By William Opalka

Connecticut’s Department of Energy and Environmental Protection issued its integrated resource plan last week, warning of natural gas pipeline constraints and stiffer competition for renewable resources.

Although energy efficiency is expected to flatten load growth, the blueprint for the 10-year period through 2024 predicts the New England region will need new resources to offset the retirement of more than 3,000 MW of generation.

Three new Connecticut generators cleared in ISO-NE’s Forward Capacity Auction for 2018-2019 in February: a 725-MW combined-cycle plant in Oxford and two 45-MW combustion turbines in Wallingford. (See Exelon, LS Power Join CPV in Adding New England Capacity.)

The outcome of the capacity auction, which ISO-NE officials hailed as a success for their new Pay-for-Performance rules, had been uncertain when Connecticut issued a draft of the IRP in December. (See Connecticut: Power Prices to Rise 63% by 2024.)

The IRP advocates a regional approach to expand natural gas infrastructure. DEEP says that at least 1 Bcf/d of natural gas transportation capacity or equivalent gas storage is needed for at least 30 days during the winter.

The final IRP also noted a tightening in the availability of renewable power, saying that as neighboring states try to reach their renewable energy goals, competition for the limited supply could cause a shortage by 2017.

Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island are joining together to procure new Class I Renewable Energy projects: wind, solar, small hydro, biomass and fuel cells of at least 20 MW and large-scale hydropower projects constructed after Jan. 1, 2003. (See New England States Combine on Clean Energy Procurement.)