Community solar allows renters and homeowners without the resources to invest in rooftop solar to enjoy the benefits of clean, low-cost electricity. Many states have developed policies that support community solar, but not all policies are created equal.
ILSR finds that states with the strongest solar policies prioritize four central principles: tangible benefits for participants, flexible ownership structure, synergy with other renewable energy policies, and access for all residents. They should also allow ownership of non-utility solar projects, because according to ILSR, utility-owned programs are not community solar, but just another way for profitable utilities to increase profits.
ILSR tracks state-by-state solar programs and provides quarterly reports on the status of state policies. The tracker looks at community solar capacity by state, how the community solar market has grown by state, and how much each state contributes to the total U.S. community solar capacity.
The third-quarter report tracked non-utility solar and found that the only states where this form of community solar grew more than 1% were New Jersey, New York and Oregon.
New Jersey
With 7 MW added, New Jersey’s community solar capacity grew 4% in the third quarter of 2025, reaching a total of 187 MW.
New Jersey passed its first community solar energy legislation in 2018, resulting in the Community Soar Energy Program, which became permanent in 2023. The program is available to customers of the state’s four utilities: PSE&G, JCP&L, ACE, RECO. The Energy Information Administration reports that these utilities serve nearly 96% of the energy supply the state’s electricity ratepayers.
In August 2025, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signed a new law to more than triple the capacity it currently has online and in the pipeline, for a total of 3.25 GW of available capacity in 2025.
New York
With 145 MW of community solar added in the third quarter, community solar capacity in New York grew 5% quarter-over-quarter, reaching a total of 2.7 GW.
The Empire State passed its first community solar legislation in 2015. Called the Community Distributed Generation (CDG) program, it is recognized as one of the most successful community renewable energy programs in the country, often leading in annual additional capacity. The program is available to the state’s investor-owned utilities: Central Hudson, Consolidated Edison, New York State Electric & Gas, Niagara Mohawk Power (National Grid), Orange and Rockland Utilities and Rochester Gas and Electric. PSE&G Long Island, which operates the electric grid on behalf of Long Island Power.
CDG operates under the state’s NY-Sun program, which aims to… 10 GW solar energy in 2030.
[Also read New York redirects surplus solar funds after 10 GW distributed solar goal.]
Oregon
Oregon added 2 MW of community solar, or 2%, in the third quarter for a total of 84 MW. The Oregon Community Solar Program was created in response to legislation passed in 2016 and launched in 2020. The following year, the Oregon Public Utility Commission approved its first projects.
The program is small, with a total capacity of 161 MWac, representing 2.5% of the utilities’ gross revenue in 2016. However, despite its size, it has been relatively successful, ILSR reports, with more than 90% of the program’s capacity allocated by the end of 2025. Plans are available to residential customers of the three investor-owned utilities: Portland General Electric (PGE), Pacific Power and Idaho Power. ILSR reports that the PUC is considering a program expansion to 50 MW starting in late 2025.
Maine
Maine is somewhat of an anomaly in that it grew 29% in the fourth quarter of 2024, but has since remained steady at about 1% growth per quarter, for a total of 966 MW in the third quarter. Maine Governor Janet Mills signed LD 1777 into law, which, among other things, made solar and other front-of-the-meter projects in the community ineligible for net metering. This legislation will end the state’s community solar program in January 2026; However, state energy officials are tasked with developing a new renewable energy incentive plan by September 2026.
ILSR reports that it will continue to include data from Maine in the tracker because projects that were in development when Maine still had a community solar program can still come online.
Massachusetts deserves a mention because, as a long-time leader in community solar, the state has issued final regulations for its Solar Massachusetts Renewable Target program, SMART 3.0. This new program requires all community shared solar projects to enroll a minimum of 40% low-income customers. Alternative community solar projects, such as utility and municipal solar projects, must enroll 100% low-income customers.
Additionally, under SMART 3.0, community solar projects must guarantee meaningful benefits to community solar customers, with at least a 10% discount for market-rate residents and at least a 20% discount for low-income residents.
Massachusetts’ growth is not included in this tracker because, according to ILSR, the reporting system for community solar projects coming online under the new SMART program is still evolving. Nevertheless, community solar operating capacity in Massachusetts is 905 MWac.
In all other states, growth rates declined largely due to a lack of supportive policies. Ingrid Behrsin, senior researcher and author of the tracker, explains pv magazine USA that “the health of community solar depends on the state policies that support it. States must be proactive in encouraging community solar, for example by ending capacity restrictions on the sector.” It’s no coincidence that community solar grew in New Jersey. She said that due to “recent legislation [that] required the state to unlock an additional 3 GW of community solar – it is the only state to see an increase in quarter-over-quarter growth.”
While ILSR only tracked community solar that is not owned by utilities, there are many utility-owned projects called “community solar.” However, ILSR points out that the utilities force subscribers to pay a premium, “thus maintaining monopolistic control of the market and pocketing any profits for their shareholders.”
ILSR reports that community solar needs supportive state policies that allow non-utility developers to build and own community solar facilities, set a fair price for utilities to pay for community solar, and establish a process for billing and crediting subscribers. To advance energy democracy, the report states that states should design community solar programs that promote racial and economic equity.
Several states could not be tracked because they do not have accessible or regularly maintained data sets. These include Alaska, California, Delaware, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Virginia or Washington. Additionally, ILSR was unable to track Maryland’s progress in the third quarter because community solar data was not released in time.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the author pv magazine.
This content is copyrighted and may not be reused. If you would like to collaborate with us and reuse some of our content, please contact: editors@pv-magazine.com.
Popular content
