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www.CTGreenGuide.com FALL 2015 • CONNECTICUT GREEN GUIDE 9 fee to $10, but the final version ended up setting limits to what customers could be charged in that rate to the cost of electric meters, meter readers, billing and the line to the main grid. "The way we operate the distribution system is going to evolve as policy- makers continue to take different approaches," said Alex Deboissiere, senior vice president for government relations at New Haven's UIL Hold - ings, the parent company of United Illuminating. "The fundamentals of delivering reliable power safely at the lowest reasonable cost, those fun - damentals will probably remain the same for some time." Beyond the fixed rate issue, Util- ity 2.0 instructs the Department of Energy & Environmental Protection to study energy flow to get a sense of how customers put electricity on and off the grid and how utilities should support those measures. This could include setting up time-of-day elec - tricity rates to encourage customers to use power when demand is low. "This is going to be the focus of DEEP for the next several months, and we are pleased to have these tolls from the legisla - tion so we can come up with a new structure that will clean up for utilities how they are to modernize the grid and ensure that all ratepayers are benefit - ting from the installation of renewable energy and energy efficiency projects," said Katie Dykes, DEEP deputy com - missioner for energy. The utilities have been instructed to look at energy storage technol- ogy and how to integrate it onto the main power grid to take advantage of electricity generated from renewables even when the sun isn't shining and the wind isn't blowing. "Instead of fighting them at every turn, we said, 'Let's bring the utilities that actually distribute en- ergy into the process,'" Reed said. The session included more mea- sures designed to keep Connecticut moving down the new energy path: partnering with other states for renewable developments, increas - ing funding for residential solar, and starting a non-monetary incentive program to encourage use of zero- emission vehicles. Commercial Sales & Service 716 Brook Street Rocky Hill CT 800-959-9092 Trane.com METERING SAVES 2% - 45% ANNUALLY ĐƟŽŶ Observed Savings /ŶƐƚĂůůĂƟŽŶŽĨ meters 0-ϮйŝŶŝƟĂůŝŵƉĂĐƚ͕ but savings will not persist ŝůůĂůůŽĐĂƟŽŶ only 2½-5% improved occupant awareness Building tune-up & load management 5-15% improved awareness, ŝĚĞŶƟĮĐĂƟŽŶŽĨ ƐŝŵƉůĞŽƉĞƌĂƟŽŶƐ and maintenance improvements, and managing demand loads per electric rate schedules Ongoing commissioning US DOE 2006 15-45% improved awareness, ongoing ŝĚĞŶƟĮĐĂƟŽŶŽĨ ƐŝŵƉůĞŽƉĞƌĂƟŽŶƐ and maintenance improvements, and ĐŽŶƟŶƵŝŶŐ management ĂƩĞŶƟŽŶ Lower usage. Lower cost. ĐŽŵƉůĞƚĞĞŶĞƌŐLJƐŽůƵƟŽŶ͘ Katie Dykes, deputy commissioner for energy, DEEP The Utility 2.0 legislation enabled utilities to purchase natural gas with longer-term contracts, which should help increase the supply of the fuel in Connecticut and alleviate cost increases related to supply constraints. SOURCE: U.S. ENERGY INFORMATION ADMINISTRATION Natural Gas Oil Coal Refuse Wind and Solar Hydro Nuclear New England Generation Fuel Mix (% of total generation in ISO New England 100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% Jan. '14 Jan. '15 Mar. '14 Jul. '14 Sep. '14 Nov. '14 May '14