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4 CONNECTICUT GREEN GUIDE • FALL 2016 www.CTGreenGuide.com New England wholesale energy prices SOURCE: ISO NEW ENGLAND News Cycle Gas prices, demand suppress wholesale prices Relatively low consumer demand and natural-gas prices continued to mute the cost of wholesale electricity in New England's power market in June, according to grid operator ISO New England. The average wholesale electricity price in June was $21.24 per megawatt hour, the third-lowest since 2003, but up from $19.61 last June. Natural gas prices, meanwhile, averaged $2.14 per million British thermal units, the sixth-lowest since 2003, but up from June 2015's record-low average price of $1.68. Electricity prices closely track natural gas prices in New England, which is heavily reliant on gas to produce electric power. So lower gas prices mean lower electricity prices. The other major factor is demand. In June, New England consumed 10,136 gigawatt hours of power, the second lowest amount of any June since 2000. ISO-NE said mild weather was likely the largest driver of the low demand. A gigawatt hour can serve approximately one million homes for one hour. CT colleges target utility sector Two Connecticut colleges will launch utility- related curricula starting this month. The most recently announced is a two-year energy-management degree at Tunxis Com- munity College in Farmington, which will start in late August. Targeting such skills as HVAC energy analysis, energy accounting and efficient lighting, the Tunxis program is aimed at pro- ducing needed energy analysts and technicians. Tunxis' new program followed a December announcement by Southern Connecticut State University that it would launch a utilities- management specialization within its business administration bachelor's degree program. The New Haven school's new specialty will launch in the fall semester. SCSU said it wanted to provide a fresh pipe- line of workers to the utility industry, a large por- tion of which will be eligible to retire by 2020. Connecticut Water looks to grow through $21M deal Publicly traded water provider Connecticut Water Service (CWS) has requested permission to acquire a water company that serves 4,700 customers in western New Haven County. CWS, which has 92,000 Connecticut customers, asked the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority for permission last month to pur- chase The Heritage Village Water Co. (HVWC), which serves customers in Southbury, Middle- bury and Oxford. HVWC also has a wastewater operation in Southbury with 3,000 customers. The proposed deal, first announced in March, would be executed through a stock-for- stock merger valued at $20.9 million, less $4.8 million in debt CWS would assume from HVWC. In its application to PURA, CWS explained that it has become difficult for small water com- panies to survive increasing costs and regulation. CWS has acquired more than 40 water systems over the past decade and nearly 60 over the last two decades. As of press time Aug. 1, the merger-approv- al process was still proceeding before PURA. ENERGY NEWS IN BRIEF $0 $5 $10 $15 $20 $25 $30 $35 $40 Jun '15 Jul '15 Aug '15 Sep '15 Oct '15 Nov '15 Dec '15 Jan '16 Feb '16 Mar '16 Apr '16 May '16 Jun '16 Electricity Natural Gas