CT's $1B renewable energy secret revealed

Pablo Robles ESPN in Bristol is tied for the largest ZREC project, a 1,000 kilowatt solar array.

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The names and locations of the project winners for Connecticut’s 21-year, $1 billion renewable energy credit program have been revealed, unveiling a one-year-old secret in the state’s green business community.

The largest projects in the program are three 1,000 kilowatt solar arrays at ESPN in Bristol, at the TJX distribution center in Bristol, and at the Hartford landfill run by the Connecticut Resources Recovery Authority.

Installation companies that won multiple solar contracts include SunEdison of Maryland and SolarCity of California. Walmart & AT&T won 11 contracts to put fuel cells at their facilities.

The 97 solar and fuel cell projects that won 15-year contracts in the first round of the Zero-emissions/Low-emissions Renewable Energy Credit program (ZREC/LREC) have been kept secret since they were awarded last year. At the time, the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority had told the program’s administrators — electric utilities Connecticut Light & Power and United Illuminating — that the identities of the program’s participants should remain protected.

PURA reversed its decision in July after the Hartford Business Journal filed a Freedom of Information Act request in June for the identities of the winners and the locations of their projects. CL&P and UI asked for some clarification on the release of the information, which delayed the reveal until August.

The program annually awards $8 million in 15-year ZREC contracts and $4 million in 15-year LREC contracts. The project will pay out $720 million in ZRECs and $300 million in LRECs over the course of 21 years.

In addition to the FOIA request from the Hartford Business Journal, the Office of Consumer Counsel and the trade group Solar Connecticut worked to get the information made public.

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