News Releases - 2024

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• 12/20/2024 Connecticut Announces Clean Energy Selections

  (HARTFORD, CT) - Today, the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) announced that it has selected new clean energy projects totaling 518 megawatts (MW) of new solar generation and 200 MW of new electric storage capacity through competitive solicitations conducted in 2024.

• 12/17/2024 DEEP EnCon Police Make Arrests Following Search of Wild Game Taxidermy Business

  (HARTFORD)--The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) announced today the arrest of two individuals related to an ongoing investigation of a wild game and deer processing facility in Beacon Falls.

• 12/5/2024 DEEP Releases New Book Celebrating 100 Years of Connecticut State Parks

  (HARTFORD)--The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) announced today the release of a new book, Connecticut State Parks: A Centennial History by Alan Levere, published by DEEP’s State Parks & Public Outreach Division. This book presents the history of Connecticut State Parks through the celebration of its first hundred years.

• 11/26/2024 DEEP Lifts Statewide Burn Ban on Public Lands It Administers

  (HARTFORD)- The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) is pleased to announce that, effective immediately, the statewide burn ban for Connecticut’s State Parks, Forests, and Wildlife Management Areas has been lifted. This decision comes as recent precipitation has significantly improved conditions and lowered the forest fire danger level to LOW to MODERATE statewide over the past few days.

• 11/22/2024 DEEP Releases Second 20BY26 Progress Report

  (HARTFORD, CT) – Today, the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) released its second report describing the work its teams pursued in the summer of 2024 toward the agency’s ambitious 20BY26 Initiative. 20BY26 launched in February 2024 and released its first progress report in August 2024. This initiative builds on the foundation of DEEP’s highly successful 20BY20 Initiative by setting 20 new targets to meet by the end of 2026 to make DEEP’s processes even more predictable, transparent, and efficient. The goal of these ongoing improvements is to keep striving for better and more innovative ways to serve our state’s municipalities, businesses, other regulated entities, and residents. 

• 11/15/2024 Celebrate the 2024 Winter Holidays at Two Connecticut State Park Museums

  (HARTFORD)--The winter holiday season is upon us, and the Connecticut Department of Energy & Environmental Protection (DEEP) State Parks & Public Outreach Division plans to celebrate with the festive transformation of two of its historic homes: Gillette Castle in East Haddam and Osborne Homestead Museum in Derby.

• 11/14/2024 DEEP Announces Firearms Deer Hunting Season Begins November 20

  (HARTFORD, CT)- Connecticut’s Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) today issued a reminder that a variety of hunting seasons are currently underway or about to begin, most notably the opening of the fall firearms deer season on Wednesday, November 20. Specific deer hunting season information is available on the DEEP 2024 Connecticut Hunting and Trapping Guide web page.

• 11/8/2024 Red Flag Conditions Pose High Fire Risk Across Connecticut This Veterans Day Weekend

  (Hartford, CT) - As Connecticut heads into the Veterans Day weekend, residents are urged to exercise extreme caution due to Red Flag Warning conditions forecasted today and extending through the weekend. The state faces critical fire weather with strong winds and extremely dry conditions, increasing the risk for wildfires. Until Connecticut receives a soaking rain of at least 2-3 inches, it will not be sufficient to lower the fire risk, and the public is urged to maintain a cautious approach to any activities involving fire or equipment that could spark a blaze.

• 11/8/2024 DEEP Announces First Opportunity for Service Providers to Participate in the $144M Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment Program

  (HARTFORD, CT) – The Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) has launched the prequalification process for eligible entities to participate in the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program that will provide $144M to the State of Connecticut for broadband infrastructure expansion projects in 2025. Participation in the Prequalification Phase is essential to ensure potential applicants meet compliance requirements ahead of the application phase of the program. Unless providers and other entities interested in bidding on projects prequalify, they are ineligible to proceed in the program.

• 10/31/2024 DEEP Announces New Funding Opportunities for Urban and Community Forestry

  (HARTFORD, CT) – The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) is pleased to announce two new funding opportunities for urban and community forestry projects led by Connecticut governmental entities and non-profit organizations.

• 10/29/2024 DEEP Launches Expanded Home Electric Efficiency and Affordability Procurement Draft Request for Proposals

  (HARTFORD, CT) — The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) announced today the launch of an Expanded Home Electric Efficiency and Affordability draft request for proposals (RFP) to deliver expanded electricity bill savings to residential customers of Eversource and United Illuminating. This RFP process will build on Connecticut’s existing, highly successful utility-run energy efficiency programs, which deliver hundreds of dollars in energy bill savings each year to thousands of participating households. DEEP is soliciting competitive proposals from companies, including electric utilities and other private entities, for cost-saving household electric energy efficiency measures. Among the types of responses DEEP is soliciting are performance contracting approaches that reduce the upfront costs of installing energy efficiency and lower monthly energy bills, while also providing additional opportunities for Connecticut’s energy efficiency workforce.

• 10/26/2024 DEEP Warns of Extreme Fire Danger in Connecticut

  (Hartford, CT) — Today, the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) instituted a ban on the use of outdoor grills, firepits, and campfires, and the kindling and use of flame outdoors in all state parks, forests, and wildlife management areas due to statewide severe fire weather conditions and the ongoing Hawthorne Fire on Lamentation Mountain that is affecting Berlin, Meriden, and surrounding areas. This ban follows Governor Ned Lamont’s declaration of a state of emergency across Connecticut yesterday. The Governor’s declaration mobilizes all state resources to address active and potential wildfires and enforce precautionary measures to protect residents, property, and natural resources.

• 10/25/2024 DEEP Applauds State Bond Commission Approval of $10M to Support Sustainable Waste Reduction Efforts By Municipalities

  (HARTFORD)—The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) applauds the State Bond Commission’s approval earlier this week of $10 million in funds to support sustainable waste reduction efforts by municipalities.

• 10/24/2024 DEEP Provides Update on Wildfire Response

  (Hartford, CT) - The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP), along with many local fire departments, and state and out-of-state resources, continues to respond to several wildfires across the state, including in Berlin, Canaan, Vernon, and Weston.

• 10/24/2024 Connecticut Celebrates Bat Week from Oct. 24-31

  (HARTFORD, CT) – The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) is celebrating the importance of bats during Bat Week, an international event celebrated annually during the week before Halloween. Bats play a critical role in ecosystems worldwide and provide tremendous value to humans in a variety of ways. Bats in North America also currently face an unprecedented population crisis, making it even more important to call attention to these often-misunderstood creatures.