In July 2026, Maine Community Power Cooperative (MCPC) solar projects will transition from cascading to fixed credit allocation. The way you receive your solar credits will change, but your discount and savings will remain exactly the same.
What's changing?
Previously, MCPC solar projects used a cascading allocation model. Every utility account assigned to a solar project had a priority number. Each month, solar credits filled up Account #1 first, then cascaded down to Account #2, and so on, until the credits ran out or all accounts were "full" for the month.
Beginning in July 2026, our projects will use a fixed allocation model. Your account is now assigned a fixed percentage of the solar farm’s total monthly generation. In the sunnier summer months, when your solar project is generating more electricity, you receive more solar credits. Any excess credits you receive are saved in your credit "bank" for use over the winter, when your project is generating less electricity.
Because solar production changes with the seasons, your credits will too. In the sunnier summer months, you will receive more credits than you can use. These excess credits are automatically saved in a credit bank on your utility bill, which will be applied to your bills during the darker winter months when your solar project produces less electricity.
How does this impact my bills?
In many traditional fixed allocation programs, providers charge you for summer credits the moment they are generated, forcing you to prepay in July for power you won't actually use until December.
MCPC does things differently to ensure consistent savings:
- No Pre-Paying: You are only billed for solar credits when they are actively applied to your utility bill to offset your electricity usage.
- No Charge for Banked Credits: You will never be charged for credits sitting in your bank.
- Guaranteed Savings: Because you only pay for what you use, your total costs will never be higher than they would be without community solar.
You can see how this works in practice in the examples below:
Banked Credits Added to Your Account
Typical during summer months when your solar project generates more electricity than you need
Your Electricity Usage
500 kWh
Allocated Generation
600 kWh Credits
Banked Credits Added
100 kWh Credits
Banked Credits Used
0 kWh Credits
Your Billed Credits
500 kWh
Banked Credits Applied to Your Bill
This is common over the winter, when your banked credits are used to fill the gap between your solar project's electricity generation and your electricity usage.
Your Electricity Usage
500 kWh
Allocated Generation
400 kWh Credits
Banked Credits Added
0 kWh Credits
Banked Credits Used
100 kWh Credits
Your Billed Credits
500 kWh
Under Allocation of Credits
This can happen in the late winter or early spring, when your banked credits are used up. We do our best to make sure this doesn't happen.
Your Electricity Usage
500 kWh
Allocated Generation
400 kWh Credits
Banked Credits Added
0 kWh Credits
Banked Credits Used
0 kWh Credits
Your Billed Credits
400 kWh
Learn More
Check out this article to learn more about how MCPC bills work with PowerMarket: How MCPC Bills Work With PowerMarket.
Questions?
You can contact us at support@mainecommunitypower.com.