Bill
S 2274
Creates a state grant program to install solar at local veterans’ organization posts, with up to $50k grants, $500k/year total, benefiting 100% to the awarded post.
Status (from provided docket)
- Introduced: January 16, 2025 (Senate docket No. 1885)
- Referred to: Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy (2/27/2025)
- Hearing scheduled: October 9, 2025, 1:00–5:00 PM in A‑2
- Filed / Presented by: Senator Paul R. Feeney (Bristol and Norfolk)
- Note on document inconsistencies: the materials supplied also include unrelated federal text (a U.S. Post Office naming, Public Law No. 118‑133) and a mixed list of U.S. Senate sponsors; those items are not part of the Massachusetts bill summarized below.
Purpose
- Establish a grant program to install solar energy systems at local headquarters/halls/posts of eligible veterans’ organizations in Massachusetts, to deliver renewable energy benefits directly to those organizations.
Key provisions
- Definition: “Veterans’ organization” means any veterans’ organization incorporated by the U.S. Congress (i.e., nationally incorporated veterans organizations and their local posts).
- Trust and program:
- Establishes an expendable trust on the Commonwealth’s books titled the “Veterans’ Organization Posts solar program.”
- The Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA) shall establish and administer a grant program to provide solar energy technology to eligible veterans’ organizations.
- Grants must be used for purchasing and installing solar energy generation equipment at the local veterans’ organization’s headquarters, hall, or post.
- A requirement that 100% of the solar energy produced by awarded systems benefit the awarded local veterans’ organization.
- Funding and limits:
- Amounts credited to the trust are available for expenditure, subject to appropriation, up to $500,000 per fiscal year.
- No single grant may exceed $50,000.
- At least 10 grants must be awarded each fiscal year.
- Grants must be awarded in geographically diverse areas of the Commonwealth.
- Reporting:
- The Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs must submit an annual report on trust disbursements (including awardees and amounts) to the House and Senate clerks and the Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy by December 31 each year.
Who is affected
- Primary beneficiaries: local posts/halls/headquarters of veterans’ organizations that meet the definition (e.g., local posts of nationally incorporated veterans’ organizations).
- Administrators: Secretary and Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs responsible for criteria, awards, and reporting.
- Commonwealth budget: program is subject to legislative appropriation and capped at $500,000 per fiscal year.
Potential impact and considerations
- Benefits: reduces energy costs for veterans’ organizations, encourages renewable energy adoption, and improves organizational resilience.
- Limitations: program scale is modest (max $500k/year and $50k per grant), eligibility limited to organizations incorporated by Congress, and implementation depends on annual appropriations and EEA program rules.
- Geographic diversity and minimum-award requirements aim to distribute funds broadly across the state rather than concentrating them regionally.
Related/Background
- The file notes similar prior matter (Senate No. 2126, 2023–2024) and replaces/references SD 1885 on the docket.
Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.
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