Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Solar Affordable Housing topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Connecticut Green Bank pitches Solar Map Plus to NVCOG; highlights new incentives for affordable housing and school projects
Summary
Katie Shelton of the Connecticut Green Bank told NVCOG members the Solar Map Plus program provides no-cost technical assistance for municipal, school and affordable multifamily solar projects and that a recent state incentive shift yields a residential revenue contract of "just over 37¢ a kilowatt hour," with a requirement that benefits be shared with residents.
Katie Shelton, senior manager of market engagement for the Connecticut Green Bank, outlined the agency’s Solar Map Plus (Solar Marketplace Assistance) program to member municipalities, describing no-cost technical assistance and third‑party development structures for solar and battery projects. "We are a ... state agency founded in 2011," Shelton said, and the program manages project development "from 0.1 to z," including competitive contractor procurement and, when appropriate, long‑term third‑party ownership.
Shelton emphasized a recent incentive shift that affects affordable multifamily housing: projects that formerly used the commercial incentive now qualify for the residential incentive, which she said is "just over 37¢ a kilowatt hour." That change raises the value of revenue contracts and, because the residential program is richer, the state requires that a portion of the financial benefits be shared with residents. For individually metered units the transcript shows residents would receive roughly 20% of the state incentive as an on‑bill credit; for master‑metered properties, tenant‑benefit funds must be used for eligible improvements or services at the property.
On municipal and school projects, Shelton described two common third‑party structures: a PPA that sends electricity to the grid and credits the property owner, and a behind‑the‑meter netting PPA that sells power to the host facility at a discounted fixed rate (often a 20‑year contract). She noted a new carve‑out reserving 25 megawatts of capacity for qualified public-school projects and said additional adders are available for certain project types and distressed municipalities.
During Q&A Shelton confirmed the affordable multifamily program requires at least five units and appropriate affordability restrictions to qualify, and explained that rooftop warranty concerns are addressed through an industry standard overburden waiver process and third‑party inspections before and after installation. Shelton offered to share utility‑published lists of eligible sites and follow‑up materials for school districts and regional managers.
The Green Bank also promotes pairing solar with battery storage when appropriate; Shelton described storage as both a backup resource for outages and a tool to control demand charges on sites where those charges appear on utility bills.
