Connecticut’s new solar law is better than nothing

Earlier this month, Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont, a Democrat, signed a law with a host of policies meant to boost solar energy: It extends the state’s renewable energy incentives, calls for the creation of a new community solar program, authorizes plug-in solar, and requires automated residential solar permitting.

Yet uncertainty clouds the future of solar in the state, where developers must navigate regulatory changes, pushback from some lawmakers and local communities, and even a major utility casting doubt on the reliability of the state’s energy policy.

Like most of its Northeastern neighbors, Connecticut has ambitious climate goals. The state aims to reach net-zero emissions by 2050 and mandates that the electricity sector hit the same goal by 2040.

Solar is expected to be a key ingredient in reaching those targets, but new installations in Connecticut have wobbled up and down in recent years. The state is not on track to meet its climate goals at least in part due to its sluggish solar buildout.

The new legislation includes a lot that could help unknot Connecticut’s tangled solar situation, advocates and developers say.

“There were certainly versions that were much worse,” said Connor Yakaitis, deputy director of the Connecticut League of Conservation Voters. ​“It got pulled in a direction that was very concerning for the future of solar, but it was resurrected into something that works.”

Industry members and environmental advocates still have unresolved concerns, however. Some provisions will restrict solar development, and others could cap expansion, depending on the actions of state regulators. Perhaps most worrying, though, are the more extreme measures proposed along the way, which highlight what some say is an unpredictable and sometimes even hostile environment for solar development in Connecticut. 

Unpacking Connecticut’s new solar law

When it comes to building solar, Connecticut faces unique complications.

The commissioner of the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, Katie Dykes, has announced she will step down next month. And the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority, or PURA, includes four members who were confirmed just last month, following a shake-up that included the resignation of controversial chair Marissa Gillett. How these new officials will implement the new solar law remains an open question that is very much on the minds of those paying attention to Connecticut’s renewable energy policy.

“Hopefully, they are really keeping an eye on the future and being active,” Yakaitis said.

At the same time, the state is dealing with Eversource’s recent refusal to sign contracts for 54 megawatts of power from three large-scale solar projects selected through a public bidding process in December 2025. The utility pointed to ​“unresolved decisions as to the State’s overall policy direction” in a letter announcing its decision in March. Though the issue is not directly tied to the latest legislation, it does reflect an ongoing sense of uncertainty about how reliable the state’s solar programs are, said Francis Pullaro, president of renewable energy trade group Renew Northeast.

“The industry wants to invest billions, and they’re just sort of left hanging,” he said.

Advocates say the most notable win in the new law is the continuation of the state’s residential, commercial, and community solar incentives beyond their previous expiration date at the end of next year. The details are still up in the air, though: The law tasks PURA with designing successor programs to be implemented starting in 2028.

“There are plenty more things to figure out,” Yakaitis said. ​“But it staved off concerns about incentive programs running out and the end of the solar industry in Connecticut.”

The community solar provisions are promising, said Kate Daniel, Northeast director for the Coalition for Community Solar Access, an industry group. The current program is limited in scope and, unlike community solar incentives in other states, operates through competitive procurement. That poses a challenge for developers, who must spend time and money on proposals for jobs that they may not get.

Community solar developer Altus Power is based in Connecticut, for example, but hasn’t done much work there because of this dynamic.

“Connecticut has historically been a more challenging market for Altus Power, largely due to policy design and evolving program structures that have made it harder to achieve consistent, scalable project economics,” said Justin Biltz, Altus’ head of policy and government affairs.

The mandate to create a successor program will give community solar companies and supporters a fresh chance to advocate for an approach that will bolster the industry in the long term, Daniel said.

“We think there is potential and opportunity there for a much larger and more robust market with broader participation,” she said. ​“This opens the door.”

Together, the residential, commercial, and community solar programs will be subject to an $85 million maximum annual spending target. Like many other provisions of the legislation, this part could’ve been worse, solar advocates said.

Originally, the number was proposed as a hard cap, but renewable energy supporters were able to convert it into a softer ceiling: When the limit is reached, it will be up to state regulators to decide whether to extend or modify the program. Residential systems that include storage and are determined to benefit all Connecticut utility customers won’t count toward the cap.

The cap ​“was ultimately something we didn’t love but could live with,” said Kyle Wallace, senior director of public policy for Sunrun, a residential solar and storage company. The exception for installations with batteries, however, has ​“created a policy environment where storage can really thrive.”

Other provisions could have a more negative effect on solar development. The law includes a one-year moratorium on solar farms in two towns, East Windsor and Enfield, that are already home to an outsize proportion of the state’s solar capacity. East Windsor recently filed a lawsuit seeking to overturn the state’s approval of a 150-acre expansion to an existing solar farm in the town. Though the ban is temporary and geographically limited, it signals to developers that Connecticut could change the rules at any time, taking away opportunities they’ve invested time and money in, Renew Northeast’s Pullaro said.

“That’s just ridiculous,” he said. ​“It’s a terrible precedent.”

Beyond what ended up in the final measure, some of the proposals lawmakers considered raised even more questions about how serious Connecticut is about incentivizing solar.

Some bills threw up obstacles in the form of soil-testing and fire-safety requirements that some officials and industry interests say were unnecessarily broad. Another would’ve altered the rules governing the Connecticut Siting Council, the body that approves large-scale solar projects statewide, by requiring that its decisions comply with the preferences of individual municipalities. It would, in essence, have allowed cities and towns to veto solar projects, undermining the purpose of a statewide siting board, Pullaro said.

The bill Lamont ended up signing avoids the most extreme of these proposals. And most say it points Connecticut’s solar policy in roughly the right direction. The results, though, depend in large part on how regulators implement what lawmakers laid out.

“On balance, it should move the industry forward, with the big caveat that there’s a lot of process at PURA now to determine how the new programs will work,” Sunrun’s Wallace said. ​“They have a lot of wiggle room.”