After a review of the Millstone Power Station’s financials, Connecticut’s energy regulator has deemed the nuclear plant to be at risk of retirement beginning in 2023.
The determination late last week by the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) is an interim decision and not yet official, but assuming it holds, it gives the Dominion-owned plant — the largest in Connecticut — a leg up in an ongoing competitive process to win long-term contracts to sell power to the state’s utility companies.
The state-run procurement of zero-carbon energy (nuclear, wind, and solar) drew dozens of bids in September, and the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) could select winners before year’s end.
The stakes are high, as the legislature has authorized DEEP to select as much as 12 million megawatt hours of electricity to proceed with utility contract negotiations (Millstone generates about 17 million megawatt hours a year).
Also bidding are major offshore wind projects Vineyard Wind and Constitution Wind.
PURA’s interim decision follows DEEP and the Office of Consumer Counsel’s Oct. 1 recommendation to deem Millstone to be at risk. Those agencies estimated that Dominion otherwise might begin to retire the plant as soon as 2023, which PURA deemed a reasonable conclusion.
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