PURA Update

CCM Provides Important PURA Updates

Info on Broadband, Weather Management, and Net Metering

One of the most important aspects of our advocacy is to ensure that municipalities have a seat at the table no matter if it is at the Legislature or a specific department. The Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) is one such crucial partner for municipalities. This past January, we had occasion to submit joint comments with the Council of Small Towns (COST) on One-Touch Make Ready programs, as well as important updates on weather & load capacity management and tariff programs for net metering credits.

ONE-TOUCH MAKE READY

One-Touch-Make Ready is a process by which one company works with utility poles to rearrange existing attachments on a pole (‘make ready’ work), which avoids the delay of sending multiple unique crews to do this work sequentially. OTMR programs help facilitate the expansion and enhancement of broadband services to better meet underserved and unserved areas across the state. Both CCM and COST are strong supporters of the expansion of these services to minimize or eliminate the digital divide and enhance our preparedness for a modern, digital economy.

WEATHER + LOAD CAPACITY MANAGEMENT

CCM participated in an education technical meeting hosted by PURA in which the Companies (Eversource and UI) and ISO New England presented their plans for potential blackout events and energy load capacity management. They also touched very briefly on their emergency response plans. The main focus of PURA is to encourage the Companies to outline, in more laments terms, the information necessary for towns and other stakeholders to react and respond to during these events. The communication in many past events has been an issue and the goal here is to fine tune it so that it is communicated in a language everyone can understand and thus take action to mitigate and restore. There is a request for comments that is being issued today ahead of a second meeting on this topic on February 7th.

TARIFF PROGRAM FOR NET METERING CREDITS

Per a legislative change a couple years ago – PURA initiated a docket a couple years back to reorganize and establish a new renewable energy credits program for both residential and non-residential solar projects. Many towns have benefited from the former Virtual Net Metering program which allowed them to install solar or other renewable energy in one part of the community and share the benefit across all buildings/ municipal accounts within the community. Residents also benefited from installing renewables and selling back the excess energy to the grid. Now the PURA has established a new program – the gist of those two programs can be found here - this new webpage that highlights the four new programs that launch in 2022, including the Non-Residential Renewable Energy Solutions, which replaces VNM programs.

• RECORDING: Connecticut’s New Clean Energy Tariff Program

• PRESENTATION: Connecticut’s New Clean Energy Tariff Program

For more information, you can contact Donna Hamzy Carroccia, Advocacy Manager at dhamzy@ccm-ct.org.