To the Editor:

As the CEO of Verogy, a Connecticut-based company developing solar energy projects across the state and nation, I read with confusion the April 29, 2025, CT Examiner article, “Fonfara Promises 40% Energy Rate Cut, Takes Aim at Solar Subsidies,” in which State Sen. John Fonfara detailed his proposals to overhaul Connecticut’s energy system. While we share the goal of reducing electric bills for Connecticut consumers, his plan misrepresents the value of solar energy and threatens to derail the state’s progress toward a clean, affordable, and resilient energy future.

Since our founding in 2017, Verogy has grown steadily, creating high-quality, local jobs while helping businesses, municipalities, and communities lower their energy costs by accessing clean, renewable solar power. Distributed solar energy not only reduces electricity bills for those who install it, it benefits everyone by reducing strain on the grid, curbing fossil fuel use, and limiting pollution that worsens air quality and harms public health.  Senator Fonfara’s proposal to bond certain renewable energy costs, default on existing renewable energy contracts, and reclassify nuclear energy as “renewable” undermines these shared benefits. It also threatens the jobs of hundreds of electricians, engineers, project managers, and other professionals employed across Connecticut by companies like ours. As dozens of clean energy firms and environmental organizations testified on SB 1560, these proposals could “decimate” the solar industry in Connecticut.

Let’s be clear: distributed solar energy helps lower overall energy demand, subsidizes the cost of expensive grid infrastructure, and helps stabilize prices by producing power locally. Net metering and the Residential Renewable Energy Solutions program don’t burden ratepayers, they empower them. In the most simplistic terms, a reduction in the demand for energy reduces the supply cost of that energy. Those opposed to solar will play accounting games to try and show the costs of renewable energy programs without describing the offsetting benefits. This is to squash the competition and Connecticut consumers shouldn’t be fooled.

Despite statements to the contrary in the article, we are facing unprecedented electricity demand growth. Connecticut needs to dramatically increase its energy resources across all technologies, and needs to do so rapidly or face the price consequence of actual supply-demand imbalance.  The critical component for meeting this demand is how economically and swiftly these resources can be deployed. Distributed solar is the fastest and one of the most cost-effective forms of new energy resources and must be a significant part of the plan to bridge the gap to the grid of the future. Shutting this industry down because of a fundamental misunderstanding of the energy markets will cost ratepayers much more than any public benefits charge ever would.

Moreover, Connecticut’s energy goals – including achieving 100% zero-carbon electricity by 2040 – simply can’t be met without solar. And while batteries and smart meters are essential components of the future, cutting solar programs now and defaulting current contracts will delay, not accelerate, deployment of those beneficial technologies.  Further, while Millstone is a critical part of Connecticut’s zero-carbon energy supply, retroactively labeling it “renewable” and allowing it to compete for Class I RECs would significantly undermine the creation of new generating assets, destabilize renewable energy markets, and jeopardize the state’s long-term climate goals.

We support thoughtful reforms to make energy more affordable and we urge lawmakers and the public to consider the full picture. Solar energy is not the problem – it’s a proven part of the solution. By working together, Connecticut can modernize its grid, protect ratepayers, and keep the momentum going for clean, affordable, homegrown power.

Will Herchel
West Hartford, CT

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Herchel is CEO of Verogy