State regulators selected four projects last week in hopes of boosting the amount of available electricity for Connecticut consumers and lowering rates.
Long-term contracts for the chosen projects, worth more than $300 million, still need final approval from the Department of Public Utility Control.
The projects include a natural gas-fired plant in Middletown, an oil-fired plant for peak power demand in Stamford, a natural gas-fired peak demand plant in Waterbury, and a statewide energy efficiency initiative to replace inefficient lighting and air conditioning units.
“This is a significant and concrete step in transforming Connecticut generation facilities from old, expensive and dirty generation to new, clean and efficient facilities that will help to drive down electric prices,” DPUC Chairman Donald Downes said in a statement.
The projects would generate 787 new megawatts of electricity capacity for Connecticut, the bulk of which would come from the Middletown plant. One megawatt can provide enough power to fuel 500 to 1,000 homes.
AG Objects
But Attorney General Richard Blumenthal called on DPUC to hold off on approving the contracts for the new plants, which will be built using ratepayers’ money. He questioned whether the projects will lead to lower rates and said regulators should wait for the General Assembly to pass legislation that he believes will cut the price of power.
“Under the proposed contracts announced today, ratepayers would pour investment money into power company pockets — lucrative private contracts to build new plants — but fail to require reasonable rates from these future plants,” Blumenthal said. “Ratepayers will assume all the risk, but powerful power companies will assume all the benefit.”
The selected projects would receive payments for up to 15 years, with the amount depending on the number of megawatts a plant can produce.
The DPUC announcement Monday stems from legislation passed in 2005 that provided an incentive for building new power plants in the state. Lawmakers were responding to the rising energy prices, aging plants and new federally imposed surcharges on electricity.
The idea is that by assuring that the plants are built, the market price for power will go down, or at least stabilize, according to Downes.
Roger Smith, campaign director for Clean Water Action, said he’s disappointed that the statewide energy efficiency proposal would only save 5 megawatts. But overall, he said the plan to build new, cleaner plants should be helpful for Connecticut.
“I think it’s a good thing in terms of reliability. This should help keep the lights on in Connecticut,” he said. “From an environmental perspective it’s likely to be positive because we’re going to be bringing on some new generation that’s going to have a lot lower emission rates than today’s power plants.”
But Smith said it’s not clear if these plants will replace some of Connecticut’s older, dirtier fossil fuel plants, known as the Sooty Six.
The DPUC is scheduled to make its final decision on the contracts on May 3. The contracts are supposed to be signed on May 18 and a public hearing and review will be held sometime in July.
