Eversource is asking Connecticut to authorize $700 million in borrowing to blunt losses from Tropical Storm Isaias and COVID-19.
Public Utilities Regulatory Authority
Posted inEnergy & Environment, Money
Breakup Eversource? Or just closely regulate?
Eversource stock fell, then rallied during a contentious hearing Monday. Its reputation with lawmakers is unlikely to rebound so easily.
Posted inEnergy & Environment
Eversource was on a victory lap. Then came Isaias
When the lights went out, Eversource had just come off its best year.
Posted inPolitics
PURA: Eversource was unprepared for its 800,000 outages
The chair of the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority said Wednesday that Eversource badly underestimated the threat of Tropical Storm Isaias.
Posted inEnergy & Environment
Soaring power shut-offs in Connecticut prompt searching discussion
The number of Eversource customers disconnected for nonpayment has doubled in the past four years. Consumer advocates want to know why.
Posted inEnergy & Environment
State says Millstone will get a final chance to prove it needs relief
State energy officials recommended Thursday that the Millstone nuclear power station be allowed to offer further evidence of financial distress as part of a new procurement process that could enhance the profitability of Connecticut’s biggest source of zero-carbon electricity.
Posted inEnergy & Environment
Millstone bill passes House, goes to governor
After blocking similar bills over two years, the House of Representatives voted 75 to 66 for final passage Thursday of a measure variously derided as a windfall for a major energy company and praised as a responsible first step toward stabilizing the finances of Connecticut’s last nuclear plant.
Posted inEnergy & Environment, Money
Oh, another wrinkle on budget deal: Millstone’s profitability
One of the non-fiscal elements of the tentative budget deal calls for the House Democratic leadership to allow a vote on a bill designed to improve the profitability of Connecticut’s last nuclear power plant, Millstone, the subject of an epic lobbying campaign by its owner, Dominion Energy.
Posted inEnergy & Environment, Money
On CT’s budget, it turns out there may be a nuclear option
Call it a sign of desperation or a mark of creativity. One of the unconventional revenue-raising schemes considered by legislators in pursuit of an overdue budget would have Connecticut extract millions of dollars from Dominion Energy in return for legislation boosting the profitability of electricity generated by the company’s Millstone nuclear power plant.
Posted inEnergy & Environment, Politics
Katie Dykes, state’s energy policy strategist, to join PURA
Katie Dykes, a key voice on energy policy as a deputy commissioner at the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, was nominated Thursday by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy to serve as a commissioner of the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority.
Posted inPolitics
Arthur House to leave PURA, oversee cybersecurity for state
Arthur H. House, who has had an up and down relationship with Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, stepped down Wednesday as chairman of the three-member Public Utilities Regulatory Authority to become the state’s first chief of cybersecurity.
Posted inPolitics
Cable, satellite TV balk at paying for new ‘civic network’
The cable and satellite television industries are lining up against a proposal for a new State Civic Network that would provide unprecedented cable and streaming video access to the legislature, courts and other aspects of public life in Connecticut. Their customers would pay for the new network, though proponents say it could cost as little as 40 cents per subscriber.
Posted inEnergy & Environment
Shared solar program in Connecticut stalled over who pays for what
Connecticut’s shared solar pilot program has already missed its first deadline and faces even more delays. In the meantime, arguments over how to pay for clean energy are bubbling up again.
Posted inEnergy & Environment
Eversource and UI electric rates heading for big drop in July
Electric rates charged by Connecticut’s two utilities are headed for major reductions for the six months beginning July 1. Eversource Energy standard offer rates for residential customers will drop by more than one-third, and United Illuminating rates will drop nearly one-third.
Posted inEnergy & Environment, Politics
PURA commissioners decline Malloy’s invitation to resign
The chairman of the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority said Tuesday that he and his colleagues saw no reason to accept Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s public invitation to resign over the question of whether the authority was sufficiently independent and adequately staffed under the Malloy administration.