Bridgeport, CT – The City of Bridgeport’s Sustainability Office is hosting a special “Solar+Storage” Info Session at the Margaret E. Morton Government Center on Thursday, January 25, from 6:00 – 7:00 PM in Conference Rooms A and B, to educate homeowners about renewable energy, storage opportunities, and incentives available now to United Illuminating (UI) ratepayers.   

The City is partnering with SmartPower, the nation’s leading non-profit marketing organization dedicated to promoting clean energy and energy efficiency, to explain how a home battery system can be paired with a new or existing solar array to provide power at night and especially during a power outage. This workshop will kick off the City’s “PowerSmart Bridgeport” campaign and describe how the program allows residents to convert sunlight into electrical energy and store that energy in a battery for later use, including during power outages. More details can be found at https://powersmartbridgeport.wee.green and residents are encouraged to visit https://www.jotform.com/form/240105866906054 to register for the info session.

Mayor Ganim stated, “As Bridgeport is often susceptible to the impacts of climate change, deployment of solutions towards a sustainable future is what will keep this City on the path toward being a trailblazer in the transition to a fossil free future. This partnership with SmartPower will help to ensure that we have every opportunity to be a greener City and further limit environmental impacts caused by climate-change, all while saving money for our hardworking residents.” 

Bridgeport is among the first dozen communities to launch a PowerSmart campaign in Connecticut. Over the years, the City has been a sustainability leader in many ways including:

• Achieved LEED-certification at various schools including Discovery Museum Magnet School, Fairchild Wheeler Interdistrict Magnet School, and Roosevelt School
• Developed the largest fuel cell park in North America
• Established the BGreen 2020 Plan to create a sustainable and resilient Bridgeport for the future
• Conducting a community-wide greenhouse gas inventory
• Installed the first BESS in an emergency operations facility in CT, specifically our Fire Headquarters 
• BPT Board of Education undertaking significant energy efficiency work in schools and recently won a Renew America’s School Grant
• Deploying solar on municipal properties
• Conducted a Solarize CT Program.

“Bridgeport has been leading the way in helping residents to make smart energy choices,” said Sustainability Manager Chadwick Schroeder. “Now we’re pleased to provide another opportunity to accelerate the transition to solar plus energy storage in our homes. This combination provides environmental benefits, can help reduce your electric bill, make you more resilient, and reduce your greenhouse gas emissions.” 

There are three different incentives that make battery storage systems an attractive investment opportunity. Homeowners who enroll in Connecticut’s Energy Storage Solutions program can get a generous upfront rebate incentive while residents who live in areas that are prone to power outages and lower income residents may qualify for additional incentives. Residents may receive a 30% federal income tax credit, per the Inflation Reduction Act, for the net cost of the solar panels and/or battery system that they have installed. Residents may also receive payments from United Illuminating/Avangrid for agreeing to have their batteries partially drawn down during the summer months and for a handful of days during the winter. UI has safeguards in place so that drawdowns are suspended in the event of a potential grid power outage. Homeowners who purchase a battery system can choose not to participate in the Energy Storage Solutions program. By doing so, they would forego the state incentives, but would be free to use their stored power however they see fit.

“There’s no doubt that battery storage ‘saves the day’ – both literally and figuratively,” concluded SmartPower president Brian F. Keane. “So let’s get PowerSmart!”

About SmartPower

SmartPower is the nation’s leading non-profit marketing organization dedicated to promoting clean energy and energy efficiency.  SmartPower’s community campaigns for energy efficiency and clean energy engage local partners from the municipal, business, private and non-profit sectors in order to promote behavior change and measurable energy actions. SmartPower is leading the PowerSmart Campaign which is intended to accelerate the adoption of battery storage throughout the region. For more information, please visit www.smartpower.org.