Officials at the Connecticut Green Bank are concerned that in the next legislative session, state lawmakers will tap into funds the bank relies on to help increase private investment in clean energy projects.
The Connecticut Green Bank was created by the General Assembly in 2011. Bryan Garcia, president and CEO of the Green Bank, says that since then, Green Bank has reduced CO2 emissions by about 2.5 million tons in the state, and he hopes to continue that work.
“With our focus of helping households and businesses reduce their energy burden, we’re helping thousands and thousands of electric customers do that. We’re mobilizing hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars into the state economy,” Garcia said.
The Green Bank is also credited with helping to boost the number of Connecticut homes with solar installations from just over 2,000 residences four years ago to nearly 22,000 today.
There’s been talk in the past about using the Green Bank’s funding to balance the budget, but that hasn’t happened. Since 2012, the state has spent $165.8 million in ratepayer funds on the Green Bank. The state's main spending account is projected to be about $1.3 billion in deficit in the next fiscal year.