Local solar association fights fair wages with disinformation and fear
The Tobacco Valley Solar Farm in Simsbury is currently the largest in Connecticut.
SolarConnecticut, a local solar association, has been quietly lobbying against Connecticut Senate Bill 999, legislation that protects Connecticut’s renewable energy workforce from developers who pay poverty wages while raking in profits for their investors.
Interestingly, SolarConnecticut’s opposition to SB 999 runs counter to the position of the national solar industry, which advocates for the same prevailing wage and workforce training provisions in SB 999. According to an April 2021 report from the Solar Energy Industries Association, one of the largest national solar industry associations, “Unions and organized labor, flexibility in job classification, prevailing wage policy, increased community college training programs, additional public funding for training and workforce development all have a role to play in expan