Category Archives: distributed energy

CPES Policy Committee Update: May 10, 2016

This update features policy, regulatory, legislative, and regional developments in Connecticut and New England. The policy updates are compiled by a team recently formed with support from CPES, known as the New Energy Professionals. If you are interested in learning more about the New Energy Professionals, the Policy Committee, or if you have ideas for future policy updates, we would welcome your input and feedback. Please send comments to Paul Brady, CPES Executive Director, via email: pbrady@ctpower.org.

This week’s features:

  • Utilities Announce New Residential Rates
  • 2016 Legislative Session Wrap-Up
  • ISO NE Issues Regional Overview

 

CONNECTICUT POLICY/REGULATORY UPDATE:  CT Public Utilities Regulatory Authority

New Residential Generation Rates Announced for July 1st

The Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) has approved revised generation rates for Eversource and United Illuminating (UI) standard service customers. Based on the results of competitive auctions held earlier this year, effective July 1, 2016, Eversource’s residential generation rate will decrease from 9.555 cents per kWh to 6.606 cents per kWh. UI’s residential generation rate will decrease from 10.7358 cents per kWh to 8.0224 cents per kWh. The new standard service rates represent an approximately 20% and 12% reduction, respectively, when compared to rates last year. The PURA Dockets associated with the new rates are available at the following links: Eversource, UI.

 

CONNECTICUT LEGISLATIVE UPDATE

Information about the Energy and Technology Committee, including committee meetings and public hearings, is available at: https://www.cga.ct.gov/et/.

The 2016 regular session ended on May 4, 2016.  During the session, both the Senate and House of Representatives passed the following bills that may be of interest to you:

  • S.B. No. 272:  AN ACT CONCERNING THE USE OF MICROGRID GRANTS AND LOANS FOR CERTAIN DISTRIBUTED ENERGY GENERATION PROJECTS.
  • S.B. No. 334:  AN ACT CONCERNING REVISIONS TO CERTAIN ENERGY PURCHASING POOL AND LIFE-CYCLE COST ANALYSES STATUTES.
  • S.B. No. 366:  AN ACT CONCERNING ADMINISTRATION OF THE CONNECTICUT GREEN BANK, THE PRIORITY OF THE BENEFIT ASSESSMENTS LIEN UNDER THE GREEN BANK’S COMMERCIAL SUSTAINABLE ENERGY PROGRAM AND THE GREEN BANK’S SOLAR HOME RENEWABLE ENERGY CREDIT PROGRAM.
  • S.B. No. 394:  AN ACT CONCERNING AUTHORIZATIONS RELATING TO VIRTUAL NET METERING FOR CERTAIN ZERO OR LOW EMISSION GENERATION PROJECTS.
  • H.B. No. 5242:  AN ACT CONCERNING AGRICULTURAL VIRTUAL NET METERING.
  • H.B. No. 5427:  AN ACT CONCERNING THE SHARED CLEAN ENERGY FACILITY PILOT PROGRAM.
  • H.B. No. 5496:  AN ACT CONCERNING CERTAIN VIRTUAL NET METERING FACILITIES.
  • H.B. No. 5510:  AN ACT CONCERNING ELECTRIC AND FUEL CELL ELECTRIC VEHICLES.

 

Regional and Industry Developments

ISO New England Releases Overview of the Wholesale Electricity Markets

Now available on the ISO New England website is an overview of the region’s wholesale electricity markets, which were built on several key principles, including competition, efficiency, and transparency. These markets are securing reliable electricity at competitive prices and helping usher in a cleaner, greener grid. To access this overview, please click here .

CPES Policy Committee Update: May 3, 2016

This update features policy, regulatory, legislative, and regional developments in Connecticut and New England. The policy updates are compiled by a team recently formed with support from CPES, known as the New Energy Professionals. If you are interested in learning more about the New Energy Professionals, the Policy Committee, or if you have ideas for future policy updates, we would welcome your input and feedback. Please send comments to Paul Brady, CPES Executive Director, via email: pbrady@ctpower.org.

This week’s features:

  • A Wealth of Competitive Products on EnergizeCT
  • MicroGrids, Net Metering and Green Bank subject of legislation that is on the move
  • New England gas pipeline expansion status

 

CONNECTICUT POLICY/REGULATORY UPDATE:  CT Public Utilities Regulatory Authority

Connecticut Energy Shopping Site Shows Opportunities for Savings; Majority Of Competitive Suppliers Provide Green Power, Value-Added Products

Under the auspices of the Public Utility Regulatory Authority, the State of Connecticut has established EnergizeCT, a robust, well-designed and consumer-friendly electricity shopping website that routinely posts competitive generation supply products offered by licensed retail electricity suppliers, the Retail Energy Supply Association said yesterday in announcing a review of the savings and value-added services available to customers

RESA’s review of EnergizeCT shows more than two dozen competitive retail energy suppliers actively posting 212 different product offerings at prices highly competitive with default rates offered by the state’s utility companies.

The review shows there are a significant number of competitive pricing plans with terms of service that vary from six to 12 months that offer Connecticut electricity consumers the opportunity to beat the current Standard Service rates by 20 percent, 25 percent and in some cases over 30 percent, RESA said

“A wealth of competitive electricity products offer Connecticut consumers the opportunity to realize savings on their bill,” observed Marc Hanks, RESA’s New England chairman. “But there are also a wide range of value-added product offerings, the most prominent among them being ‘green’ energy products that offer consumers an opportunity to buy electricity that meets their environmental preferences.”

http://www.energychoicematters.com/stories/20160428f.html

 

CONNECTICUT LEGISLATION:

Information about the Energy and Technology Committee, including committee meetings and public hearings, is available at: https://www.cga.ct.gov/et/.  The deadline to report bills out of the Energy and Technology Committee has passed.

