Hartford Business Journal

HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | JANUARY 22, 2024 13 2,500 MW by 2030. All New England states, except for New Hampshire, have set zero- or low-carbon emissions goals. Attorney Lee D. Hoffman, chair of law firm Pullman & Comley, who represents Key Capture, said battery energy storage is an essential step toward meeting the state's clean energy goals, while maintaining a stable and reliable electric grid. "We can't control when the sun will shine or when the wind will blow…," Hoffman said. "We can, however, control when we switch on our battery storage, and that allows the engineers running the grid at ISO-New England to dispatch elec- tricity where and when it is needed." The switch from fossil fuels to renewable energy is already happening, Hoffman said. Most of the new energy projects being proposed in New England involve wind, solar or battery storage. Only 4% of the projects are natural gas, Hoffman said. How it works Key Capture makes money by purchasing wind and solar energy produced during peak production hours, when it is relatively cheap, and reselling it at a higher price, when it's needed. Its technology stores energy in a container similar to a conventional cell phone battery. "A good way to think of these facilities is as larger versions of the batteries anyone uses in their regular life," Williamson said. "As an analogy, think of a phone. Just like someone plugs their phone into the wall to charge it, and then utilizes the stored energy over time as needed, these facilities are connected or 'plugged' into the grid, and they dispatch or 'utilize' that stored energy back to the grid when needed. The technology goes through much more rigorous safety testing and protocols than batteries used in consumer elec- tronics, but the operation is similar." Battery energy storage systems can also be compensated for providing critical reliability services to the grid that maintain the grid's stability in real time, and in times of extreme energy demand, he said. Key Capture declined to disclose its financials or how much it will be investing in Connecticut through its eight battery energy storage projects. Besides Connecticut, Key Capture has projects in development totaling more than 9,000 MW in 14 states across the country. Key Capture Energy's 20 MW battery energy storage system in Erie County, New York, which is known as "KCE NY 6." PHOTO | CONTRIBUTED Lee Hoffman CT records $144.6M in recreational cannabis sales in 2023 500K 400K 300K 200K 100K • MEDICAL MARIJUANA • ADULT-USE Total number of retail cannabis products sold in 2023 By Skyler Frazer sfrazer@hartfordbusiness.com C onnecticut tallied $144.6 million in recreational cannabis sales in 2023, according to new estimates from the state Department of Consumer Protection. Combined with medical marijuana sales, legal cannabis retailers in the state produced $274 million in revenue in 2023, DCP figures show. Retailers recorded more than $17.1 million in recreational cannabis sales in December, a new monthly high since the market launched on Jan. 10, 2023. Coinciding with the increase in adult-use sales, medical marijuana sales continue to be lower than they were earlier in 2023, totaling $10.3 million in December. The average price of a cannabis product has dropped in both markets since last year's recre- ational industry launch. *Other products include pills, capsules, non-smokable infused extract, tincture, marijuana-infused topicals, liquid marijuana, marijuana mix infused and lozenges. Source: Dept. of Consumer Protection Usable cannabis (flower) $141M Vape cartridge $78.5M Infused edible $29M Extract for inhalation $15M Other* $9M 2023 cannabis retail sales by product type cultivator, micro-cultivator and two delivery service companies have also been fully licensed. An additional 94 provisional licenses have been issued across all license types, DCP said. The average price for both medical and adult-use products was $34.95 in December. During the month, medical marijuana patients purchased 291,113 products and adult-use customers bought 453,944 products. Tax collection data During the first 11 months of operation, the state collected $13.8 million in excise tax revenue from the adult-use cannabis market, according to new data from the state Department of Revenue Services. Including regular sales tax, Connecticut has collected $21.7 million in total taxes from recreational cannabis sales through November. Each adult-use cannabis purchase carries a 6.35% state sales tax, 3% municipal tax, and between 10% to 15% of additional state cannabis tax based on THC content. Since the adult-use market launched, 19 new recreational and hybrid retail dispensaries have opened, according to DCP. A new JANUARY FEBRUARY MARCH APRIL MAY JUNE JULY AUGUST SEPTEMBER OCTOBER NOVEMBER DECEMBER Source: CT Dept. of Consumer Protection CANNABIS PRODUCTS SOLD IN 2023

• Cover