Even as Gov. M. Jodi Rell vetoed an energy bill with significant incentives for solar power, industry advocates remain hopeful that Connecticut will resume its onetime leadership position in spurring homeowners and businesses to install photovoltaic panels.
Rell vetoed an energy bill passed by the Connecticut General Assembly, saying it would raise energy rates for consumers rather than lowering them as asserted by the bill”™s sponsors.
Democrats hold sufficient votes to override vetoes by the Republican Rell; party leaders did not immediately indicate whether they would schedule an override vote.
Among other measures, the bill would create a Connecticut energy and technology authority within state government, which Rell opposed. She voiced support for some elements of the bill, including solar power incentives and discounted electricity rates for low-income residents.
“The legislation, as well-intentioned as it is, would likely result in higher utility bills for consumers and, at time when taxpayers simply cannot afford bigger government, creates another state bureaucracy,” Rell said, in a prepared statement. “In the midst of both this ”˜great recession”™ and our well-known state budget challenges, I cannot ask our already over-burdened and over-taxed residents and businesses to bear the additional burden of costs associated with this bill.”
Rell criticized what she said was a lack of transparency and public input leading up to the passage of the bill, which she said was crafted in the final days of the legislative session and pushed to a vote in the wee hours of the morning. Debate on the 52-page bill reached the House of Representatives after 3 a.m. May 5, 16 hours after the session had started, and the vote came just after 6 a.m.
“Tired legislators debating a bill as complex and important as this under cloak of night is untenable and unacceptable,” Rell said.
Bill proponents modeled the legislation on incentives in New Jersey, according to Erik Anderson, a project coordinator with CSolar L.L.C., a Westport-based designer of photovoltaic systems that has installed multiple commercial systems in Fairfield County.
Connecticut borrowing ideas from New Jersey was strange for Anderson and other industry veterans, who remember a time not so long ago when it was Connecticut whose incentives made it the envy of the nation.
“We were second to none in Connecticut,” Anderson said.
No more ”“ after the Connecticut Clean Energy Fund burned through most of its budget of available incentives and with federal stimulus funding sufficient in Connecticut for only 300 homes.
Bill supporters claim the lack of incentives could cause installers to move to New York, New Jersey and other nearby states for work.
“We need some long-term, stable funding,” Anderson said. “We”™ve proven the demand is there. We just need some long-term strategies in place.”
The Solar Energy Industries Association said solar installations increased 37 percent last year nationally, with California and New Jersey leading the nation, and New York, Massachusetts and Connecticut ranked seventh, eighth and ninth. The trade group predicts another big increase this year, with the recession coming to a close, White House interest in solar technologies at a high, and private investors racing in.
Greenwich-based First Reserve Corp. created a $167 million fund late last month to invest in commercial-scale solar generation projects, and in a press release the CEO of Shelton-based OPEL Solar said it has seen a spike in interest for its high-tech photovoltaic systems.
“With the worst hopefully behind us, there is no question that both governments and investors alike are reaffirming their interest and commitment to solar power in a big way,” said Lee Pierhal, CEO of OPEL Solar. “We have seen a significant increase in requests for quotes.”
