Session: IBEW Local 104 Bargaining
• Discussion on Solar
• General Manager's Report
• Who Was There
• Organizations And Documents Referenced
• The complete report: 2,148 words

Source: the Municipal Light Board meeting of October 8, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.

Checked against the record: before publication this article was automatically compared with the meeting transcript.