CT Will Need a Lot More (Green) Juice to Achieve Clean Energy Goals

Lee D. Hoffman, Energy and Environmental attorney at Pullman & Comley, published an article in the Hartford Business Journal addressing what steps Connecticut needs to take in order to achieve their clean energy goal to lower its greenhouse gas emissions by over 80% by 2050.

This reduction of emissions will affect every aspect of the economy, including the cost of the proposed electric vehicle mandate. "It’s an open question as to whether the region will produce enough electricity to meet anticipated demands, not only from electric vehicles, but for other zero-carbon mandates as well," Lee says. The New England region would likely need to double its electric generation over the next 30 years to meet the needs, all while doing so with zero-carbon electricity resources and replacing existing fossil-fired resources.

While Connecticut has a leading edge in the development of hydrogen fuel cells for transportation, we cannot rely on one of the "hydrogen hubs" the Biden administration was presenting as a source for clean vehicle fuel, leaving our region to focus more on clean electricity generation and storage. "The Connecticut Siting Council approved the first two large-scale energy storage projects in November, and more are on the way. These energy storage projects are essentially utility-scale batteries that allow electricity to be stored for future use. They provide electricity during periods of peak demand and then recharge overnight when demand is lower," Lee explains. 

Lee outlines additional options to explore to generate more electricity in Connecticut and points out that we are likely to see new legislation in the upcoming 2024 session that will hopefully lead to development of new, cleaner technology than what is currently available. "With the U.S. Naval Submarine Base and Electric Boat in our southeastern corner, Connecticut is one of the leaders in understanding and producing small-scale modular nuclear reactors. The legislature called upon DEEP to evaluate the feasibility of developing small modular reactors and advanced nuclear reactors, among other things, in order to ensure Connecticut’s energy future," says Lee.

To read the full article, please visit the Hartford Business Journal website.