Connecticut Department of Energy & Environmental Protection

Emergency Burn Ban In Effect 10/26/24 - An emergency burn ban is now in effect for all Connecticut State Parks, Forests, and Wildlife Management areas, prohibiting the use of all outdoor grills, firepits, and campfires, and the kindling and use of flame outdoors. DEEP and local agencies are working to contain several active fires across the state. Please avoid all affected State Parks and Forests, as well as the blue-blazed Mattabesett Trail. The Enduro Trail in Voluntown and portions of North Stonington within the Pachaug State Forest are closed at this time. Rocky Neck State Park is also closed until further notice due to a brush fire. Please note that today's forest fire danger report remains at a 'very high' or 'extreme' level. More information about the current fire danger, burn ban and recommended safety measures can be found here

Grid Scale Competitive Procurements

In order to continue making progress towards the state’s greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets, diversify fuel sources, and improve electric reliability, DEEP has conducted procurements for grid-scale renewable and zero carbon resources to provide the support needed to bring these resources online.

DEEP conducted its first procurement of renewable energy in 2011 using authority from Section 127 of Connecticut Public Act 11-80, which directed that 30 MW of Class I renewables be procured through an open, competitive RFP, and the state’s EDCs were authorized to own and operate no more than 10 MW each of that authority.

Instead of utility-only procurements, DEEP has the responsibility for procurement of renewable resources to maintain the competitiveness of the solicitation and mitigate potential utility conflicts of interest.

Current Procurements

DEEP is conducting 2023 procurements for new zero carbon electricity generating resources and offshore wind. The purpose of these procurements is to secure cost-effective zero carbon resources that can improve the reliability of the region’s electric grid, while also improving energy affordability by reducing dependence on fossil fuel resources that are subject to volatile pricing and delivery constraints. The procurements are also consistent with decarbonizing Connecticut’s electricity grid by 2040; achieving the state’s economy-wide greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction goals, including an interim GHG emissions reduction target of at least 45 percent below 2001 levels by 2030; and other energy and environmental goals and policies established in the Integrated Resources Plan (IRP) and the Comprehensive Energy Strategy (CES).

 On October 27, 2023, DEEP released Requests for Proposals (RFPs) for Offshore Wind Facilities and for Zero Carbon Energy. Bids for the Zero Carbon Energy RFPs were due January 31, 2024.  Bids for the Offshore Wind Facilities RFP are due on March 27, 2024.  Recordings of the bidders' conferences are linked in the following notices: Notice of Offshore Wind Facility RFP and Notice of Zero Carbon RFP.

Eligible bidders who are interested in receiving confidential information about the technical characteristics of transmission system upgrades, associated high-level non-binding cost estimates, and/or landfall and routing information for proposed points of interconnection for Eligible Projects are invited to contact the designees below.  Execution of a Non-Disclosure Agreement and CEII clearance in accordance with ISO-NE policy will be required.

  • Eversource: Carissa Sedlacek, Eversource’s Director of Transmission Interconnections and Solutions at carissa.sedlacek@eversource.com.

  • National Grid: Barry Ahern, Director of Transmission Planning and Asset Management at Barry.Ahern@nationalgrid.com.

  • Connecticut Transmission Municipal Electric Energy Cooperative: Gabriel B. Stern, Director, Technical Services at gstern@cmeec.org and Hao Ni, Asset Performance Manager at hni@cmeec.org.

  • United Illuminating: Toni Maltese, Sr. Project Manager, CMP/UI Transmission Interconnections at toni.maltese@cmpco.com. 

Related to the upcoming Offshore Wind Facilities Request for proposals, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island have entered into an offshore wind multi-state coordination memorandum of understanding (MOU), which creates a pathway for a potential coordinated selection of offshore wind as each state solicits offshore wind energy generation through their respective state procurements. As part of their forthcoming offshore wind solicitations, the three states are requesting that offshore wind developers submit multi-state offshore wind project proposals for consideration by the soliciting parties for selection in 2024.

Energy Storage RFP

On March 11, 2024, DEEP released a Request for Proposals (RFP) for energy storage projects in Connecticut that help achieve policy goals to displace fossil-fuel based electric generation, particularly in environmental justice communities, interconnect large new loads from electrification, and support integration of renewables. DEEP held a public technical meeting on July 10, 2023, to present and receive feedback on modeling that will be used in this procurement of energy storage. DEEP held a bidders' conference on March 22, 2024, which can be viewed here; the presentation slides displayed during the conference are available here. 

Questions regarding the RFP were due March 29, 2024. As of April 19, 2024, DEEP has responded to all questions received; the questions and answers can be viewed here. 

Bids for the energy storage RFP are now due May 9, 2024. Please review the Request for Proposals, accompanied by the Notice of Request for Proposals and other attached documents for further details. 

 Energy Procurement and Siting Workshop

On Wednesday, March 29, 2023, DEEP hosted an Energy Procurement and Siting Workshop to brief stakeholders on the 2023 procurements for new zero carbon electricity generating resources and offshore wind, receive stakeholder feedback on siting best practices and possible procurement criteria, and to provide an update on potential siting best practices for eligible resources in the procurement. Materials from the workshop are linked below. 

Workshop Recording

Workshop Slides

Past Procurements

Since 2011, DEEP has conducted nine procurements, resulting in contracts for:

  • 710 MW of grid-scale solar
  • 1,108 MW of offshore wind
  • 34 MW of incremental energy efficiency to the energy efficiency programs
  • 52 MW of fuel cells
  • Energy and environmental attributes from 10.9 million MWhs of nuclear power
  • Additional environmental attributes associated with 2.85 million MWhs of nuclear power

In total, DEEP is authorized by statute to procure up to 110% of the load associated with the state’s two EDCs from renewable or zero carbon energy resources. To date, Connecticut attained the equivalent of 95% of the EDCs’ load in the forms of energy and/or environmental attributes associated with renewable energy sources.

See Historical Procurement Selections and Pricing for a list of the projects selected in grid-scale competitive procurements and the associated price.

Future Procurements

While Connecticut has already made significant progress towards its 100% Zero Carbon Target, its commitment to procuring grid-scale renewable and zero carbon resources is further solidified through Public Act 19-71, which requires DEEP to provide a procurement schedule for OSW informed by the Integrated Resources Plan (IRP), providing for the solicitation of resources with an aggregate nameplate capacity of 2,000 MW by 2030.

In order to achieve the Target by 2040 at the least cost, it is critical to retain flexibility in planning and executing procurements so as not to acquire more resources than are needed. As outlined in the IRP and the 2022 Procurement Plan Update, the anticipated procurement activity priorities (subject to contingencies) over the next several years are:

  • Focus on siting and permitting enhancements, transmission planning and procurement, and market reforms needed to enable procurement of additional offshore wind resources and other zero carbon Class I resources; and
  • Prior to 2028, depending on contingencies - procure additional zero carbon Class I resources, including OSW, with sufficient time for resources to come online.

DEEP will monitor contingencies and update its procurement schedule for OSW and other zero carbon Class I resources no less than every 12 months to account for any changing market and policy conditions through the release of the next IRP.

Additional Resources

 

Content last updated April 12, 2024.