Tag Archives: PURA

CPES Policy Committee Update: September 26, 2017

This update features policy, regulatory, legislative, and regional developments in Connecticut and New England. The policy updates are compiled by the CPES New Energy Professionals Team. 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 Kathryn Dube, CPES Executive Director, via email: kdube@ctpower.org.

In this Update:

  • Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Activity: U.S. Senate Energy Committee Sends FERC Nominees to Full Senate
  • Update on Millstone Power Station
  • CT Budget: Energy Industry Impact

REGIONAL AND INDUSTRY DEVELOPMENTS

FEDERAL ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION ACTICITY: U.S. SENATE ENERGY COMMITTEE SEND FERC NOMINEES TO FULL SENATE
On September 19, 2017, the U.S. Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee approved two nominees to serve as commissioners on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)—Kevin McIntyre and Richard Glick. McIntyre, a republican who will be designated as chairman, has been nominated to two terms ending in 2023. The Committee held a nomination hearing for McIntyre and Glick on September 7. The nominations now head to the Senate floor.

If confirmed, McIntyre and Glick will join Commissioners Cheryl LaFleur and Robert Powelson, and Acting Chairman Neil Chatterjee, returning a full complement of five commissioners to FERC.

CONNECTICUT

MILLSTONE POWER STATION UPDATE
The fireworks continue in the joint DEEP-PURA proceeding to study the economic viability of Millstone Station. Last week, in a response to a series of data requests from the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) and the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA), Dominion declined to answer a majority of inquiries about its revenue, expenses, cash flow and earnings. “Dominion Energy will not provide competitively sensitive or proprietary information related to this request … at this time,” the company wrote. DEEP and PURA staff will likely be forced to move forward using estimates based on public information. See articles from Hartford Business Journal and the Courant.

CONNECTICUT BUDGET: IMPACT ON THE ENERGY INDUSTRY
The Republican budget, that passed in dramatic fashion, includes a provision to remove PURA from the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, which has existed as a single agency since 2011. As passed, the bill also eliminates statutory authorization of the Bureau of Energy and Technology Policy. The Republican budget: (1) Reduces rates and decreases costs for Connecticut’s ratepayers, (2) ensures the reliability and safety of our state’s energy supply, (3) increases the use of clean energy and technologies that support clean energy, and (4) develops the state’s energy-related economy. The head of such authority shall be the chairperson elected in accordance with section 16-2 of the state statutes. Despite passing both the House and the Senate, Governor Malloy has threatened to veto the budget. See article from WNPR

CPES Policy Committee Update: August 28, 2017

This update features policy, regulatory, legislative, and regional developments in Connecticut and New England. The policy updates are compiled by the CPES New Energy Professionals Team. 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 Kathryn Dube, CPES Executive Director, via email: kdube@ctpower.org.

In this Update:

  • RGGI States Announced Proposed Program Changes Beginning in 2021
  • United State Department of Energy Releases Report on Electric Grid Reliability and Resilience
  • 2017 CES Technical Meeting: September 13

REGIONAL AND INDUSTRY DEVELOPMENTS

RGGI STATES ANNOUNCE PROPOSED PROGRAM CHANGES BEGINNING IN 2021
On August 23, 2017, the nine Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic states participating in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) announced proposed changes to the program beginning in 2021. The proposed changes, stemming from a 2016 Program Review, include a regional cap of 75,147,784 tons of CO2 in 2021, which will decline by 2.275 million tons of CO2 per year through 2030, resulting in a 30% reduction in the regional cap from 2020 to 2030. Additional adjustments have been proposed to account for the full bank of excess allowances at the end of 2020, as well as other proposed modifications.

The RGGI states will seek stakeholder comment on the draft program elements in a public meeting scheduled for September 25. Materials, including a stakeholder meeting notice and a supplementary table of year-by-year regional numbers, are posted to the RGGI, Inc. website.

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY RELEASES REPORT ON ELECTRIC GRID RELIABILITY AND RESILIENCE
On August 23, 2017, the US Department of Energy (DOE) released a report focused on a variety of challenges impacting the reliability and resilience of the electric grid. The report was initiated by the Secretary of Energy in April, with a focus on the effects of various economic and political factors on electric grid operations, including baseload generation powered by nuclear and coal.

