Raised Bill No. 6749, introduced in the January Session, 2023, aims to expand the existing residential heating equipment financing program to include additional renewable home energy projects. The bill proposes amendments to sections 16a-40l(a) to (g) of the general statutes, effective October 1, 2023. The financing program, established by the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, will allow residential customers to finance the installation of energy-efficient natural gas or heating oil burners, boilers, furnaces, ductless heat pumps, geothermal heating and cooling systems, and heat pump dryers through on-bill financing or another mechanism. The bill specifies that to be eligible for the program, customers must first have a home energy audit, and the cost of this audit may be financed as part of the program.

The bill also defines eligible entities and energy savings infrastructure, and it establishes an energy savings infrastructure pilot program with financial incentives for the installation of various energy-efficient systems by eligible entities. The bill removes the previous deadline of June 30, 2014, for evaluating the efficacy of the program and makes changes to the application process for financial incentives. It includes provisions for financial incentives for combined heat and power systems and more efficient fuel oil and natural gas boilers and furnaces, as well as geothermal heating and cooling systems and heat pump dryers. The bill ensures that the annual loan payment by the applicant will not exceed the projected annual energy savings minus one hundred dollars and allows for the loan to be repaid through the customer's monthly utility bill. The purpose of the bill is to expand the residential heating equipment financing program to include geothermal heating and cooling systems and heat pump dryers.