Hartford Business Journal

14 Hartford Business Journal • April 10, 2017 www.HartfordBusiness.com other power plant representatives, AARP in-house lobbyist John Erloingheuser, and CFE's Claire Coleman, who despite her shared opposition to the nuclear bill, wasn't afraid to speak her nonprofit's position in front of energy industry lobbyists. "We oppose natural gas infrastructure growth," said Coleman. "We don't see natu- ral gas as the bridge to a renewable future. We think we're close enough where if we devoted the right resources both in state and through regional resources, we could ramp up our renewables significantly." It was a slightly awkward moment, but the sort that the coalition is willing to look past if it means defeating Senate Bill 106. The bill aims to give Millstone the option to sell up to 8.3 million megawatt hours of electricity (equivalent to 28 percent of all retail electricity sales in the state) directly to utilities through the sort of state-run bid- ding process that lawmakers have used over the past decade mostly to encourage and secure renewable energy sources like solar, wind, fuel cells, biomass and hydro. Under the bill, Millstone would compete with higher-priced biomass and trash-to-energy plants for long-term contracts. The state has also held a bidding process to secure natural gas infrastructure, but that was put on hold. Millstone said it should be allowed to par- ticipate in those energy procurement efforts because it would help secure its financial future, and those of its more than 1,000 work- ers, at a time when many other U.S. nuclear plants are closing because of high costs and steep competition from natural gas plants. In Connecticut, natural gas prices helped drag down wholesale power prices to record lows last year, which hurt Millstone. "When you look at the legislation that's proposed this year, it essentially just con- tinues that policy of the state authorizing resources that are allowed to compete for those procurements," said Kevin Hennessy, Dominion's director of state policy, during a recent interview at HBJ. However, the amount of nuclear energy the bill would allow Dominion to sell in this new market is massive. It would be nearly enough to power 1 million Connecti- cut households for a year and the largest such energy procurement in state history. Dominion argues that allowing Mill- stone to sell its power to utilities would help the company and ultimately reduce Connecticut's high energy costs. "It will reduce rates," Hennessy said. But there aren't many Connecticut busi- nesses or organizations, outside of those that have relationships with Dominion, that have publicly agreed with that statement. AARP's Erloingheuser said the bill, which recently made it out of committee, will lead to higher electricity prices for its members, and other power plants agree. "There's no way that this thing could in any way reduce rates," said Jim Ginnetti, a lobbyist for Dynegy, which has plants in Milford and Dayville. Meanwhile, the Connecticut Fund for the Environment argues the legislation could undercut the development of renewables. There are powerful interests on both sides of the issue that potentially have much at stake and they're making many divergent claims on the bill's potential impact. The complexity of how power is bought and sold in New England, and uncertainty over future natural gas prices — a major factor in New England's energy costs — is sure to make the matter a tough one to parse for most lawmakers and the public. Parsing the debate A key part of the debate is what the future holds for Millstone. Most agree that if the plant closed it would be bad for energy prices and the envi- ronment because nuclear produces a large amount of steady power and doesn't emit greenhouse gases like gas and oil plants. But it remains unclear whether Domin- ion actually intends to close Millstone, and if so, when and under what conditions. Bloomberg reported in December that roughly half of the U.S. nuclear fleet had become unprofitable. Over the past five years, approximately a dozen nuke plants across the country have closed or For more information contact Rennie Polk at cabaret@asd-1817.org or 860.570.2356 or Margaret Lawson at specialgifts@cptv.org or 860.558.5026 Premier SPonSor TiTle SPonSor PreSenTing SPonSor Join us to celebrate the 200th Anniversary of the American School for the Deaf Friday, April 21, 2017 6:00 p.m. Connecticut Convention Center Hartford, Connecticut Black Tie Optional Enjoy a wonderful evening of fun, food, and music Reserve your tickets today at www.asd200.org Proceeds will benefit ASD programs: Literacy Initiative, Early Childhood Intervention, Camp Isola Bella and Historic Preservation. Meet Marlee Matlin Academy Award-Winning Actress. from page 1 Bill's impact on energy prices key Brian Gaynier, operation shift manager at Millstone, working in one of the plant's control rooms in 2012. P H O T O | H B J F I L E

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