Catalyst Power, a multi-state energy supplier, says it is partnering with the Connecticut Green Bank to construct five new commercial rooftop solar projects in Hartford and Trumbull.
Catalyst says the projects, each producing less than 200 kilowatts of power, will be sited primarily on low-rise office buildings in the cities, although it has not released information about the specific locations.
Catalyst will pay rent to the host buildings, and the power — a combined 1,025 kilowatts from the five sites — will be sold to utilities at a fixed rate.
Catalyst CEO Gabe Phillips says these are likely to be the last such solar projects that the company will develop for the foreseeable future, as it faces the sunset of federal tax incentives.
”With conditions in the world being so volatile over the last several years, taking projects of this size over the finish line from a financial standpoint really needed an additional set of support, which was why the Green Bank’s financing was so critical,” he told the Hartford Business Journal.
Phillips says for the future, the company will pivot to developing its portfolio of cogeneration, or combined heat and power projects, for commercial customers. It announced an investment in cogeneration in Connecticut at the beginning of 2025.
Phillips praised the stability of Connecticut’s state-level incentives for solar, which he said has made planning easier in the past. But he said state incentives cannot compensate for the changes in the federal landscape.
“No state in the union has really reacted to close the gap,” he said.
