Hartford Business Journal

March 7, 2016

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www.HartfordBusiness.com March 7, 2016 • Hartford Business Journal 3 Reforms spotlight CT's evolving energy industry By Matt Pilon mpilon@HartfordBusiness.com E nergy policy is ever changing in Connect- icut and despite a sharp focus this legisla- tive session on growing budget deficits, lawmakers are considering a flurry of bills that would impact Connecticut's energy landscape, particularly in the renewables sector. Clean energy advocates are pushing policy changes that hint at broader tensions between utilities and developers of distrib- uted generation, like solar panels, fuel cells, wind turbines and biomass plants. Questions are also being raised about the long-term financial viability of trash-to-energy plants, the future of nuclear power in the state, and how the costs of expanded solar and other renewable energies should be fairly distributed. The most significant proposal this year, pitched to the Energy and Technology Commit- tee, would allow utility companies Eversource and Avangrid (formerly United Illuminating) to increase the amount of renewable energy proj- ects they can build, own and operate by nearly seven-fold, from 30 megawatts to 200 megawatts. Senate Bill 224's supporters and oppo- nents aren't split down predictable lines. Avangrid favors the bill, calling it "a means to maximize the production of larger scale, in-state renewable technologies." But Eversource urged lawmakers to reject the measure, saying it would rather focus on the myriad projects pitched dur- ing a recent renewable energy procurement effort coordinated by the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP). As part of that multi-state bidding process, developers proposed 240 mega- watts of clean energy projects in Connecti- cut, including plans to build the state's larg- est solar and fuel cell developments. Several major energy developers, like Solar- City and NRG, argued the bill would put too much market power in the hands of utilities, which have been mostly barred from owning generation here since deregulation in the late 1990s. Industry association ReNew Northeast argued that utility owned renewables would likely be more expensive for customers than those provided by private competitors. Meanwhile, Danbury's FuelCell Energy and East Hartford's Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology, which has fuel-cell partnerships, both support the measure. Other bills on deck DEEP is attempting to revive a stalled "shared-solar" pilot program, which is sup- posed to allow groups of ratepayers who can't install solar panels on their own dwell- ings to use renewable energy produced by shared-solar panels or clean technology. DEEP recently submitted testimony sup- porting a bill that would allow Eversource and Avangrid to recover the cost of adminis- tering the two-year, six-megawatt program, a key issue that has divided the utilities and clean-energy advocates. But there's still disagreement between both sides over how the costs would be recouped and over what time period. The legislative fight is playing out as utili- ties across the U.S. try to fend off incentives for renewable power generation that could threaten their own viability. Connecticut farmers could benefit from House Bill 5242, which expands their access to virtual net-metering. Currently, only municipalities and state entities can take full advantage of virtual net-metering, which allows participants to share electricity from a single renewable energy source or "assign" their renewable billing credits to other customers. The bill would allow owners of agricultural proper - ties to also own, lease or contract for those renewable facilities. Meantime, House Bill 5309 would require the quasi-public Connecticut Green Bank and the State Building Inspector to develop a standardized solar permit application for all solar projects, to speed up the approval process. But it will be up to municipalities to decide whether to adopt it. The solar industry has pushed for years for quicker and cheaper permitting, which they argue would speed adoption of the Continued www.kelsercorp.com/cybercrime www.kelsercorp.com 111 Roberts St, Suite D East Hartford, CT 06108 860 610 2200 Patients trust you with their medical records. Secure them. Waterford's Millstone Power Station will be one of the last remaining nuclear facilities in New England by 2019, as the industry faces increased pressure from low natural gas prices and other factors. P H O T O | H B J F I L E

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