Executives, lawmakers talk about how to increase energy supply, bring down cost

Energy prices will likely be a major issue when lawmakers return to the capitol in roughly two months.

Some state officials talked with energy industry executives Wednesday about forming a long-term energy strategy for the state.

“We have everybody’s attention right now, everybody’s focused on energy,” Rep. Jonathan Steinberg (D-Westport) said before several panels as part of Rebellion Group’s Shaping CT’s Future Series in Cheshire.

Speakers on the panels included Steinberg, as well as representatives from the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority, Eversource, United Illuminating, the Millstone Power Plant and the renewable energy industry.

Many of the speakers agreed the state needs to find ways to increase the energy supply in the state.

Consumers and businesses are combining to use more energy and that’s likely to increase as more people own electric cars and emerging businesses, like data centers and artificial intelligence, grow.

But how does the state meet that demand in a cost-effective way? Steinberg said lawmakers are still mindful of the outrage from ratepayers over sky-high bills over the summer.

“The people of the state of Connecticut are not happy with the status quo,” Steinberg said. “We have to find a way to continue to grow the state of Connecticut.”

The renewable energy industry and trying to position itself as an alternative to grow supply in an environmentally conscious way.

“Any form of renewable, clean energy facility is the kind of investments we should be making,” Robert Silverberg, a managing partner with the firm Morris London, said.

He said Connecticut could look at a range of options including wind, solar and geothermal power.

Some critics have pushed back, noting procurement contracts for wind and solar are significantly more expensive than traditional electricity. Some of that cost is to help build out more production.

Silverberg said private companies would be willing to step in and make the upfront investments needed to build more facilities if Connecticut and other states agree to buy the energy.

But Michael O’Conner, site vice president for Millstone Power Plant, said those renewable energy sources are too reliant on the weather.

“The wind and solar are at best intermittent resources, they’ll have a power factor that can be counted but it won’t be constant,” O'Conner said.

He said expanding nuclear power production would be a more reliable source that also doesn’t produce greenhouse emissions. He added facilities like Millstone are far safer than they were decades ago.

Those ideas would require polices from the legislature and governor.

Eversource Senior Vice President of Engineering Digaunto Chatterjee said the state has been making each individual decision without looking at the impact on Connecticut’s overall energy landscape.

He said someone, possibly the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, needs to come up with a strategic long-term plan that looks at these options and how it would impact price.

Then policymakers and regulators could make informed decisions about what they want to do.

“What I'm talking about is figuring out the energy strategy of the state, it’s a much bigger elephant,” Chatterjee said.

Chatterjee said lawmakers could also have this information available when considering policies that go into the public benefits portion of the bill.

Prior to the panel discussions, Steinberg said he agreed with a lot of the ideas floated by speakers.

But he also noted any projects to produce energy would require investments. Federal aid could be available, but Steinberg expects some of those costs would fall on ratepayers.

“It’s a bit of a burden on people, I acknowledge that,” Steinberg said. “They’re going to want to hear how I'm lowering the rates. I'm not promising that.”