Issue link: https://nebusinessmedia.uberflip.com/i/479425
8 ConneCtiCut Green Guide • Summer 2014 www.CtGreenGuide.com News Cycle Crius Creates Solar Business Stamford electricity supplier parent Crius Energy launched a new stand alone solar company to diversify its energy portfolio. Crius is the parent company for five electricity suppliers like Viridian that provide power for 610,000 custom- ers in 19 states and Washington, D.C. The companies operate in deregulated utility markets, where ratepayers have the option of choosing an alternative supplier instead of the default utility rate. The new endeavor, Citra Solar, seeks to leverage Crius' expertise in sales and marketing by connecting would-be solar customers with solar experts to provide information on what type of system would work best for an individual home or business. Wolfworks Wins 2nd Consecutive Efficiency Challenge Avon design-build firm Wolfworks won its second consecutive Connecticut Zero Energy Challenge grand prize for a home built in Farmington. The award, sponsored by Energize Connecticut, tries to get builders to develop a dwelling that generates as much energy as it uses. Wolf- works won the 2013 grand prize for the single-level home built for Mike Randich and Lisa Spalla. Wolfworks won in 2012 for a Harwinton home. Wolfworks' home in Farmington features thick walls and air sealing. Photo | Contributed Methane is a greenhouse gas 30 times more polluting than carbon dioxide, which is the typical emission from burned fossil fuels. A study published February in the Science journal said the leaks were enough to offset the environmental gains made by switching a vehicle fleet from diesel to natural gas. Other switches such as having electricity generated by natural gas still are environmentally beneficial, but the gains are not as great. While the problem is in the entire extraction and delivery system, Con- necticut simply is trying to control the leaks in the local distribution systems. "Connecticut does pretty well in that department compared to other states," said State Rep. Lonnie Reed (D- Branford), co-chair of the Energy & Technol- ogy Committee. The House approved a bill to have the Public Utili- ties Regulatory Authority set a specific level where utilities could recover the cost of the lost gas through ratepayer bills. After that threshold is breached, utilities like Yankee Gas, Connecticut Natural Gas, and Southern Connecticut Gas are on the hook for the expense. PURA will open an investigation into leakage if more than 3 percent of the system load is lost. "We are putting our faith in natural gas because it is cheaper," said State Rep. Philip Miller (D-Essex), who co-sponsored the bill. "If we are going to use it, we want to be as environmentally friendly as possible." While agreeing that leakage should be minimized, Yankee objected to the idea that PURA would set a threshold, because the amount of lost gas is hard to measure, said Stephen Gibelli, assistant general coun- sel of Yankee's parent Northeast Utilities. The rest of the industry might have leaked more gas with each passing year, but Yankee has reduced its lost gas every year since 2009 to be at less than 0.75 percent of the total system load in 2013, Gibelli said. Yankee spends $40 million annual- ly to replace the old cast iron and bare steel pipes in its system with more leak-resistant plastic ones, Gibelli said. As a result, the number of leaks dropped from 263 in 2010 to 54 in 2012. UIL Holdings, which owns CNG and Southern, has stepped up its pipeline replace- ments since it purchased the utilities in 2010, said UIL spokesman Michael West. Prior to the purchase, CNG and Southern were replacing 15 miles of pipes annually. In the three years since, that rose to 22 miles per year. The utilities have done a good job in recent years keeping leakage in check, but as the system expands, the legislature wants to make sure this issue continues to be a priority, said State Sen. Bob Duff (D-Norwalk), co-chair of the energy committee. "We are willing to work with the utilities, and they seem willing to work with us," Duff said. "We just have to put some parameters on it."