Free Daily Headlines :

  • COVID-19
  • Vaccine Info
  • Money
  • Politics
  • Education
  • Health
  • Justice
  • More
    • Environment
    • Economic Development
    • Gaming
    • Investigations
    • Social Services
    • TRANSPORTATION
  • Opinion
    • CT Viewpoints
    • CT Artpoints
DONATE
Reflecting Connecticut’s Reality.
    COVID-19
    Vaccine Info
    Money
    Politics
    Education
    Health
    Justice
    More
    Environment
    Economic Development
    Gaming
    Investigations
    Social Services
    TRANSPORTATION
    Opinion
    CT Viewpoints
    CT Artpoints

LET�S GET SOCIAL

Show your love for great stories and out standing journalism

Widespread dissatisfaction with energy bill process and changes to renewable power

  • Environment
  • by Jan Ellen Spiegel
  • March 26, 2013
  • View as "Clean Read" "Exit Clean Read"

Plans to rush major energy legislation through the General Assembly as soon as Wednesday are raising cries of foul from dozens of normally unaligned groups.

Their concerns are prompted in part by timing: It’s two months before the draft report most of the legislation is based on finishes its required public review.

The issue has even split the leadership of the Energy and Technology Committee, which last week approved the measure 16-8.

RPS

Breakdown of state’s renewable energy sources (DEEP draft report)

The main controversy stems from what many see as a compromised legislative process that has prompted descriptions such as “sham,” “flawed” and “rammed through.” But there are also worries about the substance of the measure, which many view as a step back from the state’s commitment to renewable energy. It would make Connecticut, a longtime leader in renewable energy, the first state in the nation to retreat.

“If that’s indeed something we want to do, we should do it after a full review of the consequences,” said Rep. Matthew Lesser, D-Middletown, a committee member who voted against the bill, SB 1138. “What I am concerned about is the chaos that potentially it puts into our renewable industry and into the power industry in general.”

Part of the legislation would authorize the state to participate in regional renewable power purchasing, particularly wind. That is urgent because the federal production tax credit for wind is only in place until the end of the year.

There is widespread support for that part of the bill.

Not so for the rest of it, which deals with the state’s renewable portfolio standard (RPS) — a clunky term that refers to how much renewable power a state requires itself to purchase.

Connecticut’s standard, written in 1998, has been among the nation’s most ambitious. It requires the state to buy 20 percent of its power from the cleanest generators, like wind and solar, by 2020. There are yearly targets leading up to that, and financial penalties if they’re missed — which the state has done the last two years.

In recognition that it would continue to miss targets, incur hundreds of millions of dollars in penalities and that most of the state’s renewable energy comes from dirtier sources like landfill gas, in 2011 the legislature mandated the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection to study its renewable portfolio standard and issue a report by Feb. 1, 2012.

That study was finally delivered March 19, 2013, literally during DEEP Commissioner Dan Esty’s testimony at a contentious Energy Committee hearing to discuss the legislation that had been completed four days before the study’s release. Committee members and interest groups including environmentalists, business organizations and power producers were alarmed by what they felt was a backward process — a vote planned even though the public comment period and final RPS study time frame runs until May 13.

Those same groups were also alarmed by a key provision — essentially a rollback of the RPS and what appeared to many as a special deal for large-scale Canadian hydropower.

Better as two bills?

“One should not change one’s RPS goal trivially or frequently; we should do so deliberately and infrequently,” said Rep. Jonathan Steinberg, D-Westport, who said he was pleased the RPS was being examined. He voted against the bill, preferring, as did other committee members and interest groups, that it be split into two pieces of legislation: one addressing the urgent authority for regional procurement, and the second dealing with changes to the renewable portfolio standards. “For me it was about the process,” Steinberg said.

Among the nearly 100 pieces of testimony on the bill, most, even some who supported the legislation in principle said it was difficult to comment without the RPS report. After the hearing, a coalition of environmental groups sent a letter to legislative leadership requesting that the bill be split into two.

“Is it the ideal process? No. But it is not set in stone either and would not be the first time things have gone through this iteration in the legislative process,” said Jessie Stratton, DEEP’s point person on the legislation and, ironically, a former legislator who wrote the original RPS language.

Stratton defended the RPS changes noting that the state would still have the most aggressive RPS in New England.

What those changes would include is extending the standard to 2025 with a 25 percent renewable energy level but, beginning next year, an increasing percentage would be available specifically for large-scale Canadian hydropower reaching 4.5 percent in 2020 and 7.5 percent in 2025.

