www.CTGreenGuide.com WinTer 2014 • Connecticut Green Guide 25
Shagbark co-owner Jody Hunt was unable to make solar power
affordable until tapping into incentives provided by utilities.
PhoTo | Pablo robles
Beyond the industry's the knee-jerk reaction
against Connecticut's aggressive push toward alterna-
tive energy, electric utilities Connecticut Light & Power
and United Illuminating may have a legitimate concern
that fundamental economics of the grid are under siege.
"This is an opportune time to re-examine cost allo-
cation, subsidies, rate design, and pricing to ensure that
we protect those customers who do not choose solar
from unfairly subsidizing those who do," said Camilo
Serna, vice president of strategic planning & policy at
CL&P parent Northeast Utilities.
The immediate skirmish is over a plan to raise the
basic main power grid connection fee by almost 60 per-
cent — from $16 to $25.50 monthly. The Public Utilities
Regulatory Authority expects to rule in December.
But the underlying issue is one of competition
and its impact on an energy distribution system built
for a different age.
Research firm Morningstar alerted utility investors ear-
lier this year that distributed generation could be the end
of utilities as they are currently structured. Utilities' cen-
tralized network monopolies break down when customers
become self-sufficient competitors.
One face of the new wave of distributed generation is
Shagbark Lumber in East Haddam. The owners, siblings
Jody and Fred Hunt, have long considered themselves
stewards of the environment and wanted to embrace solar
power. It only became possible for the small town hard-
Energy Consumption
Connecticut is one of the lowest energy consuming and spending
states on a per capita basis.
Energy U.S. Rank
Total Energy Consumed 730 trillion Btus 35th
Energy Consumed Per Capita 203 million Btus 46th
Total Energy Spend $15.1 billion 30th
SoURCE: U.S. ENERGY INFoRmATIoN ADmINISTRATIoN
Green Fact:
Connecticut has a Renewable Portfolio
Standard calling for 27 percent of electricity
to come from renewables by 2015.
sourCe: Pura
