Lawmakers want to amend 2018 energy bill
HARTFORD — Lawmakers on Tuesday agreed that a flaw in a 2018 law that could have hindered Connecticut’s nascent solar-power industry needs to be fixed.
The Energy & Technology Committee overwhelmingly approved a compromise with Gov. Ned Lamont that solar supporters said will continue to foster the commercial and residential solar-energy markets, even as federal tax credits are reduced from the current 30 percent, down to 10 percent over the next few years.
But the issue, which environmental advocates and industry officials said would help save the current 2,000 industry jobs, might have to be rewritten as soon as next year, when solar power generation for residential uses pushes toward 350 megawatts. The bill, which next heads to the House of Representatives, was approved after a brief discussion.
State Rep. David Arconti, D-Danbury, co-chairman of the committee, said the legislation includes a study of the solar market and industry, with a report from the state Public Utilities Regulatory Authority due by July 1, 2020.
“There was unforeseen consequences in how fast we were moving toward a successor program,” Arconti said after the meeting.“I feel like we put together a pretty good framework to address the concerns. We want to make sure there’s predictability in the industry.”
The bill was hailed by environmental advocates including the Acadia Center, the Connecticut Citizen Action Group, Environment Connecticut, the Sierra Club, and the Northeast Clean Energy Council. Industry officials wanted the legislation to extend until the residential industry is capable of generating 400 megawatts, in about two years.
“It begins to fix the damage done last year in a number of ways,” said Chris Phelps, state director of Environment Connecticut. “One of the key ways it’s trying to fix, is for homeowners or businesses who own solar and put solar on their roof, will get compensated from the utilities at a fair rate. Last year’s law was set up for owners not to get compensated fairly, and making it unaffordable for people to go solar, thus harming the industry.”
“There’s still a lot of moving parts,” said Tim Schneider, chief executive officer of Earthlight Solar and Energy Solutions, a company that has been lobbying for the new legislation. “But it’s awesome that it will help us install solar over the next couple of years. We’re trying to lower our costs.”
In particular, the rewritten law is aimed at a particular section of the 2018 bill.
“This is the attempted compromise moving the ‘I-hate-Section-seven,’” said Sen. Paul M. Formica, R-East Lyme, ranking member of the committee, with a smile. “So listen, I think this is a good move forward and I will be supporting this.”
The bill was a major issue in the energy landscape that met Gov. Lamont when he took office with an agenda that was at odds parts of the 2018 law.
“This was a big one coming into this year,” Arconti said just prior to the committee vote, two days before its deadline to act. “I think we have a really good framework going forward to a final product, and not having to address it for a while after the session.”
“It’s way better than it was, and it’s going to save Connecticut jobs, but it won’t expand the solar industry,” said Amy McLean Salls, senior policy advocate for the Acadia Center.
“I think a lot of members of the committee were satisfied, if not happy with the bill,” said Rep. Joe Gresko, D-Stratford, a committee member.
Recently the state of Maine approved a similar legal rewrite on the ways that solar generation is measured for sale to the electric grid.