ABE WALTERS GETSCHOKED UP the more he talks about it.
Standing in his backyard, Walters described the tedious, eight-month process for securing a $100,000 loan from the Massachusetts Community Climate Bank to add solar panels and battery storage to his Bellingham home, which now includes two electric vehicles and a newly installed heat pump.
The ordeal was like a full-time job, said Walters, who works as a peer liaison with patients suffering from mental health and addiction issues at Taunton State Hospital. He got a slew of estimates from different energy installers and sifted through shifting tax credits to make it all pencil out, so that he could finally escape the volatility of natural gas prices, lock in a lower rate, and cut his utility bill roughly in half…