Northeast

Connecticut

Connecticut established the nation’s first green bank in 2011 and has since leveraged nearly $3 billion in clean energy investments into the state’s economy. From 2001-2022, the state reduced net emissions by 9%, around a quarter of the emissions reductions required by 2030. Connecticut has no fossil fuel reserves but more than half of the state’s generated electricity is sourced from natural gas, with another 40% from nuclear.
GHG Reduction Targets
All targets relative to 2001 levels
2030
45%
2040
65%
2050
80%
2050
Net-zero
Governor
Ned Lamont (Democrat)
House Party
Democratic Supermajority
Senate Party
Democratic Supermajority
Legislative session
1/8/25 - 6/4/25
US Climate Alliance Status
Member

41

Policies Enacted or In Progress
across 7 policy areas

26

Policy Opportunities
across 6 policy areas

Northeast

9 states
This map shows the occurrence of climate policies passed at the state-level. Higher numbers represent more climate policies enacted.

Progress by Policy Area

  • Enacted Enacted policies have been passed or established in a state by a governing body via legislation, executive orders, rules, regulations, and/or other program creation, and remain in effect.
  • In-progress In progress policies have been established in a state, but final regulations, rules, or plans are pending final approval. This also includes legislation and executive orders that require regulations to be put into effect.
  • Partially Enacted Partially enacted policies have been enacted in the state, but are missing one or more policy components. Dashboard policies cannot be considered partially enacted unless policy components are available.
  • Not Enacted Not enacted policies have not been passed or established in the state or are no longer in effect.
Glossary of Terms
The colored bars indicate the status for each policy on the Dashboard, viewed across seven policy areas.
enacted
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in-progress
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Greenhouse Gas Emissions Projections in Connecticut

Created in partnership with

Climate Policies in Connecticut

Filters
Status Policy Policy Area Policy Category Year Enacted
Enacted
Empty column

37% renewable energy by 2030

Electricity
Energy Plans and Targets 2025
Enacted
Empty column

100% reduction by 2040

Establishing Policies
Electricity
Energy Plans and Targets 2022
Enacted
Empty column

2021 Integrated Resources Plan: Pathways to Achieve 100% Zero-carbon Electric Sector by 2040

2018 Comprehensive Energy Strategy (CES)

Electricity
Energy Plans and Targets 2020
Enacted
Empty column

Facilities larger than 1 MW fall under the jurisdiction of the Connecticut Siting Council. Municipal zoning commissions or inland wetland agencies may issue orders that regulate the proposed location of an electric generation facility. These orders may, however, be revoked by the Connecticut Siting Council. The Council is directed to “give such consideration to ... municipal regulations as it shall deem appropriate” and is authorized to affirm or revoke municipal orders concerning siting.

Electricity
Permitting and Grid Integration 1971
Enacted
Empty column

Connecticut received a C grade from Freeing the Grid.

Electricity
Permitting and Grid Integration 2023
Enacted
Empty column

In Siting Council proceedings for certain transmission projects, electric distribution companies (EDCs) and transmission owners must include project alternatives that use (1) an advanced conductor (unless the primary proposed project incorporates one) and (2) grid-enhancing technology (GETs) or nontransmission alternative technology.

In any base rate or capital improvement proceedngs before the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA), EDCs must report on the timelines and cost-effectiveness of deploying ATTs and GETs.

Establishing Policies
Electricity
Permitting and Grid Integration 2025
Partially Enacted
Empty column

The State Policy Opportunity Tracker (SPOT) breaks clean energy policies down into “components”, which are binary questions to evaluate policy quality. Higher quality policies have more of their SPOT components fulfilled.

Policy Components
enacted
enacted
not-enacted
enacted
enacted
not-enacted
enacted
enacted
not-enacted
not-enacted
enacted
7/11
Electricity
Permitting and Grid Integration
Partially Enacted
Empty column

The State Policy Opportunity Tracker (SPOT) breaks clean energy policies down into “components”, which are binary questions to evaluate policy quality. Higher quality policies have more of their SPOT components fulfilled.

Policy Components
enacted
enacted
enacted
not-enacted
not-enacted
enacted
4/6
Electricity
Incentivizing Clean Energy Resources
Not Enacted
Empty column

Community choice aggregation allows local governments to procure power on behalf of their residents, businesses, and municipal accounts from an alternative supplier while still receiving transmission and distribution service from their existing utility provider.

Electricity
Incentivizing Clean Energy Resources
Enacted
Empty column

The State Policy Opportunity Tracker (SPOT) breaks clean energy policies down into “components”, which are binary questions to evaluate policy quality. Higher quality policies have more of their SPOT components fulfilled.

Policy Components
enacted
enacted
enacted
enacted
enacted
5/5
Electricity
Incentivizing Clean Energy Resources
Enacted
Empty column

300 megawatts (MW) of energy storage by 2024, 650 MW by 2027, and 1,000 MW by December 31, 2030

Establishing Policies
Electricity
Incentivizing Clean Energy Resources 2021
Enacted
Empty column

In 2016, PSEG entered a Community Environmental Benefit Agreement with the City of Bridgeport and community groups, that committed the utility to retiring the state's last existing coal-fired power plant by July 1, 2021. On May 31, 2021, the last coal plant in Connecticut was retired.

Electricity
Coal Retirement 2021
Not Enacted
Empty column

Coal securitization is a financing tool that allows utility companies to refinance debt they issued to build coal plants and close the facilities early without taking a financial hit or passing costs on to ratepayers.

Electricity
Coal Retirement

The State Climate Policy Dashboard tracks only passed policies and does not include bills currently proposed in legislative sessions. The website is intended to illustrate the current status of policies for each state, as well as key resources and model states for each policy.

Much of the information contained in this database is derived from the public domain, with links to resources provided. The information provided is made available solely for general information purposes and does not constitute legal advice. Click here for full Terms of Use.

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