On April 27, 2016, the Senate passed the following bills that may be of interest to you:

  • S.B. No. 272: Senate passed as amended by Senate Amendment Schedule A. (AN ACT CONCERNING THE USE OF MICROGRID GRANTS AND LOANS FOR CERTAIN DISTRIBUTED ENERGY GENERATION PROJECTS).
  • S.B. No. 366: Senate passed as amended by Senate Amendment Schedule A. (AN ACT CONCERNING ADMINISTRATION OF THE CONNECTICUT GREEN BANK, THE PRIORITY OF THE BENEFIT ASSESSMENTS LIEN UNDER THE GREEN BANK’S COMMERCIAL SUSTAINABLE ENERGY PROGRAM AND THE GREEN BANK’S SOLAR HOME RENEWABLE ENERGY CREDIT PROGRAM).

On April 28, 2016, the Senate passed the following bill that may be of interest to you:

  • S.B. No. 394: Senate passed as amended by Senate Amendment Schedule A. (AN ACT CONCERNING AUTHORIZATIONS RELATING TO VIRTUAL NET METERING FOR CERTAIN ZERO OR LOW EMISSION GENERATION PROJECTS).

On April 29, 2016, the Senate passed the following bill that may be of interest to you:

  • S.B. No. 344: Senate passed as amended by Senate Amendment Schedule A.  (AN ACT REQUIRING A STUDY OF THE ADEQUACY OF ENERGY SUPPLIES IN THE STATE).

 

Regional and Industry Developments

Maine Public Hearings on Pipeline Expansion

State utility regulators will begin public hearings Thursday on a three-year-old plan to expand pipeline capacity and potentially lower energy costs by committing ratepayers to spend up to $75 million annually on natural gas purchases.  But after three years of study, it’s still unclear how much money – if any – utility customers would save by helping to increase the supply of natural gas, which is used to generate half of New England’s electric power.

http://www.pressherald.com/2016/04/27/hearings-begin-thursday-on-plan-to-expand-natural-gas-pipeline-capacity/

CPES Policy Committee Update: April 1, 2016

This update features policy, regulatory, legislative, and regional developments in Connecticut and New England. The policy updates are compiled by a team recently formed with support from CPES, known as the New Energy Professionals. If you are interested in learning more about the New Energy Professionals, the Policy Committee, or if you have ideas for future policy updates, we would welcome your input and feedback. Please send comments to Paul Brady, CPES Executive Director, via email: pbrady@ctpower.org.

 

This week’s features:

  • PURA reopens Virtual Net Metering docket and cancels upcoming Competitive Supplier Working Group meeting
  • U.S. Dept. of Energy to host upcoming meetings in the region on the Quadrennial Energy Review and Grid Modernization
  • New York utilities look to MIT to design pricing strategy for distributed energy

 

Connecticut Policy/Regulatory Update:

The Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (“PURA”) has reopened Docket No. 13-08-14, PURA Development of the Administrative Process and Program Specifications for Virtual Net Metering, to review the required one year time period from the date of acceptance into the VMN queue to obtain commercial operation and to modify the application requirements for agricultural hosts to require proof of state agricultural status. PURA has designated the reopened proceeding Docket No. 13‑08‑14RE03.  The proceeding can be found here.

Also, the Competitive Supplier Working Group meeting scheduled for Tuesday, April 5, 2016 has been cancelled.  The cancelation notice can be found at http://www.dpuc.state.ct.us/dockcurr.nsf/All/3FF6DFE34E5C5D6085257F870067F0F9?OpenDocument

 

Regional and Industry Developments

 Department of Energy Sets Outreach Meetings for Quadrennial Energy Review

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) will hold a number of stakeholder meetings in the coming months as outreach continues for the second installment of the Quadrennial Energy Review (QER). DOE will host a meeting in Boston, Massachusetts on April 15, 2016 to discuss issues impacting the electric grid in New England, New York, and much of the region covered by the PJM Interconnection. The 2016 version of the QER is focused on the issues impacting the nation’s electric system from bulk power generation to end use.

In the days preceding the April 15 meeting, DOE will host a Grid Modernization Northeast Region workshop on April 13-14, 2016. DOE notes that the workshop is designed to seek “stakeholder input and feedback on the Department’s grid-related research and demonstration strategy, and will provide stakeholders an opportunity to inform the Department on the grid-related technical challenges of emerging regional and national policy issues.” Registration and additional information on the workshop can be found here.

 

N.Y. utilities seek new pricing plan for distributed energy

The local utility of the future will be home to more rooftop solar, smart grid technologies and independent energy service providers. But it will need something else, experts say — entirely new ways of pricing customer-supplied electricity supplies and conservation measures. The owner of several upstate New York utilities has asked Massachusetts Institute of Technology experts to design such a pricing strategy to help them meet the requirements of the state’s Reforming the Energy Vision (REV) utility restructuring policy.

The MIT Energy Initiative, collaborating with a leading Spanish research institute, is designing a computer model of a representative local electric utility distribution network to simulate how consumers’ solar units, battery storage and other distributed energy systems would affect the costs of running the network. That would lead, in turn, to a new system for pricing power as distributed electricity services expand.  Across the United States, utilities, regulators and customer groups are at odds over how distributed energy suppliers, and companies that aggregate power demand and efficiency services, should be paid for what they provide and for their use of the grid.

http://www.eenews.net/stories/1060034855

 

CONNECTICUT LEGISLATION:

Information about the Energy and Technology Committee, including committee meetings and public hearings, is available at: https://www.cga.ct.gov/et/.

The deadline to report bills out of the Energy and Technology Committee has passed.  Within the past week there have been no significant actions to the bills previously reported out of the committee that may be of interest to you.