CT Lawmakers Race to Save Solar Programs Before Deadline

Connecticut lawmakers are racing against a hard deadline to save the state’s rooftop solar programs, with less than two weeks left in the legislative session and a bill that keeps springing new complications.

The state’s existing residential and commercial solar programs, created in 2022, expire at the end of next year unless the General Assembly votes to reauthorize them. House Bill 5340 would extend those programs along with related community solar and battery storage initiatives. But as of Monday, the legislation was still being revised, with its primary author scrambling to lock down final language before the session closes on May 6.

“Every time I think I have it put to bed, it springs another leak,” said state Rep. Jonathan Steinberg, D-Westport, the bill’s lead sponsor and co-chair of the Energy and Technology Committee. Steinberg said an initial House vote could come as soon as Tuesday.

The central tension pulling at the legislation is one that has defined Connecticut energy policy debates for years: how to encourage renewable energy development without pushing utility bills even higher for residents already stretched thin. Eversource and United Illuminating customers have watched their bills climb steadily, and Democratic lawmakers who have long championed solar expansion say they cannot ignore that pressure.

“We have framed this legislation, which is really pretty important, in that it defines our strategy for solar for a number of years,” Steinberg said. “But it’s all predicated on being fiscally responsible to ratepayers and containing costs.”

The state’s current solar framework sets deployment targets and compensation rates for residential and nonresidential customers. A separate “shared clean energy facility” program, known as SCEF, extends solar access to renters and others who cannot install rooftop panels. A fourth initiative, run by the Connecticut Green Bank, incentivizes battery storage purchases. All four programs carry costs that flow through the public benefits charge on customer bills, meaning every ratepayer in the state funds them whether they have solar panels or not.

Those costs are at the core of what makes HB 5340 so difficult to finalize. Steinberg and his allies have been working to build in guardrails that prevent solar compensation rates and program expenses from escalating unchecked. At the same time, the bill has attracted other proposals, including provisions on permitting reform and the development of large, grid-scale solar arrays, each with its own constituency and complications.

Solar industry advocates are watching the negotiations with real anxiety. Connecticut’s solar market was already absorbing shocks before this legislative fight began. Donald Trump’s administration has moved aggressively against federal renewable energy tax credits, a shift that industry groups say has already dampened investment and slowed project pipelines across the country. Letting the state’s core solar programs lapse on top of that, advocates argue, could deliver a serious blow to an industry that employs thousands of Connecticut workers.

That argument carries weight in the legislature. But so does the bill from Eversource, which serves most of the state, including much of Fairfield County. Lawmakers representing communities where residents are already paying some of the highest electricity rates in the nation are not inclined to approve open-ended commitments.

Ned Lamont’s administration has not been absent from these conversations. The governor has pushed for cost discipline in energy programs while also trying to keep Connecticut on track toward its statutory emissions reduction goals, a balancing act that mirrors exactly what Steinberg is trying to pull off in the House.

The May 6 adjournment date leaves almost no room for the usual back-and-forth. If HB 5340 clears the House this week, it still needs Senate approval. Any significant changes in the upper chamber would require the two sides to reconcile differences before the clock runs out.

For solar installers and advocates, the stakes are concrete. Program expiration would not immediately shut down existing solar installations, but it would remove the compensation structures and deployment incentives that have driven growth. New residential and commercial projects could stall while the industry waits to see what, if anything, replaces the lapsed programs.

Steinberg knows the pressure. He just needs the leaks to stop long enough to get something through.