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Connecticut energy committee advances multiple concept bills, refers solar tax measure to finance
Summary
The Energy and Technology Committee voted to raise several concept bills including municipal aggregation and grid-enhancing technologies and referred an act on solar property tax exemptions (SB 699) to the Finance Committee. Votes were held open until 2:30 p.m.
The Connecticut General Assembly Energy and Technology Committee voted to raise a set of concept bills and referred a separate solar tax measure to the Finance Committee during a meeting chaired by State Rep. Jonathan Steinberg and cochaired by Senator Needleman.
State Rep. Jonathan Steinberg, cochair of the Energy and Technology Committee, said, "We have 10 to consider today," and then outlined bills on municipal electric aggregation, thermal energy network grants and loans, alternate energy delivery methods, third-party energy capital improvements, test bed technologies, shared clean energy subscriptions, grid-enhancing technologies and a placeholder to carry energy-related sections of the pending environment bill 5004.
The committee approved a motion to raise items 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 8 by voice vote; the chairs announced they would "hold our votes open today to 02:30PM." The committee also moved, and by voice vote approved, referring SB 699, "an act concerning property tax exemptions for solar projects," to the Finance Committee for consideration.
The concepts the committee flagged for further review include HB 6928, described by Steinberg as "an act concerning municipal electric aggregation programs," and an item recorded as "06/1929, an act establishing a thermal energy network grant and loan program." Steinberg also pointed to consumer-facing questions tied to smart-meter deployment, saying, "Despite PURA's ruling with regard to AMI smart meters, Eversource has chosen not to move forward with that project, something we could really use because that has a direct impact on consumers' abilities to manage their energy usage." The chairs said the committee will examine a range of alternatives — including third-party capital partners and test-bed technologies — and that some energy elements from bill 5004 will receive hearings in this committee.
Committee members did not vote on concept number 7 (an act promoting energy efficiency) during the voice-vote block; that concept was later set for a roll call vote (see separate article focused on that item). The committee announced the next meeting and public hearing for Tuesday, Feb. 18 in Room 1D at 11 a.m.
No formal policy language or program funding levels were adopted during the session; the actions taken were procedural—raising concept bills for future hearings and referring SB 699 to Finance. Votes on raised items were held open to allow members attending remotely to register their positions by 2:30 p.m.
Items described by chairs as "concepts to be raised" will be scheduled for public hearings in the committee’s process before any statutory language is finalized.
