In HBJ’s Sept. 17 article (“Could clean energy become an election issue?”) a survey by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research found 73 percent of Connecticut voters support moving our state to 100 percent renewable energy over the next decade.This comes as no surprise as state residents appreciate energy reliability, clean air and the jobs created by […]
Get Instant Access to This Article
Subscribe to Hartford Business Journal and get immediate access to all of our subscriber-only content and much more.
- Critical Hartford and Connecticut business news updated daily.
- Immediate access to all subscriber-only content on our website.
- Bi-weekly print or digital editions of our award-winning publication.
- Special bonus issues like the Hartford Book of Lists.
- Exclusive ticket prize draws for our in-person events.
Click here to purchase a paywall bypass link for this article.
In HBJ's Sept. 17 article (“Could clean energy become an election issue?”) a survey by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research found 73 percent of Connecticut voters support moving our state to 100 percent renewable energy over the next decade.
This comes as no surprise as state residents appreciate energy reliability, clean air and the jobs created by the clean energy industry. And while cost, durability and energy storage remain issues to be addressed, Connecticut is on a trajectory to achieve this goal for cleaner, cheaper and more reliable energy.
For example, Connecticut's Low and Zero Emissions Renewable Energy Credit (LREC/ZREC) program uses a competitive reverse auction to select the lowest-cost renewable energy projects, which helped drive down renewable energy cost and reduce the economic impact on ratepayers.
Class I Renewable Energy ZREC technologies include wind and solar generation with no emissions. Class I Renewable Energy LREC technologies include fuel cells, which convert hydrogen or hydrogen-rich fuels into electricity and heat with no or low emissions. The accepted average ZREC bids for large and medium-sized ZREC projects dropped from $133 per REC in 2012 to a range of $67 to $95 per REC in early 2018. Fuel cell LRECs were even more competitive with an average accepted bid price of $48.15 per REC in 2018, reduced from a 2012 average bid price of $66.86 per REC.
Although the program does come with a cost, it is widely recognized as innovative and proactive to reduce the expense of renewable energy, decrease air emissions and greenhouse gases, improve long-term energy reliability and sustainability, and in some cases increase opportunities for economic development and job creation. For example, the Class I Renewable fuel cell industry has a strong original equipment manufacturer presence and manufacturing supply chain hub in Connecticut.
Currently, the Connecticut hydrogen fuel cell industry annually provides over $600 million in revenue and investment and over $30 million in state and local tax revenue to Connecticut. Further, with additional investment and deployment, the economic return from this industry could exceed $1 billion with another $840 million coming from the Connecticut supply chain.
Manufacturers, legislators, regulators and electric distribution companies must continually strive to reduce energy cost, improve energy reliability, install energy storage systems to bank power from solar and wind facilities, and look for ways to synergistically improve the Connecticut economy.
However, the state's LREC/ZREC program provides a significant opportunity for Connecticut to increase use of competitively procured clean energy directly at consumer and grid sites; increase energy reliability for the grid and consumers; and create opportunities for job creation and economic development.
Is renewable energy an election issue? Yes, and justifiably so.
Joel Rinebold is director of energy for the Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology and chairman of the Connecticut Hydrogen-Fuel Cell Coalition.
