Connecticut sees itself as an energy technology and policy innovator, but much work remains to help it maintain its leadership position, speakers said at the annual Connecticut Power and Energy Society’s Energy, Environment and Development Conference last week.
Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy said he is looking forward to the Clean Power Plan, which he believes will be upheld in the courts. “In Connecticut and New England, what these rules are saying is ‘finally, the rest of the country is going to have to live by the same set of rules that we’ve had to live by,’” he said.
New England has long complained of being at the ‘end of the tailpipe’ from Midwest polluters. Malloy said the CPP will be good for his state’s environment — and its economy. “I think it will level the playing field, at least with respect with our ability to compete with other states [and] with respect to the cost of the eventual product, electric energy.”
David Kooris, director of the City of Bridgeport’s office of planning and economic development, recounted the difficulties the city had winning state and federal regulatory approval for a 1.6-MW anaerobic digester and cogeneration facility built near a wastewater treatment plant. “The regulatory environment isn’t yet ready to accommodate some of the new technologies we’re talking about. That was a tough regulatory process and [state environmental regulators] were working closely with us, knowing it was an objective of theirs. But it was fairly arduous just because of the outdated aspects of the regulations.”
Daniel Sosland, president of the Acadia Center, said technology is creating a historic transition in the electric industry. “The question is how fast will we get there. Will markets drive changes? Will policy keep up?” he asked. “The system that we’ve built and has been reliable is a one-way power flow … but in the system we’re building now, the centerpiece is in your community. It’s in your home, it’s in your place of work.”
Jonathan Milley is director of business development for Vionx Energy, which is developing flow battery technology that proponents say will deliver long-duration energy storage at lower costs than lithium-ion batteries. He talked about storage’s challenges in winning a place in the market. “Storage is trying to find a leg in the three-legged stool in between generation, transmission and distribution, and doesn’t quite know how to fit into the equation.”
Katie Scharf Dykes, the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection’s deputy commissioner for energy, spoke of accommodating state public policy goals in deregulated wholesale energy markets. “I hope there’s a peaceful resolution, a productive resolution,” she said. “State public policy goals are not discretionary whims; we have a statutory mandate to cut carbon, and we have an obligation to our ratepayers and our children to address this challenge.”
Paul Hibbard, vice president of The Analysis Group, said resolving cost allocation questions is essential to overcoming the region’s infrastructure challenges. “The real confusing piece is what consumers will pay for which pieces of infrastructure, how much will that cost and what might be the alternatives.”
– William Opalka