The developer of a solar project at a former Windham landfill is threatening to scrap the project after discovering that required substation upgrades would cost 13 times more than the project itself. Verogy CEO William Herchel told CT Examiner that the company predicted a $2 million investment in the project. But Eversource, the electric company serving Windham, determined that substation upgrades would cost $26 million. The problem lies in Connecticut rules that require developers to pay the full upgrade cost to enable interconnection. Developers, utilities, regulators and consumer advocates have warned that this model could stall the expansion of distributed solar generation in the state, considered key to achieving a zero-carbon grid by 2040. Verogy’s project in Windham — selected in February 2024 as part of the state’s Non-Residential Energy Solutions, which provides tariffs to compensate solar generators — is a relatively small one, meant to supply the town hall and other municipal facilities. The project boasts a $161.74 per megawatt-hour price tag — 50% more than Eversource’s standard service supply rate for small businesses. The costs would be transferred to all Eversource ratepayers through the public benefits component of the bill.
