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U.S. Department of Energy Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy

Energy Incentive Programs, Connecticut

Updated August 2011

What public-purpose-funded energy efficiency programs are available in my state?

Connecticut's electricity restructuring law provides annual funding for energy efficiency through a non-bypassable surcharge. More than $130 million was available in 2010 across all program types (including low-income and residential). These public-purpose-funded energy efficiency programs are overseen by the Connecticut Energy Efficiency Fund, and administered by the state's investor-owned electric and gas utilities, Connecticut Light & Power United Illuminating, Connecticut Natural Gas, Yankee Gas, and Southern Connecticut Gas. All five offer the following programs:

  • The Energy Conscious Blueprint program offers technical support and pays up to 95% of the incremental cost of energy-efficient equipment and/or energy-saving designs in commercial new construction and major renovation projects.

  • The Energy Opportunities program offers technical assistance and zero- or low-interest financing and/or cash incentives for replacement of functioning equipment with energy-efficiency upgrades of up to 30% of total installed cost (35% for the new Comprehensive Initiative, and 40% for gas measures).

  • The Operations and Maintenance Services Program includes a utility-provided energy analysis of electricity-using systems to identify opportunities for operations and maintenance improvements. Any identified upgrades may be eligible for rebates on their installed cost. Training and other outreach may be provided as well.

In addition to these programs that are offered by all five utilities, CL&P and UI offer several others:

  • The Small Business Energy Advantage Program is available to customers with average peak demand between 10 and 200 kW. Qualifying customers receive a free energy assessment to identify energy-saving measures, and may be eligible for financial offsets for the installation costs and zero-percent 30-month financing to cover the remaining costs.

  • The Cool Choice program provides rebates for high-efficiency HVAC equipment, including unitary and split system HVAC, air-to-air heat pump systems, water-source heat pumps, and dual enthalpy economizer controls. (CL&P; UI)

  • The Lighting Rebate Program provides cash incentives for new efficient lighting in existing buildings. (CL&P; UI)

  • Retro-commissioning services are offered that include a scoping study, recommendations for energy saving strategies, building operating training, and incentive payments when the qualifying saving strategies have been implemented.

  • Both utilities offer low-interest loans for small and large businesses. (CL&P; UI)

The three gas utilities offer the Commercial High Efficiency Natural Gas Food Service Equipment Rebate Program, with rebates for ENERGY STAR gas fryers ($750), steamers ($750), and convection ovens ($500) (Yankee Gas; Southern Connecticut Gas; Connecticut Natural Gas.

CL&P also offers the Vending Machine Rebate Program, CL&P customers can receive a $75 rebate for every soda vending machine retrofitted with an occupancy sensor that will let it turn off after a set time of inactivity in its surrounding area. Machines must be located in "low activity" areas.

Groton Utilities offers energy efficiency programs for its commercial and industrial customers; check its website for descriptions.

What utility energy efficiency programs are available to me?

Please see the previous section.

What load management/demand response options are available to me?

The Independent System Operator New England Inc. (ISO-NE) offers its Demand Response Programs, which provide payments to electricity users for load reductions (of as little as 100 kW), either by reducing usage or by operating on-site generation during periods of high demand. Customers may participate in the program through any participating member ("Enrolling Participant") of the New England Power Pool, such as a utility company, power marketer, competitive energy supplier, or independent curtailment service provider (CSP). The Enrolling Participant is allowed to aggregate load to reach the quantity qualification limit, so customers interested in these programs with less than 100 kW to offer may want to contact their utility or other eligible party. ISO-NE offers several options:

  • The Real-Time Demand Response Program provides an opportunity for customers to receive payments for voluntarily responding to system emergencies. Participants are paid for actual load reductions, based on the higher of the real time zonal price or a guaranteed floor price ($350/MWh for customers that can respond within 2 hours and $500/MWh for those that can respond within 30 minutes). In order to facilitate notification of emergency events and verification of load curtailments, customers must have an approved Internet-Based Communication System (IBCS) installed, Participating customers must also have interval metering installed at their facility.