The net effect would be to lower the RPS for all others, making Connecticut the first state in the nation to do that.

“This is NOT designed to be an RPS rollback,” said Rep. Lonnie Reed, D-Branford, co-chairwoman of the committee, in an email. “The intention is to replace dirty out-of-state biomass and landfill gas with more wind, solar, fuel cell and other, what I call legitimate clean renewables,” she wrote, referring to another part of the bill that imposes tighter emissions restrictions on renewable facilities.

RPS2

Breakdown of where state gets its renewable energy (note that just 11% comes from within the state)

Stratton said hydro would still have to compete with other renewables. “There’s nothing here that says we have to buy hydro,” she said. “I guarantee you this governor and this commissioner are not going to pay high prices for hydro.”

Small businesses concerned

But many think the scenario would have a dampening effect on the full renewable spectrum, especially small in-state power producers. Business and industry representatives feared a loss of in-state jobs on top of the flow of American dollars to Canada.

“Members of REEBA (the Renewable Energy and Efficiency Business Association) are very concerned for the future,” said Paul Michaud, an attorney who is the group’s executive director. “They’ve invested a lot of resources in Connecticut based on renewable programs and the RPS, and now the big concern is that in future years hydro can basically assume all the RPS obligation and we won’t have any need for in-state renewable energy.

“What it tells a lot of businesses is Connecticut really isn’t that business friendly, and that it’s a very volatile place from a business regulatory climate.”

Evidence that could happen came almost immediately. A story by Platts Electric Power Daily quoted Barbara Kates-Garnick, Massachusetts undersecretary of energy, saying: “We have serious concerns about how Connecticut’s proposed changes to its renewable portfolio standard will affect the region’s renewable market.”

Many energy and environmental groups in the region wondered why large-scale hydro needed an RPS carve out, since it is a mature industry well over a half-century old. Environmentalists noted that hydro has its ecological downside, with dams that flood large swaths of land and transmission lines snaking through wilderness, though most also said big hydro can be good if it protects a river’s natural flow.

But many said the experience with hydro in Vermont showed it was not always as inexpensive as advertised, and the way the legislation protects hydro flies in the face of DEEP’s and the administration’s long-stated goal of not picking energy winners and losers.

“This is absolutely about picking winners,” said Chris Phelps of Environment Connecticut. “If you carve out for hydro, all you’re doing is rearranging the deck chairs at best, and in their plan you’re throwing some of the deck chairs overboard.”

Roger Smith of Clean Water Action called the notion of finishing the study after the legislative process runs its course a “sham.” However, committee co-Chairman Sen. Bob Duff, D-Norwalk, said that the effective date of the RPS portion of the bill was changed to July 1, so there would still be time for a new bill to fix pieces of any previously approved RPS legislation after the final RPS report in May.

But many doubted that scenario would occur.

“Hundreds of million of dollars worth of energy decisions are going to made based on this. They’ve got to do it right the first time,” Smith said. “This is a disservice to the public and a disserve to the legislature.”

Ulterior motive?

Critics also said publicly that they think there is an ulterior motive in the special treatment for hydro — a clearer path for the troubled Northern Pass deal between Hydro-Quebec and Northeast Utilities.

Northern Pass is a planned, $1.2 billon, 180-mile transmission line from Canada into New England, largely through New Hampshire, which has fought the project for years, slowing any movement toward actually building it to a crawl. What better way to move it along, said Christophe Courchesne, a New Hampshire-based staff attorney for the Conservation Law Foundation, than to have a sure market for that power.

Courchesne said NU and Hydro-Quebec — notable for being among the very few groups supporting SB 1138 — have a transmission service agreement that is very lucrative for NU. It was negotiated when gas prices were at least three times higher than they are now, but it runs out in February 2014. NU would need an extension, which could also force them to renegotiate less favorable terms.

“I’m not a real conspiracy theorist, but it’s very clear to me at least that the economics of the project as originally conceived by NU warrant an urgency and desperation to have some progress,” Courchesne said.

But DEEP and Energy Committee leadership denied that was the case. “That somehow this whole thing is to promote Northern Pass couldn’t be further from the truth,” Stratton said. She said existing lines could handle the hydro even in 2025.

The point, said Duff, the committee co-chairman, “is to help reduce ratepayer costs.” And for all the bill’s faults, he thinks it will do that. “I think some people are trying to make perfect be the enemy of good.”

Sign up for CT Mirror's free daily news summary.

Free to Read. Not Free to Produce.

The Connecticut Mirror is a nonprofit newsroom. 90% of our revenue comes from people like you. If you value our reporting please consider making a donation. You'll enjoy reading CT Mirror even more knowing you helped make it happen.

