Utilities and PURA staff raise concerns about solar leases for low‑income customers, urge stronger protections

At a May 1 technical meeting, Public Utilities Regulatory Authority staff and utility presenters warned that some low‑income customers may be steered into solar lease products that are uneconomic compared with the low income discount rates available from utilities. Eversource officers described individual cases in which lease payments effectively cost more per kilowatt‑hour than the customer's utility rate, raising concerns about marketing and disclosure to vulnerable households. Brian Rice, director at Eversource, described an illustrative case: "A customer signed a fixed price lease that when you divided that by estimated production, came out to roughly 38 cents per…