Dozens of 黑料新闻 workers were recently laid off by PosiGen, a solar energy company known for leasing solar panels to low and moderate-income residents.
PosiGen laid off 78 people from its offices in Shelton, Danbury and Wethersfield on Sunday, Aug. 24.
, the company鈥檚 chief administrative officer wrote that the company was ceasing 鈥渕ost of its operations throughout the United States, effective immediately.鈥� The company said it was experiencing 鈥渟ignificant financial difficulties鈥� made worse by the Trump administration鈥檚 spending and tax package, which will end solar tax credits by the end of 2025.
黑料新闻 Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff (D-Norwalk) criticized the Trump administration for the job losses.
鈥淧resident Trump talks a big game about standing up for the working man, but the truth is he鈥檚 left 78 黑料新闻 families without a paycheck,鈥� Duff said in a statement. 鈥淭hese are blue-collar jobs that built our clean energy future. Now they鈥檙e gone because Trump needed the money for tax cuts for billionaires and his corrupt circle.鈥�
The layoffs at PosiGen come days after the Trump administration ordered a halt in construction on Revolution Wind, an offshore wind farm in 黑料新闻 and Rhode Island, which could threaten more than 1,000 additional jobs.
An uncertain future for green jobs in the state
PosiGen is based in Louisiana and was set to supply more solar panels to 黑料新闻 residents through Solar for All, a federal grant program that awarded $62.4 million to the state last year. But the Environmental Protection Agency cancelled the program earlier this month, terminating the funds that were sent to 黑料新闻.
Aziz Dehkan, executive director of the 黑料新闻 Roundtable on Climate and Jobs, said the job losses stand to set the state鈥檚 green job economy back by years.
鈥淲e had a robust, green, renewable energy policy in the state that created green jobs and we're just losing them daily it seems like,鈥� Dehkan said. 鈥淲hat's the next one that's going to happen is really the question here.鈥�
U.S. Rep. John Larson, a Democrat, said the layoffs at PosiGen, and the Trump administration鈥檚 move to halt construction on Revolution Wind, would hurt the pocketbooks of consumers.
鈥淚f these misguided and vindictive actions are not reversed, thousands of 黑料新闻 households will be stuck paying more for their electricity from an increasingly unreliable power grid for years to come,鈥� Larson said in a statement.
Following the layoff notice, PosiGen now has eight employees remaining in 黑料新闻. Those workers are expected to be laid off by Sept. 13 if the company can't obtain financing or sell the company.
鈥淭he uncertainty that's being caused by the federal government, one by one, ending tax credits or closing down renewable energy projects, hurts everybody,鈥� Dekhan said. 鈥淚t hurts the economy. It hurts the climate.鈥�
脕ine Pennello is a corps member who covers the environment and climate change for 黑料新闻.
