Connecticut Public Act 19-35 officially launched on January 1st, 2022 to continue the growth of the commercial & industrial renewable energy market after the close of the previous ZREC incentive program.
The programs official name is the: Non-Residential Renewable Energy Solutions Program (NRES) and it’s goals are to:
Further Connecticut's clean energy goals
Support local clean energy jobs
Increase the installation of solar for commercial customers
Lower customer energy bills
NRES Solar Energy Program
The solar energy program offers two valuable tariff/incentive programs
The Buy-All Tariff allows customers to export all electricity produced by their solar energy project to the grid directly without supplying power to their property. The utility company purchases all of the clean energy at either the as-bid price or for a fixed amount for PV systems under 200 kW [AC].
The Netting Tariff accounts for all renewable energy generated to offset the property’s on-site energy consumption. Customers can qualify for Renewable Energy Credits (RECs) at the as-bid price or at a set price for PV systems under 200 kW [AC]. The Netting Tariff option allows for traditional net-metering where customers can receive a credit to their monthly electric bill for all excess energy not consumed on-site.
Energy Storage Program
PURA has established statewide energy storage goals, aiming to deploy 580MW of battery storage by 2030. This program is available to all commercial customers in CT and includes two substantial incentive programs:
The Upfront Incentive is awarded to any customer who implements battery storage on their property after January 1st, 2022. The incentive is paid based on the the capacity (kWh) of the unit(s), but cannot exceed 50% of the battery cost. This is a declining block incentive with different incentive rates for different size batteries.
The Performance-Based Incentive is based on the size of the size (kW) of the battery and is available for up to 10 years once the battery is installed. In order to qualify for the performance-based incentive, the battery owner must allow the utility company to take over their battery during peak events through the year and discharge the battery to help stabilize energy demand during peak summer months or times of outages. The performance-based incentives are seasonal, paying more in the summer vs. the winter.
Energy costs in Connecticut are set to increase upwards of 53% in 2022 For more information on how you can use the new incentive programs to dramatically reduce your energy costs, please contact Andy Rubin at: andrewr@smartroofssolar.com