Your electric utility and plug-in solar in Connecticut
Last checked September 25, 2026
What the state rule says
Connecticut has six utilities that actually run distribution wires. Two of them are the investor-owned electric distribution companies the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority regulates, and between them they serve about 96% of the state's customers. The other four are municipal utilities owned by their towns.
That division is not trivia here — it is the difference between an answer and a blank. Section 9 of the act does two things to utilities: it exempts a conforming device from interconnection requirements imposed by PURA, and it forbids an "electric distribution company" from demanding approval or charging a fee. Both are aimed at the two PURA-regulated companies. Whether either reaches a municipal utility is a question about the statutory definition of "electric distribution company", which this act does not restate. We have not read that definition, so for the four municipal utilities we say so instead of assuming the answer carries over.
| Notify the utility | Not required This act imposes no notification duty. It does not say so in as many words, and it does not reach your utility’s own tariff or terms of service, so it is still worth asking before you install. |
|---|---|
| Utility approval before switching on | Not required |
Statewide answer last checked September 25, 2026. It is the answer under the statute; the per-utility answers below are what each company is actually bound by.
Connecticut Light & Power Co
Investor-owned · 1,290,878 customers (EIA-861, 2024) · 76% of the state
| Does it need to hear from you? | Not required Public Act 26-127 Sec. 9(c) bars an electric distribution company from requiring its approval, charging a fee, or making you add controls, for a conforming portable solar device; Sec. 9(b) exempts the device from PURA interconnection requirements. PURA names this company as one of the two investor-owned electric distribution companies it regulates, so both provisions apply to it. Neither provision reaches the company’s own terms of service, so its tariff is still the document to check before you install. |
|---|---|
| Notification form | — not confirmed We have not found a form this utility publishes for these devices. That may be because none is required; we have not confirmed that it does not exist. |
| Source | What we read this from · Ask the utility |
Last checked September 26, 2026.
United Illuminating Co
Investor-owned · 345,877 customers (EIA-861, 2024) · 20% of the state
| Does it need to hear from you? | Not required Public Act 26-127 Sec. 9(c) bars an electric distribution company from requiring its approval, charging a fee, or making you add controls, for a conforming portable solar device; Sec. 9(b) exempts the device from PURA interconnection requirements. PURA names this company as one of the two investor-owned electric distribution companies it regulates, so both provisions apply to it. Neither provision reaches the company’s own terms of service, so its tariff is still the document to check before you install. United Illuminating’s own site did not respond when we checked, so this link goes to PURA’s tariff index instead. |
|---|---|
| Notification form | — not confirmed We have not found a form this utility publishes for these devices. That may be because none is required; we have not confirmed that it does not exist. |
| Source | What we read this from · Ask the utility |
Last checked September 26, 2026.
The state's other 4 distribution utilities
Together these serve 3.7% of the state's customers. They are smaller than the 2 above, which is the only reason they get a row rather than a section — a rule that binds one of them binds it just as firmly.
A municipal electric utility, not one of the two investor-owned electric distribution companies PURA regulates. Sec. 9(c) of the act is addressed to an "electric distribution company" and Sec. 9(b) exempts a device only from PURA’s own interconnection requirements — and PURA does not set this utility’s rules. Whether the statutory definition of "electric distribution company" covers a municipal utility is a question about Conn. Gen. Stat. Sec. 16-1, which we have not read, so we do not claim an answer either way. Ask this utility directly before you install.
| Utility | Customers | Needs notice? |
|---|---|---|
| Town of Wallingford - (CT) Municipal | 25,100 EIA-861, 2024 | Unknown not confirmed |
| City of Norwich - (CT) Municipal | 20,898 EIA-861, 2024 | Unknown not confirmed |
| Groton Dept of Utilities - (CT) Municipal | 13,889 EIA-861, 2024 | Unknown not confirmed |
| Bozrah Light & Power Company Municipal · no confirmed web address | 2,830 EIA-861, 2024 | Unknown not confirmed |
Where the roster comes from
The list of utilities and the customer counts are from EIA Form 861, the annual census every entity that sells electricity to an end user in the United States has to file. We keep the companies that run distribution wires and drop the ones that only sell electricity over somebody else's — competitive suppliers and rooftop-solar providers report customers to EIA too, and several of them report more than a real utility does.
Sources and verification
Statute / bill text: Conn. Public Act No. 26-127, Sec. 9 (H.B. 5340, 2026 Feb. Sess.)
Other primary sources:
- Public Act 26-127 — full text (cga.ct.gov, canonical)
- Public Act 26-127 — same text on the CGA search host (mirror of record)
- CGA — HB 5340 bill status (2026 session)
Last checked: September 25, 2026 by Claude Code, from primary sources (pending owner review)
This is not legal advice. Rules change, and utilities apply them differently. Confirm the current requirements with your utility and the state authority before installing anything.