My electric bill didn't drop after going solar
One of the most common solar complaints is the one nobody warns you about: the panels are on the roof, but the savings never showed up. Usually it isn't that solar doesn't work. It's that one or two specific things, the way you're billed, the size of the system, or the financing payment, are quietly eating the savings. Each one is diagnosable.
Solar offsets your supply, not your entire bill
Your electric bill in Connecticut has two halves: supply, the cost of the power itself, and delivery, the cost of moving it over the wires. Solar reduces the supply side, and under net metering it can earn credits, but the delivery charges are set by the utility and PURA and apply no matter how much you generate.[1] Eversource is explicit that delivery charges for a typical residential customer can run as high as the supply charges.[1]
So a small monthly bill after going solar isn't a failure, it's expected. You're still connected to the grid, and staying connected has a fixed cost. The question is whether the bill dropped by roughly what you were promised, not whether it hit zero.
Which RRES tariff you're on changes everything
Connecticut retired old-style net metering and replaced it with the Residential Renewable Energy Solutions program, which gives you two choices. The Netting Tariff credits the energy you export at the retail rate and suits homeowners who use a lot of their own solar. The Buy-All Tariff sells every kilowatt-hour your system produces at a fixed rate locked for 20 years, and you buy back everything you use at the normal rate.[2]
PURA designed the two to land in a similar place, but only if you're on the one that matches how you actually use power. Pick the wrong tariff for your household and the savings genuinely shrink. If your bill underwhelmed, confirm which tariff you enrolled in and whether it fits your usage pattern.
If the savings truly vanished, look at sizing and financing
Once billing is ruled out, two culprits remain. The system may have been undersized for your usage, so it never covered enough of your consumption. Or the financing payment, especially a lease with an annual escalator, is large enough that your solar payment plus your residual utility bill adds up to more than you used to pay. Pull the original proposal and compare its savings projection against your real statements, line by line.
What to do right now
If it needs to go further
If the system simply doesn't generate enough to cover your usage, that points back to the original design or to a production shortfall. A production guarantee, if you have one, may entitle you to a payment when output falls below the promised target. If you were shown savings projections that didn't materialize, gather the original proposal and compare it line by line with reality.
Solar that doesn't lower your bill is worth investigating, not ignoring, because the cause is usually specific and sometimes recoverable. Send us your old bill, your solar payment, and your latest utility statement, and we'll help you find where the savings went.
This is a starting guide, not legal advice. For contract disputes, confirm your specific terms and consider the consumer-protection resources in your state.
Sources
- Eversource, "Electric Delivery Rates" (Connecticut) (a bill splits into supply and delivery; delivery charges are set by Eversource and PURA and apply regardless of how much you generate). eversource.com
- Connecticut PURA, "Residential Renewable Energy Solutions Program" (the Netting Tariff and Buy-All Tariff options and their 2026 rate review). portal.ct.gov/pura