YES, I'LL DONATE TODAY

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jan Ellen Spiegel

SEE WHAT READERS SAID

RELATED STORIES
Opposed by GOP, Lamont campaigns for climate initiative
by Mark Pazniokas

In promoting the Transportation and Climate Initiative, Lamont is working to succeed where he failed two years ago on tolls.

Senate sends data center incentives and town aid pledge bills to Lamont’s desk
by Keith M. Phaneuf

Senate endorsed an omnibus fiscal bill that lays the groundwork for a major boost in PILOT aid to many municipalities.

Lamont’s budget keeps transportation program afloat through 2026 with new truck fee
by Keith M. Phaneuf

Gov. Ned Lamont's new budget would keep Connecticut's transportation program solvent through 2026 with a new fee on trucks.

CT has big plans for tackling climate change. Now it has to make them happen.
by Jan Ellen Spiegel

Gov. Ned Lamont wants to expand the role of the Connecticut Green Bank to include funding for climate change projects.

New Haven lawmaker would ban exclusionary beach policies
by Keith M. Phaneuf

A New Haven lawmaker wants to stop municipalities from imposing exorbitant fees that restrict many out-of-towners from using their beaches.

Support Our Work

Show your love for great stories and outstanding journalism.

$
Select One
  • Monthly
  • Yearly
  • Once
Artpoint painter
CT ViewpointsCT Artpoints
Opinion Playing politics with people’s healthcare is always wrong
by Jody Barr, Jan Hochadel, Jeff Leake, Dave Glidden, Carl Chism and Mike Holmes

For the past decade, towns, school boards and cities throughout the state have been able to provide their employees high-quality healthcare through the Connecticut Partnership […]

Opinion A pandemic lesson for CSCU leaders: affordable, accessible childcare is critical
by Brandy Sellitto

If there can be anything good that has come from the last year and the horrors of living through this pandemic, perhaps it is the renewed focus on the need for affordable and accessible childcare. As a teen mom, I know first-hand the need for access to safe, reliable, and developmentally appropriate childcare at an affordable price.

Opinion Children’s mental health needs continue to soar: The second pandemic lawmakers must address
by Gabriella Izzo

“She was my happy kid,” a parent told me when I cared for her child who was experiencing a mental health crisis. My patient recovered medically within a few days, however, she remained in the hospital for over a week waiting for placement at a psychiatric rehabilitation facility. We must improve our mental health system and you can be a critical part of making that happen.

Opinion H.B. 6620 — A closer reading of a flawed legislative proposal
by Ann M Mulready

The Connecticut Association for Reading Research (CARR) is deeply concerned regarding H.B. 6620, An Act Concerning the Right to Read and Addressing Certain Opportunity Gaps. It is based on a concept that is seriously problematic in that it subordinates comprehension to fluency.

Artwork Grand guidance
by Anne:Gogh

In a world of systemic oppression aimed towards those of darker skintones – representation matters. We are more than our equity elusive environments, more than […]

Artwork Shea
by Anthony Valentine

Shea is a story about race and social inequalities that plague America. It is a narrative that prompts the question, “Do you know what it’s […]

Artwork The Declaration of Human Rights
by Andres Chaparro

Through my artwork I strive to create an example of ideas that reflect my desire to raise social consciousness, and cultural awareness. Jazz music is […]

Artwork ‘A thing of beauty. Destroy it forever’
by Richard DiCarlo | Derby

During times like these it’s often fun to revisit something familiar and approach things with a different slant. I have been taking some Pop culture […]

Twitter Feed
A Twitter List by CTMirror

Engage

  • Reflections Tickets & Sponsorships
  • Events
  • Donate
  • Newsletter Sign-Up
  • Submit to Viewpoints
  • Submit to ArtPoints
  • Economic Indicator Dashboard
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Commenting Guidelines
  • Legal Notices
  • Contact Us

About

  • About CT Mirror
  • Announcements
  • Board
  • Staff
  • Sponsors and Funders
  • Donors
  • Friends of CT Mirror
  • History
  • Financial
  • Policies
  • Strategic Plan

Opportunity

  • Advertising and Sponsorship
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Use of Photography
  • Work for Us

Go Deeper

  • Steady Habits Podcast
  • Economic Indicator Dashboard
  • Five Things

The Connecticut News Project, Inc. 1049 Asylum Avenue, Hartford, CT 06105. Phone: 860-218-6380

© Copyright 2021, The Connecticut News Project. All Rights Reserved. Website by Web Publisher PRO