WETHERSFIELD, Conn. – On September 12, a Connecticut-based solar company publicly announced that its three Connecticut facilities will be shutting down. 

 Posigen has been operating in Connecticut since July 2015, and the imminent shutdown of its facilities in Wethersfield, Bridgeport, and Danbury stems from the inability to efficiently procure funds, resulting in rising financial and administrative issues for the company. As a result, the company has received temporary funding to delay its departure from Connecticut. Connecticut Department of Labor officials received a letter from Posigen, which enabled them to process the layoff notification, resulting in 78 employees being laid off.

While students may not have been aware of this announcement, once informed, they had strong opinions.

“If a major provider of solar panels is shutting down three factories, then I feel like it’s going to take a toll on Connecticut’s solar energy as a whole,” said Andrew Mitchell.

Despite not having any facilities within Groton, Posigen has had a presence within the town, serving the area and having job openings, which may lead to a direct effect on power and jobs within the town of Groton.

“I feel like this could cause the rate of blackouts to increase across the state,” said junior Alana Nobles.

As of now, there has been no significant statistical impact on power supply in Connecticut, and instead has affected its hundreds of employees, customers across states, and contractors, with how projects are likely to go unfinished due to a change in plans, alongside payments reportedly going unprocessed.

However, a growing impact on power supply may be seen when PosiGen fully closes up shop and fully makes its departure from Connecticut on October 4.