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Frequently Asked Questions for the MA RPS Class I and Class II Portal
The most common questions we anticipate are answered below. It is also important to consult the MA RPS Class I and Class II Instructions page for more detail and numerous links to helpful resources.
Projects with operation in Q1 of a year should submit no later than June 1st. Because regulations stipulate that DOER has 30 days to review and process a submittal, every day past the Recommended Submission Deadline increases the risk that DOER will not have ample time to review, address needed revisions, approve, and process. Single projects submitting past the Submission Deadline are often pushed into the next active quarter.
Thirty days are not needed on submittals for Aggregation Additions and Change Requests. But, again, every day past the recommended deadline increases risk of not processing before the quarter closes.
Approved projects can only report output during the active quarter. This is because the reporting of output and the auction period for MA RPS RECs on a rigid schedule.
| Quarter |
Recommended Submission Deadline (30 days before the DOER's last submittal to GIS) |
|---|---|
| Q1 | June 1st |
| Q2 | September 1st |
| Q3 | December 1st |
| Q4 | March 1st |
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It is important to check that all required information accompanies each unit in the PV Detail file. The
portal has automated verification for certain requirements, triggering alerts that will tell you what
needs attention. Some issues we expect will be common:
-
The information did not comply with protocols for each field. For instance, the following fields
must fit the following parameters because DOER staff can’t “scrub” data before submitting to GIS
to fit their standards.
- All Date fields must be in the format indicated in the PV Detail template.
- Capacity must be in Kw and have only a number (no units, like “kW”)
- Independent Verifiers must match the way it appears in the GIS Portal. An approved list of IV’s with proper spelling is available as a pulldown in each unit detail record.
- REC Agreement Filenames: The portal can serve all aggregators wishing to continue to submit batches of additions as long as they provide a filename that exactly matches the files uploaded. Aggregators also have the option to add the units one at a time using the portal and uploading REC Agreements in single fashion.
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The information did not comply with protocols for each field. For instance, the following fields
must fit the following parameters because DOER staff can’t “scrub” data before submitting to GIS
to fit their standards.
- REC Agreements did not accompany all required units owned by an entity other than the applicant. It is important to follow the instructions for batch submittals. First upload the REC Agreements. Then upload the PV Detail batch. The portal will find the associated REC Agreement based upon the info in the PV Detail.
- Be sure to hit SUBMIT at the end of your submittal.
GIS has requested for DOER to send batch submittals of all approvals no more than once per month. While DOER reviews all submittals on an ongoing basis, and you will see chats when certain submittals need attention, the submittal to GIS happens usually in the first week of each month.
One major improvement of the new portal is that the portal will notify applicants when a submittal has been approved and sent to NEPOOL GIS. This will be done for new applications as well as Change Requests and Aggregation Additions.
- fully process your submittal (whether a new application, aggregation addition, or Change Request) and
- Send an email to DOER.RPS@mass.gov, providing a clear subject line (e.g., "Seeking New IV Approval with my Submittal") and including the application ID and the name of the Generation Unit and/or Aggregation. Be sure to provide the details of your request in the content of the email.
- We will review your application and, by regulation, will complete review within 30 days (see deadlines for submittals above). If anything is missing or we need more information, we will notify you using the portal.
- If your application is approved the status of the submittal will be updated in the portal and you will receive notification that NEPOOL GIS has been informed and DOER will send your Statement of Qualification.
- Once you have received approval notification you can reference the NEPOOL GIS Portal to learn whether the project eligibility has been updated and you can begin reporting MA RPS RECs. This usually takes one week for GIS to process.
Mandatory Eligibility Change Notifications
- Notification Requirements for Change in Eligibility Status. The Owner or Authorized Agent of a Generation Unit shall use the RPS Portal to notify the Department of any changes that may affect the continued eligibility of the Generation Unit. The Owner or Authorized Agent shall submit the notification to the Department no later than five days following the end of the month during which such changes were implemented. The notice shall state the date the changes were made to the Generation Unit and describe the changes in sufficient detail to enable the Department to determine if a change in eligibility is warranted.
- Notification Requirements for Significant Change in System information: The Owner or Authorized Agent of a Generation Unit shall use the RPS Portal to notify the Department of any significant changes to the Generation Unit information. This includes any change in owner, unit name, capacity, Independent Verifier, REC Agreement expiration. Instructions are provided in the portal for any required documentation accompanying the Change Request.