  • The Real-Time Profile Response Program provides remuneration to customers without interval metering for voluntarily responding to system emergencies. The enrolling participant must have the physical ability to interrupt loads at the customer's facility within 30-minutes' notice of a system emergency. Payment for verified load reductions is based on the real-time zonal price, with a $100/MWh floor price. Participants may receive additional incentives by qualifying as an ICAP Resource for their load reduction capacity, although response to system emergencies then becomes mandatory.

  • The Real-Time Price Response Program provides customers with the opportunity to receive payments for voluntarily reducing load during periods when the real-time zonal price is projected to be high. ISO-NE will notify participants either the night before or day of an event if the zonal price is expected to exceed $100/MWh ($0.10/kWh). Participants can voluntarily respond to the notification and submit load data to verify their load reductions. Payment for verified load reductions is based on the real-time zonal price, with a $100/MWh floor price. Customers must have interval metering installed at their facility to participate in this program.

  • The Day-Ahead Load Response Program is a more sophisticated variant of the Real-Time Price Response Program. Customers submit offers of hourly load reductions into the day-ahead market and are then notified by their enrolling participant if the offers are accepted. If so, the customer must drop load during the cleared hours but is remunerated by the greater of its bid or the actual clearing price for those hours. Customers must have interval metering installed at their facility to participate in this program.

ISO-NE's Forward Capacity Market (FCM) allows customers to bid their load reduction capabilities – whether constant (such as an indoor lighting retrofit project), seasonal (such as a new energy-efficient chiller plant), or dispatch able (such as a back-up generator or demand management actions) – into a forward capacity auction that pits demand-side resources against supply-side ones. Bids that are accepted are paid the auction clearing price. These auctions take place periodically for commitment periods several years in the future. For instance, the first auction, for resources whose contribution to the grid began in June, 2010, took place in February, 2008. Future auctions are announced at the FCM web site.

In addition to the ISO-NE programs, both CL&P and UI offer load management programs.

CL&P offers a Demand Reduction Program which helps customers identify peak reduction measures and offers financial incentives for qualifying projects that can assist in controlling load during peak periods.

UI offers the Load Response Program through which customers with on-site generation or curtail able loads can receive incentives for agreeing to dispatch these resources when needed.

What distributed energy resource options are available to me?

The Database of State Incentives for Renewables and Efficiency (DSIRE) website provides information on programs that offer incentives for renewable distributed generation. The following programs may of interest to federal customers:

  • The On-Site Renewable DG Program, administered by the Connecticut Clean Energy Fund (CCEF), awards grants to renewable on-site installations through a request for proposals (RFP) process. Check the website for RPF dates and details. Note that incentives are no longer available for solar PV systems.

  • Grants of up to $500,000 from CCEF are available for demonstration installations of innovative technologies under the Operational Demo Program.

  • CCEF has also received money from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) to fund the Geothermal Heat Pump incentive program.

  • The Solar Thermal program has been discontinued, but CCEF is working on a follow-up program; check the website for updates.

  • The Connecticut Department of Public Utility Control sponsors Capital Grants for Customer-Side Distributed Resources, providing payments of $450/kW ($500/kW in southwest CT) for base load renewable or combined heat and power installations of up to 65 MW.

  • New Generation Energy offers a Community Lending Program that provides up to $100,000 at interest rates as low as 2.0%, to small businesses and nonprofit organizations for solar photovoltaic and solar thermal installations.

Are there energy efficiency programs sponsored by the state government?

The Connecticut Energy Efficiency Fund works in cooperation with the state's investor-owned utilities to offer rebates, low interest loans and technical assistance on energy efficiency projects (see above for details).

What additional opportunities are available to me?

Federal customers whose utilities have area-wide supply contracts through GSA may be able to take advantage of 3rd-party financed energy efficiency projects called utility energy services contracts (UESCs). Information is available on GSA's Energy Center of Expertise Library Page. Federal facilities should contact their account executive to determine the level of each utility's participation.

NOTE: Energy efficiency funds and demand response programs are updated at least annually. Please contact the FEMP webmaster if changes are needed between updates.