For years, Connecticut residents have paid the highest electric rates in the continental US. These high costs make going solar a great alternative. Solar power is clean, renewable, stable, and can lower electric bills. In fact, solar is fast becoming cheaper than dirty sources of fuel like coal and gas. By mid 2017, about 23,000 Connecticut residents have put solar panels on their roofs.
But what about the rest of us? Four out of five Connecticut residents can't benefit from rooftop solar because our roofs are too shady or face the wrong direction, or because we rent our homes or live in multi-family buildings.
In many states -- Massachusetts, New York, Vermont, Colorado, California, and more -- shared solar is the solution. Shared solar allows any electricity customer to contract for a portion of solar power produced by a larger solar array, with the benefits automatically credited to their bill and without having to install solar panels at their home.
But in Connecticut, utility companies have blocked shared solar bills for several years. Only a small pilot program has been approved so far.
How can Connecticut win shared solar? By uniting everyone who wants lower electric bills, a cleaner planet, and a stronger economy into an unstoppable movement for solar for all.
A Flawed Pilot Program
A small shared solar pilot program passed in 2015 (Public Act 15-113), but it’s seriously flawed. Another law to "fix" it in 2016 made it even worse (Public Act 16-116). Administered by the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP), the pilot is limited to only six megawatts (MW)—four in Eversource’s service area and two in United Illuminating’s (by comparison, about 200 MW of residential and commercial solar has been installed in the state so far, with about 5 MW added each month).
DEEP's draft plan to implement the pilot was released for public comment in May 2016, and CFE and others filed extensive comments, which are here. On July 1, DEEP's Final RFP was released. While it's better in some important ways, the pilot's overall limitations make it unlikely to yield the data needed to test and evaluate the kind of full shared renewables program that would allow everyone to access the benefits of clean energy.
Eight bidders responded to the RFP, proposing a total of 19 projects with over 21 MW in capacity, by the September 1, 2016 deadline. As CFE and others predicted, most were for large or very large installations; two were for fuel cell installations, the rest solar. CFE reviewed and summarized the proposals; for a copy, send an email to SharedSolar@ctenvironment.org. DEEP said it would choose the winning bidders in Fall 2016. But instead ....
UPDATES: Pilot Delayed Again .. and Again
On February 1, 2017, DEEP announced that, instead of choosing winning bids, it would re-draft and re-issue the Request for Proposals, with winning bids to be chosen in Spring 2017. DEEP cited a number of reasons for rejecting all the bids; DEEP's explanation is here. CFE and others provided comments on this recent delay and included comments from interviews with some of the discouraged solar developers (suffering from BDS -- "battered developer syndrome" -- as one put it). Those comments are here. DEEP then released its revised RFP and set an April 3 deadline for bids and said it will make its decisions by June 1. It then pushed the bid deadline back to April 10. Four developers submitted bids for nine projects, and DEEP selected three in its decision June 28, 2017. DEEP's decision is here. For CFE's summary of the bids and the winning bids, send a note to SharedSolar@ctenvironment.org.
For supporters of alternative energy and stable electricity prices like CFE, the repeated delays add more weight to what we've said all along: there's no need for a pilot; instead, Connecticut should pass a full shared solar law without delay.
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CT is missing out on clean energy opportunities
Renewable energy is becoming an economic powerhouse. There are now about 2,000 solar jobs in Connecticut, an increase of over 500 jobs in just two years. Nationally, more people work in solar than mine coal. The financial news is full of reports of huge solar investments—including major players like Goldman Sachs and Google. But most of that funding, and the jobs and economic benefits that go with it, bypass Connecticut and instead go to states--like Massachusetts, New York, and Vermont--with shared solar programs. Shared solar laws increase the amount of solar by a factor of two to seven, according to national reports and estimates.
Connecticut should act quickly to adopt a statewide, full-scale shared solar program with no restrictions on the number of projects or total megawatts. There's no reason to delay implementation of a proven way to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions, create green jobs, make Connecticut more energy-independent, and ensure that everyone can benefit from solar power.
CFE and several partner organizations are building a statewide movement to win shared solar. People and groups across Connecticut are learning about shared solar and getting involved. We’re looking for opportunities to spread the word and speak to groups about shared solar.
Click here to join us in the fight for fair access to clean, abundant solar energy for every Connecticut resident.
Learn more by downloading our basic factsheet, viewing our current presentation, listening to our podcast from April 2015 or April 2016, or viewing our blog archive.
Solar is Good for Connecticut
Good for our wallets:
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Lower electric bills
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Control over rising prices
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Solar costs go down every year
Good for our planet:
Average CT home that goes solar has climate impact of:
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NOT driving 14,800 miles per year, or
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NOT burning over 600 gallons of oil per year, or
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Planting 159 trees per year
Good for our economy:
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1,951 CT solar jobs
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500 added since 2013
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Nationwide: twice as many solar jobs as coal mining jobs
CTsharethesun.org is coordinated and hosted by Connecticut Fund for the Environment.
We gratefully acknowledge the generous support of the Common Sense Fund for our Share the Sun campaign.
Updated 3/31/17