The report highlights the significant impact of lower-cost natural gas on the retirement of generators that previously operated as baseload generation. The report also discusses the impacts of lower electricity demand (in part due to investments in energy efficiency), increased output from renewable resources, and various environmental regulations on nuclear and coal-fired power plants. DOE makes several recommendations for ways to improve reliability and resiliency, including for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to move forward with efforts to improve price formation in wholesale markets and potentially find ways to compensate assets providing important reliability characteristics.

The full report is available at: https://energy.gov/staff-report-secretary-electricity-markets-and-reliability

CONNECTICUT

DATES SET FOR THE DRAFT 2017 COMPREHENSIVE ENERGY STRATEGY TECHNICAL HEARINGS
The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) released a draft of the 2017 Comprehensive Energy Strategy (CES) on June 26th. They will hold a technical meeting on September 13, 2017 at 11:00 a.m. in Hearing Room 1, at DEEP’s New Britain Office, Ten Franklin Square, New Britain, Connecticut Directions to DEEP’s New Britain Office. The purpose of the technical meetings are to allow stakeholders an opportunity to present oral comments and to pose questions to DEEP staff and consultants involved in the preparation of the analytics and the findings in the draft Strategy. DEEP requests that you RSVP and send your questions to DEEP.EnergyBureau@ct.gov three business days prior to the scheduled date if you plan on attending and/or participating in any of the scheduled technical meetings. Visit the DEEP website for more information.

CPES Policy Committee Update: July 10, 2017

This update features policy, regulatory, legislative, and regional developments in Connecticut and New England. The policy updates are compiled by the CPES New Energy Professionals Team. 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 Kathryn Dube, CPES Executive Director, via email: kdube@ctpower.org.

This week’s feature:

  • Summer 2017 Update on Regional Transmission Investment
  • Office of Legislative Research Report on Acts Affecting Energy & Utilities
  • Three New PURA Dockets

REGIONAL AND INDUSTRY DEVELOPMENTS
Summer 2017 Update on Regional Transmission Investment
ISO New England recently published the June 2017 update to the Regional System Plan (RSP) Project List, which details Pool Transmission Facility (PTF) projects needed to ensure reliability in New England. Since the March 2017 update, 2 projects plus a portion of a third were cancelled, 16 upgrades were placed in service across Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island, and 2 new projects were added to the list. Additionally, some project cost estimates changed, and in-service dates for 4 projects were moved into 2022.

Since 2002, a cumulative total of 730 project components representing an investment of $8.4 billion have been placed into service to help ensure that New England’s transmission system continues to reliably and efficiently move electricity across the region.

For more information, visit the ISO Newswire.

PUBLIC UTILITIES REGULATORY AUTHORITY NEW DOCKETS:

On June 27, 2017, PURA established the following docket:

On June 28, 2017, PURA established the following docket:

On June 29, 2017, PURA established the following docket:

CONNECTICUT LEGISLATIVE UPDATE

The Office of Legislative Research recently released the special report on Acts Affecting Energy & Utilities.

The 2017 Regular Session adjourned on June 7, 2017.  Information about the Energy and Technology Committee, including committee meetings and public hearings, is available at: https://www.cga.ct.gov/et/

 CPES does not take a position on these legislative proposals; this is provided for informational purposes only to CPES members.

CPES Policy Committee Update: June 27, 2017

This update features policy, regulatory, legislative, and regional developments in Connecticut and New England. The policy updates are compiled by the CPES New Energy Professionals Team. 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 Kathryn Dube, CPES Executive Director, via email: kdube@ctpower.org.

This week’s feature:

  • ISO New England Releases Latest Version of Wholesale Markets Project Plan
  • Two Legislative Updates Concerning PURA Administrative Hearings and Audit Reports

REGIONAL AND INDUSTRY DEVELOPMENTS

ISO New England Releases Latest Version of Wholesale Markets Project Plan
The June update to ISO New England’s Wholesale Markets Project Plan (WMPP) is now online. The WMPP provides a biannual update on the market-related activities described in the ISO’s Annual Work Plan (AWP), as well as updates on additional market-related activities pursued by the ISO.

To view the updated WMPP, visit the ISO New England website.

 

CONNECTICUT LEGISLATIVE UPDATE

The 2017 Regular Session adjourned on June 7, 2017.  Information about the Energy and Technology Committee, including committee meetings and public hearings, is available at: https://www.cga.ct.gov/et/

The following legislation has been signed by the Governor that may be of interest to our members:

CPES does not take a position on these legislative proposals; this is provided for informational purposes only to CPES members.