The Massachusetts Clean Energy Center is launching a new request for proposals to support community-centered pilot projects that expand access to dispatchable distributed energy resources and participation in grid services, especially for renters and low- and moderate-income households.
The Massachusetts Municipal Wholesale Electric Company is included among the Center’s partners in this effort.
"MMWEC has been an active participant in this working group to support small-scale, appliance-connected batteries,” said Zoe Eckert, MMWEC’s Sustainable Energy Policy & Program Senior Manager. “Our member utility, the Marblehead Municipal Light Department, is already piloting these devices with summer AC units for peak demand response -- a technology we see playing a major role in our Connected Homes program moving forward."
MassCEC is seeking a qualified consultant or consultant team to lead an initiative focused on increasing equitable access to dispatchable DERs and participation in grid services.
This work builds on MassCEC’s Grid Services Study and the current Massachusetts’ electric distribution companies pilot phase enabled by the Grid Services Compensation Fund.
The work also supports the Commonwealth’s energy access and affordability goals, including the Healey Driscoll Administration’s target of 3.5 GW of new load management strategies outlined in the March 2026 Executive Order.
The selected consultant will collaborate closely with MassCEC and a partner team which includes Massachusetts EDCs, state entities, and community-based organizations to:
• Design and implement two community-centered pilots that expand access to dispatchable DERs and ConnectedSolutions+ for renters and low- and moderate-income residents in historically underserved, burdened, or environmental justice communities, launching by Spring/Summer 2027 with a one-year operation.
• Translate learnings into actionable recommendations, best practices, and next steps to inform future programs, pilots, and policy in Massachusetts.
• Advance shared learnings about increasing equitable access to dispatchable DERs and grid services participation across the grid services ecosystem.
By targeting local peaks, grid services can reduce or delay the need for traditional infrastructure investments, helping manage system costs, MassCEC said. “Through a collaborative, learn-by-doing approach, this work will generate actionable insights and best practices to help ensure future grid services programs are accessible and equitable as they scale,” it said.
Along with MMWEC, MassCEC is partnering with: Eversource Energy, National Grid, Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources (DOER), Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, Office of Environmental Justice and Equity (OEJE), and the Barr Foundation.
