Sec. 12-121dd. (Note: This section is effective July 1, 2026.) Uniform solar capacity tax.
Sec. 12-121dd. (Note: This section is effective July 1, 2026.) Uniform solar capacity tax. (a) As used in this section:
(1) “Solar photovoltaic system” means equipment and devices (A) that have the primary purpose of collecting solar energy and generating electricity by photovoltaic effect, (B) that have a nameplate capacity greater than one megawatt of electricity and such nameplate capacity exceeds the load for the location where such generation is located, and (C) for which the owner of such equipment and devices receives, on or after July 1, 2026, permission to operate from an electric distribution company, as defined in section 16-1, or a municipal utility furnishing electricity;
(2) “Municipality” means any town, city, consolidated town and city or consolidated town and borough; and
(3) “Uniform solar capacity tax year” means the annual accounting period used to calculate the tax under this section, consisting of a twelve-month period commencing on July first and ending the following June thirtieth.
(b) (1) Except as provided in subdivision (3) of this subsection and subsection (h) of this section, for uniform solar capacity tax years commencing on and after July 1, 2026, each person that owns a solar photovoltaic system in the state for generation or displacement of energy shall pay an annual tax for a period of twenty solar capacity tax years to the department of finance of each municipality in which the system or any part thereof is located, or, if the municipality does not have a department of finance, to the tax collector for such municipality. For any solar photovoltaic system that receives permission to operate in the uniform solar capacity tax year commencing on and after July 1, 2026, the tax shall be, for the duration of the twenty-year period such tax is imposed, the product of ten thousand dollars multiplied by the number of megawatts, and any fractional portion thereof, of nameplate capacity for each such system. If a solar photovoltaic system has multiple owners, each owner shall be jointly and severally liable for the tax owed pursuant to this section.
(2) Each person that owns a solar photovoltaic system in the state that receives, on or after July 1, 2026, permission to operate shall notify, not later than seven days after the date of such receipt, the department of finance of each municipality in which the system or any part thereof is located or, if the municipality does not have a department of finance, the tax collector for such municipality, of the effective date of such permission to operate.
(3) The tax imposed under this section shall not apply to solar photovoltaic systems in the state that (A) are located on (i) state-owned land, (ii) brownfields, as defined in section 32-760, (iii) landfills, (iv) residential, commercial or industrial rooftops, or (v) solar canopies, as defined in section 8-2q, or (B) are part of a microgrid serving a critical facility, as those terms are defined in section 16-243y.
(c) The Office of Policy and Management shall develop a form to be submitted with the tax due under this section. Not later than July 31, 2026, the department of finance in each municipality, or, for any municipality that does not have a department of finance, the tax collector of such municipality, shall furnish such form upon request. The tax imposed under this section shall be due and payable on the due date or due dates of such return, as determined by the department of finance or tax collector, as applicable. The department of finance or tax collector, as applicable, may require a single annual payment of the tax imposed under this section or may require semiannual or quarterly installments of such payment. Such tax shall be due and collectible as other property taxes and subject to the same liens and processes of collection.
(d) The revenues generated by the tax imposed under this section shall become part of the general revenue of the municipality in which the tax is paid.
(e) If a solar photovoltaic system is located in more than one municipality, the tax shall be allocated between or among the municipalities in proportion to the nameplate capacity of the solar photovoltaic system located in each municipality.
(f) Whenever the tax imposed under this section is not paid when due to the department of finance or tax collector, as applicable, in a municipality, interest at the rate of one and one-half per cent per month or fraction thereof shall accrue on such tax from the due date of such tax until the date of payment.
(g) Any person claiming to be aggrieved by the action of a department of finance or tax collector under this section may appeal the tax to the superior court for the judicial district in which the municipality is located. Any person appealing the tax that pays a portion of such tax during the pendency of such appeal and indicates that such portion is paid “under protest” shall not be liable for any interest on the tax, provided such person pays not less than seventy-five per cent of the amount of the tax assessed by the municipality during the time limits prescribed by the department of finance or tax collector, as applicable, in such municipality in accordance with this section.
(h) (1) Any municipality acting through its board of selectmen, town council, court of common council or other legislative body shall have the power to enter into an agreement to freeze or stabilize the tax imposed under this section for any owner of a solar photovoltaic system located in such municipality, as provided in this subsection.
(2) With respect to any photovoltaic system located in more than one municipality, such agreement shall only pertain to the tax that is allocated, in accordance with the provisions of subsection (e) of this section, to the municipality that enters into such agreement.
(i) For purposes of calculating the nameplate capacity of a solar photovoltaic system, the following shall be deemed to be part of the same solar photovoltaic system: (1) All equipment and devices that have the primary purpose of collecting solar energy and generating electricity by photovoltaic effect that are located on the same parcel; (2) all equipment and devices that have the primary purpose of collecting solar energy and generating electricity by photovoltaic effect that are located on land that the current owner of any part of such land subdivided into multiple parcels but was part of the same parcel prior to such subdivision; and (3) all equipment and devices that have the primary purpose of collecting solar energy and generating electricity by photovoltaic effect that are located on adjoining parcels. Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to limit tax liability or the definitions in subsection (a) of this section.
(P.A. 25-173, S. 57.)
History: P.A. 25-173 effective July 1, 2026.
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