The RRES income-eligible adder
Effective January 1, 2026, qualified projects serving customers of record with incomes at or below 60 percent of State Median Income receive an additional $0.035 per net kWh on Netting projects and $0.055 per kWh on Buy-All projects.
On a system generating several thousand kilowatt hours a year, across a 20-year contract term, that is a large sum, and it changes the comparison between the two tariffs as well, since the Buy-All adder is the larger of the two.
The threshold is a specific one, 60 percent of State Median Income, rather than a general notion of lower income. That means it is a question with a checkable answer rather than a judgement call.
Ask directly whether your household qualifies, ask which tariff the adder was applied to in the projection you were shown, and ask to see the answer rather than being told it was considered.
The storage programme has its own tiers
Energy Storage Solutions performance pay is tiered separately from the solar adder. Standard customers receive $300 per average kW discharged during peak events, underserved communities receive $450, and income-eligible customers receive $550, across a 10-year term.
That is a difference of $250 per average kW per year between the standard and income-eligible tiers, compounding across ten years, on top of whatever enrollment incentive applies.
Underserved community status is a separate category from income eligibility and is generally about where you live rather than what you earn, so it is possible to qualify on that basis without qualifying on income.
Ask which tier your project was quoted at and on what basis. Two of these three tiers require someone to have actually checked something, and the standard tier is what you get if nobody did.
How to make sure it is actually applied
The failure mode here is mundane rather than sinister. A salesperson quotes the standard package because that is the default in their tool, the homeowner does not know the categories exist, and the conversation moves on to panel brands.
So make it an explicit item. Ask, in writing, which income or community categories were tested for your address and household, what the outcome was, and what documentation would be needed to establish eligibility.
Ask for the projection both ways if there is any doubt, with and without the adder, so you can see what is at stake in getting the determination right.
And ask before you sign rather than afterwards. Eligibility determinations tied to a programme enrollment are much easier to establish at application than to revisit once a 20-year tariff is in place.
Costing it out with the adjustment applied
The 30 percent federal Residential Clean Energy Credit under Section 25D expired for property placed in service after December 31, 2025, so a cash or loan purchase in Hartford receives no federal tax credit. Section 48E survives at 30 percent for third-party owners under leases and power purchase agreements.
RRES gives a 20-year contract on the Netting or Buy-All tariff, plus the income-eligible adder of $0.035 per net kWh or $0.055 per kWh where the household is at or below 60 percent of State Median Income.
The Solar Energy Adjustment applies to 2026 Netting enrollees at $0.0402 per kWh on total generation, and Energy Storage Solutions pays $30 per kWh at enrollment plus performance pay at your applicable tier for 10 years.
Add the sales and use tax exemption under CGS Section 12-412, the property tax exemption under CGS Section 12-81 including any filing your town requires, and the electricity you stop buying at roughly 27.4 cents per kWh.