Comprehensive Energy Strategy
Comprehensive Energy Strategy (CES)
Under Section 16a-3d of the Connecticut General Statutes, DEEP is charged with preparing and periodically updating a Comprehensive Energy Strategy (CES) for Connecticut that examines future energy needs in the state and identifies opportunities to reduce costs for ratepayers, ensure reliable energy availability, and mitigate public health and environmental impacts of Connecticut's energy use, such as greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and emissions of criteria air pollutants. Public Act 26-121, effective October 1, 2026, requires DEEP to prepare the CES in consultation with the Departments of Economic and Community Development, Agriculture, Housing, and Transportation; the Office of Policy and Management; the Office of Consumer Counsel; the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority; and the Connecticut Green Bank.
In planning for effective management of Connecticut's energy system -- including electricity, heating, cooling, and fuels used for transportation -- the CES provides recommendations for legislative and administrative actions that will aid in the achievement of interrelated environmental, economic, security, and reliability goals.
Governor Lamont's Executive Order 21-3 directs DEEP to include in the next CES a set of strategies to: (1) provide for more affordable heating and cooling for Connecticut residents and businesses, (2) achieve reductions in GHG emissions from residential buildings and industrial facilities as needed to enable the state to meet the economy-wide GHG reduction targets for 2030 and 2050 established in the Global Warming Solutions Act, and (3) improve the resilience of the state's energy sector to extreme weather events, fuel commodity price spikes, and other disruptions.
Current CES Proceeding
DEEP initiated development of the 2026–27 Comprehensive Energy Strategy through a notice of proceeding released on July 17, 2026. The proceeding builds on technical meetings and written comments gathered during 2022 CES discussions while accounting for changes in energy markets, technologies, and policies since that work began. All information about the 2026-27 Comprehensive Energy Strategy is available on DEEP’s Energy Filings page under the proceeding title “CT General Statutes - Section 16a-3d - 2026-27 Comprehensive Energy Strategy.”
September 17, 2026 | Notice of Request for Written Comments
Through a Notice of Request for Written Comments released on September 17, 2026, DEEP seeks public input on 12 key strategic questions intended to guide development of the CES. DEEP invites feedback on these questions, potential strategies to address them, and the evidence and tradeoffs that should inform its recommendations. The questions are organized into three broad areas:
- Customers, Communities, and Affordability: Improving energy affordability; helping residents and businesses understand their energy choices and participate in decisions; ensuring equitable sharing of energy costs, impacts, and benefits; and modernizing rate design to send appropriate price signals and allocate costs fairly.
- Building Connecticut’s Energy System: Managing uncertainty in future energy needs; enabling energy resources to be sited, permitted, interconnected, financed, and built; coordinating planning across fuels and sectors; addressing workforce, supply chain, institutional, and participation barriers; and aligning utility incentives with investments that deliver the greatest benefits at the lowest cost to ratepayers.
- Climate, Markets, and Resilience: Advancing Connecticut’s climate goals amid changing policies, technologies, costs, and market conditions; consistently measuring and considering system, customer, and non-energy benefits; and accounting for regional, federal, global, and other external forces affecting the state’s energy system.
Written comments are due October 16, 2026, at 4:00 p.m. EDT. Comments may be submitted through an online comment form or by email to DEEP.EnergyBureau@ct.gov with “Comprehensive Energy Strategy Comments” in the subject line.
DEEP will continue to seek public input as the CES and its recommendations take shape, including through public and technical meetings and opportunities to review draft materials. Notices, comments, and other proceeding materials will be available on DEEP’s Energy Filings page.
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Click here to sign up for DEEP's Comprehensive Energy Strategy (CES) updates, announcements, notices of meetings, comment opportunities and more!
Click here to view all DEEP Energy filings, including all notices, comments, presentations, recordings etc., associated with the CES.
Any questions on the above-referenced processes should be sent to DEEP.EnergyBureau@ct.gov.
View Previous Comprehensive Energy Strategies
Content last updated December 2022