www.CTGreenGuide.com WinTer 2014 • Connecticut Green Guide 27
The challenge of distributed generation will require
new modifications including new storage technology.
Today, infrastructure charges are based on energy
consumption, an approach that's clearly outdated.
Roger Reynolds, legal director of the Connecticut
Fund for the Environment, said the move toward local-
ized power generation makes the infrastructure more
efficient by lowering the amount of energy lost in transit.
Reynolds said the utility model is broken but ar-
gued that the
fix shouldn't
involve erect-
ing barriers
that discour-
age alterna-
tive power.
He pointed to
efforts by New
York and Mas-
sachusetts to
find a new way
to reapportion
legitimate distribution costs.
The problem is while technology advances toward
local generation, the system set up by state and federal
regulators is biased toward major power grids, said John
Ferrell, senior researcher for Washington, D.C. advocacy
group Institute for Local Self-Reliance.
Moving all these issues forward in a way that ad-
vances renewable energy while ensuring a reliable power
grid falls to agencies like PURA. And its ruling on CL&P's
request for a hike in the connection fee will show which
side is winning the battle of the balancing act.
Import-Export
For years, the state has been a net
electricity importer. With the recent
addition of natural gas combined-cycle
capability at several generating plants
and the completion of the four-part New
England East-West Solution transmission
project, the state expects to become a net
exporter by 2020.
sourCe: u.s. enerGy inFormaTion
ADmINISTRATIoN
Shagbark Lumber
powers electric
vehicles with its
solar system.
(Below) The
company is tapped
into the main
electric grid in case
of an emergency.
PhoTo | Pablo robles
