The United Illuminating Company
The southern coast, including New Haven, Bridgeport and Milford. Publishes its own programme manual for the Residential Renewable Energy Solutions tariffs.
- Type
- Investor owned
- Accounts
- 340K
What they credit you
Netting or Buy-All, chosen once
Published termsUnder the Residential Renewable Energy Solutions programme you choose either a Netting Tariff with a Solar Energy Adjustment reported at $0.0402 per kWh for 2026, or a Buy-All Tariff reported at $0.3289 per kWh, held for twenty years.
- Month to month
- Under Netting, credits offset your own use. Under Buy-All there is nothing to roll over.
Published terms · checked 2026-09-05 · source
Battery backup is mandatory
in UI territory.
UI does not credit the power you send back at the rate it charges you to take it.
That does not make solar a bad idea in UI territory. It changes what you should build. When exports are worth a fraction of retail the credit stops being the return, and the job becomes using more of your own production inside the house, which usually means a larger array than a one for one utility would need.
Sizing is where that gets decided, so ask about it directly. Connecticut’s two tariffs reward opposite designs: Buy-All rewards the largest array your roof allows, Netting rewards a system matched to what you use during the day. Decide the tariff before you decide the size. UI sets its own limits. Ask UI what it allows before you accept that a bigger system is off the table.
A battery then does two separate jobs. It moves daytime production into the evening so you use it instead of selling it, and it keeps the house running when the grid goes down. That second job is not a bonus. Panels on their own shut off in an outage, by design, so a roof full of them powers nothing during a storm. That is the part we will not refer around.
So we treat it as a requirement, not an upgrade. We will not refer you for a panels-only system in UI territory, and you should be skeptical of anyone who quotes you one without raising storage first.
Our referral policy, not a legal or utility requirement
What your installer should be telling you
Get both current tariff rates in writing, and have the installer model your own consumption on both. The choice is locked for twenty years and it is the single biggest decision in a Connecticut solar purchase.
Applying to UI
What UI itself requires, as distinct from what the state rule requires. Read from its own published guidelines on the date shown.
- You pick one of two tariffs and keep it for twenty years
- Under the Residential Renewable Energy Solutions programme, every Eversource and United Illuminating customer chooses the Netting Tariff or the Buy-All Tariff and receives service under it for twenty years. There is no switching later.
- Buy-All sells everything and buys everything back
- You are paid a fixed rate for all production and pay retail for all consumption. The 2026 rate is reported at $0.3289 per kWh, locked for the twenty year term. It suits a large array on a house that is empty during the day.
- Netting keeps your own production and adds an adjustment
- You consume what you make and net the remainder, with a Solar Energy Adjustment on top. The finalised 2026 adjustment for new enrolees is reported at $0.0402 per kWh, an eightfold increase on the prior $0.005.
- The two reward opposite designs
- Buy-All pays per kilowatt hour generated, so a bigger system earns more regardless of when you are home. Netting pays for offsetting your own use, so storage and load shifting matter. Choose the tariff first, then size the system.
- These figures are reported, not read from the tariff sheet
- Ask Eversource or United Illuminating for the current rate on both tariffs in writing before you commit. A twenty year decision deserves a document rather than a summary.
From UI’s published guidelines · checked 2026-09-05 · source
UI net metering questions
- Does UI offer one for one net metering?
- No. Under the Residential Renewable Energy Solutions programme you choose either a Netting Tariff with a Solar Energy Adjustment reported at $0.0402 per kWh for 2026, or a Buy-All Tariff reported at $0.3289 per kWh, held for twenty years.
- What does UI pay for power sent back to the grid?
- Netting or Buy-All, chosen once. Under Netting, credits offset your own use. Under Buy-All there is nothing to roll over.
- Do I need a battery with UI?
- Yes, and we treat it as mandatory. Because UI does not credit exports one for one, the return has to come from using your own production rather than selling it, which after dark means storage and usually a larger array than a one for one utility would need. The other half is backup: panels alone shut off in an outage, so a battery is what keeps the house running in a storm. We do not refer panels-only systems in UI territory. This is our referral policy, not a legal or utility requirement.
- How do I find my UI bill?
- Sign in at uinet.com. Open My Account, then Billing. Open the latest bill and save the PDF. Or screenshot the summary page. If you cannot get to it, a rough guess at your average monthly amount is enough to start.
- What is the catch with UI?
- Get both current tariff rates in writing, and have the installer model your own consumption on both. The choice is locked for twenty years and it is the single biggest decision in a Connecticut solar purchase.
Installers serving UI customers
Pick one. Only the company you choose receives your details, and only that company calls you.
These are real companies operating in UI territory, ordered by reviews, years trading and BBB grade. None of them pays us for placement. Pick the one you want and we will call you to arrange it.
Ordering combines three things we read from primary sources: Google review count and rating, years trading taken from the company’s Better Business Bureau profile rather than its own marketing, and its BBB letter grade. BBB accreditation is shown but never scored, because it is a paid membership rather than a mark of quality.
Check any contractor license yourself at the state register. Do that before you sign anything, with any company, including ours.