The Connecticut Siting Council has rejected a Lodestar Energy application that would have brought a solar farm to Torrington.
The application was for the construction, maintenance, and operation of a 3.0-megawatt-AC solar photovoltaic electric generating facility and associated equipment on 13 parcels located south of West Hill Road in Torrington.
The Connecticut Siting Council found that the effects associated with the construction of the 3.0-megawatt-AC solar photovoltaic electric generating facility were a reason for the proposal’s denial.
The council cited effects on “the natural environment, ecological balance, public health and safety, scenic, historic, and recreational values, agriculture, forests and parks, air and water purity, fish, aquaculture and wildlife are disproportionate either alone or cumulatively with other effects compared to need, are in conflict with the policies of the State concerning such effects, and are sufficient reason to deny the application,” the decision says.
West Hartford-based Lodestar Energy, also known as LSE Serpens LLC, formally applied for this solar farm, with the goal of generating renewable electrical energy from solar power, generating renewable electrical energy from solar power on March 13, 2025.
Prior to that, Lodestar began consulting with officials of the city of Torrington and the town of New Hartford in Oct. 2024. In Nov. 2024, Lodestar met with the mayor, city planner and deputy public works director/city engineer, records show. New Hartford is located within 2,500 feet of the proposed facility site.
During a June 2025 evidentiary hearing, the city of Torrington submitted an objection to the application as defective for lack of notice, records show. The city claimed “Lodestar’s failure to comply with new requirements that became effective on October 1, 2024, for an applicant to make “good faith efforts to meet with the… legislative body of the municipality and each member of the legislature in whose assembly or senate district the facility… is to be located… and shall provide.. any technical reports concerning the public need, the site selection process and the environmental effects of the proposed facility,” according to a Connecticut Siting Council report from last month.
On July 25, 2025, the Connecticut Siting Council denied Torrington’s objection in part. However, the council voted to keep Lodestar’s application open and gave the company until Sept. 22, 2025 to submit “additional municipal and legislative consultation materials.” Lodestar submitted a certified letter to municipal and state legislative officials on Aug. 5.
The Connecticut Siting Council under the Public Utility Environmental Standards Act balances “the need for adequate and reliable public utility services at the lowest reasonable cost to consumers with the need to protect the environment and ecology of the state and to minimize damage to scenic, historic, and recreational values,” according to the council.
The proposed facility was to “contribute to the state’s efforts to promote the deployment of clean renewable energy sources,” according to records.
Under the proposal, Lodestar affiliate Colony Honey, LLC was to purchase the property and lease the site to Lodestar.
The estimated construction cost of the facility was approximately $7,294,000, records show.
The proposed solar facility was targeted for “an approximate 19.2-acre site located on host property comprised of 13 contiguous parcels totaling approximately 41 acres located south of West Hill Road, Torrington. The host parcels, owned by James Bobinski and Maura Steele, are zoned Residential Water Shed Protection Zone,” according to a Connecticut Siting Council report.
The host property was to be south of West Hill Road and had 116 feet of frontage along West Hill Road with the majority of the property being undeveloped forest with the exception of the Tennessee Gas Pipeline Co. and that “an approximate 2.37-acre forested wetland occupies the southwestern portion of the host parcel.”
In July, Connecticut Siting Council extended its final decision to March 8, 2026, and submitted it about a month before that deadline.
Then Torrington Mayor Elinor Carbone and then City Councilwoman Molly Spino (now mayor) submitted letters dated Sept. 30, 2025, that both “expressed opposition to the proposed facility due to concerns about traffic safety; proximity of 352 and 340 West Hill Road properties to the proposed access drive; and potential loss of tax revenue.”
Lodestar responded that the proposed facility would have provided “direct tax benefits associated with the payment of real and personal property taxes,” according to the Connecticut Siting Council report.
There were also neighborhood concerns during a public comment session of a Connecticut Siting Council meeting, records show. Six members of the public spoke and 12 written statements from the public as well.
Some of the concerns raised by the public included visibility, noise, water quality, air quality, forest, electric and magnetic fields (EMF), agricultural activities, cultural resources, wildlife, and public safety, according to a Connecticut Siting Council report.
Following the raised neighborhood concerns, Lodestar said it would “utilize landscape plantings near the proposed northern portions of the array area and utility poles as well as fence screening material.”
Among the benefits Lodestar cited in the Sitting Council report is that “solar facilities generate the most electricity during daylight hours which often coincides with periods of high energy use such as during the summer when air conditioning use increases. This overlap would help to ease pressure on the grid during peak times and thus lower the risk of overloads or outages,” according to a Connecticut Siting Council report.
The proposed facility would have consisted of approximately 7,686 photovoltaic panels rated at 540 Watts each. The panels were to be arranged in linear rows in an east-west direction, separated by approximately 17-foot-wide vegetated aisles.”
The nearest property line and residence to the solar facility perimeter was approximately 71 and 190 feet, respectively, to the northwest at 270 West Hill Road,” according to the Connecticut Siting Council report.
The proposed facility had a design capacity of approximately 2.988 MW AC at the point of interconnection and that would interconnect to an Eversource electric distribution circuit on West Hill Road, records show.
Lodestar said in the Connecticut Siting Council’s report that noise emissions from the facility would be during daytime operations from the 20 inverters and two transformers. The facility would not have operated or generated noise at night.
An email seeking comment was sent to Lodestar.
Ultimately, the Connecticut Siting Council’s conclusion was to deny the project.
“Based on forest impacts, bat habitat impacts, proximity to reservoirs and water quality impacts, the Council will not issue a Certificate for the construction, maintenance, and operation of a 3.0 MW AC solar photovoltaic electric generating facility and associated equipment south of West Hill Road Torrington, Connecticut, and associated electrical interconnection,” the Connecticut Siting Council’s decision concluded.