A lightning rod for controversy last year as he oversaw the birth of a new Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, Daniel C. Esty glided through a lengthy and ultimately uneventful confirmation hearing Tuesday -- even though he declined to promise approval of post-Irene seawalls.
Read moreThe solar industry in Connecticut and around the nation had been waiting years for what happened last Tuesday: The board of directors of the Clean Energy Finance and Investment Authority approved a new residential solar incentive program.
Then the solar folks saw the details.
Majority Democrats in the state Senate announced a multi-tiered initiative Wednesday to better safeguard electric service and to hold Connecticut's utilities accountable through new performance standards and penalties.
The proposal includes a $300 million state investment over the next decade to create "microgrids" -- sections of community centers with extra safeguards to ensure electric service remains available for grocery stores, gasoline stations and other vital service providers during large-scale outages.
You can chuckle all you want about outdoor wood furnaces and whether they're a subject the legislature should even bother with given that there are probably only a couple of thousand in the state.
Then you might want to get out of the line of fire.
Despite the sluggish economy, the time could be right for TOD -- transit-oriented development -- a generation-old concept in which municipal and economic growth are linked to mass transit. In fact, TOD is a current darling among many Connecticut constituencies.
Read moreRecycling programs should work like utilities do, said John Phetteplace, the solid waste manager for the town of Stonington. "You pay for your water; you pay for your electricity; you pay for your trash."
If you want to pay less, he said, generate less trash.
Read moreEasy to miss in the flurry around the Two Storms Panel report was an idea called the microgrid -- a small electric grid with its own generation source.
It's normally linked to a main electric grid, but when that suffers widespread interruptions, a microgrid can isolate itself to keep running. "All the pieces have been tried that we need to put together," said Dan Esty, head of the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. "Just not at the scale we're talking about."
Read moreThe Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority today ordered Northeast Utilities to delay finalizing its merger with NSTAR, concluding it has the regulatory jurisdiction to review and approve the proposed $4.7 billion merger involving the state's largest utility. The order is likely to result in PURA setting conditions on the merger, not stopping it.
Read moreWriting new utility standards into law, complete with penalties for poor performance, topped a list of initiatives Gov. Dannel P. Malloy unveiled Wednesday to enhance Connecticut's readiness for future weather-related crises. "We can't know exactly what emergency is coming next, but we can learn from past experience and improve," Malloy said. "The initiatives we're announcing today are the first step toward that goal."
Read moreState government is facing a deadline this spring to resolve an $80 million backlog in a fuel cleanup program involving leaking underground tanks -- or risk hundreds of gasoline stations going out of business. The backlogs stretch back nearly a decade.
Read moreSelective burying of electric wires to protect critical public services, dramatically enhanced tree-trimming and new utility performance standards with penalties topped a list of recommendations issued Monday by the panel studying Connecticut's readiness for future major storms.
With gas prices climbing again, a Meriden lawmaker and service stations want to put the brakes on a volatile state fuel tax that accelerates prices hikes even further. But with taxpayers still recovering from the $1.5 billion increase in all state taxes last year, any plan to revisit taxes in the coming legislative session could be doomed.
Read moreConnecticut could separate itself from its neighbors in a big way this year as it considers setting several new standards to ensure reliable electric service.
The Two Storm Panel -- which will release its assessment next week of Connecticut's emergency readiness in the aftermath of August's Tropical Storm Irene and the Oct. 29 nor'easter -- completed its fact-finding hearings in mid-December with a new estimate on the cost of increasing electrical service reliability statewide.
After the bumper 2011 legislative session, you might expect a modest wish list from legislators, environmentalists and conservation advocates for 2012. Not happening. Nearly a year after those groups and the Malloy administration began an energy and environmental reform quest that led to the new Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, an unprecedented comprehensive energy bill, scads of funding for clean water projects, commitments to open space and a host of other initiatives, all parties are back asking for more.
Read moreChristmas arrived a couple of days early for two solar power developers chosen Friday by the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection to build a total of 10 megawatts of clean power that will go into the electric grid. Despite a tight timetable that prompted complaints, developers proposed 21 projects, with the winners promising clean energy at lower-than-expected prices.
Read moreWhile state officials struggle to fund winter heating assistance, the gap between what Connecticut's poorest families need to heat their homes, and what they can afford, continues to grow, a new study reported Thursday. Boston economist Roger Colton, who prepared the study, called the gap "tremendous ... crushing."
Read moreThe most cost-efficient segment of the plan centers on trees which, Louth said, caused the "vast, vast, vast majority" of the more than 1.4 million outages that affected the state between the two storms. CL&P would add $366 million to its tree-trimming budget in total over the next decade.
Read moreThe environmental community is giving DEEP -- the new Department of Energy and Environmental Protection -- praise, even if it's failing to meet a number of specific deadlines. "If given the choice between doing it well by July 1 or doing it half-baked by Jan. 1, I'll take well by July 1," said Chris Phelps of Environment Connecticut.
Read moreTown safety zones; tougher construction standards; performance standards for utility executives; burying some power lines: Panel hears array of suggestions to mitigate potential damage caused by future storms.
Read moreAfter a balky start, due in no small part to the budget uncertainties in the first half of the year, the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection is on the verge of launching its first major energy efficiency initiative: a program to upgrade dozens of state properties.
Read more
"This is an investment worthy of being made."
Gov. Malloy to charter school students who had been bused to the Capitol Tuesday evening to thank him for proposing an increase in funds for charters.
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Top donors to the CT congressional delegation
1. United Technologies, $197,500
2. Sempra Energy, $133,100
3. General Electric, $121,775
4. Koskoff Koskoff & Bieder, $106,510
5. Goldman Sachs, $99,500
Source: Maplight
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