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OLR Bill Analysis
HB 5453
AN ACT CONCERNING THE MEMBERSHIP AND PROCESSES OF
THE CONNECTICUT SITING COUNCIL.
SUMMARY
This bill makes various changes to the Connecticut Siting Council’s
membership, requires applicants for proposed electric transmission
facilities to include additional information with their applications to the
council, and expands the issues the council must consider when
deciding whether to approve an application. By law, the council has
jurisdiction over siting electric transmission lines, certain substations,
electric generating and storage facilities, telecommunications facilities,
and hazardous waste facilities. It generally approves applications by
granting a certificate of environmental compatibility and public need.
More specifically, the bill (1) adds to the council four ad hoc members
who represent the municipalities affected by a proposed facility and (2)
generally expands a prohibition on member’s affiliations with utility
companies. It requires applications for electric transmission facilities to
include, among other things, information about how the facility’s costs
and benefits will be shared by Connecticut ratepayers and those in other
states. It also requires the council to consider a proposed facility’s
adverse effects on aesthetic and economic values (for any type of
facility) and whether a transmission facility’s benefits outweigh it costs
when compared to reasonable alternatives.
For certificates to site certain specific solar facilities, the bill also
requires the council to follow the approval, disapproval, or conditions
set by the local chief elected municipal officer, as long as they meet
certain conditions.
The bill also sets notice requirements for public utility companies
looking to acquire residential real property by condemnation. 2024HB-05453-R000461-BA.DOCX
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Lastly, current law allows the council to give appropriate
consideration in all proceedings to (1) how much a utility spent for
research on generation and transmission of the form of energy furnished
by it, and its environmental effect; (2) how much the utility spent to
promote this energy use, including advertising; and (3) the relationship
between the expenditures. The bill instead requires the council to give
this consideration in its proceedings (§ 6).
EFFECTIVE DATE: October 1, 2024
§ 1 — COUNCIL MEMBER S AND EMPLOYEES
Under current law, the council typically has nine members: the
commissioner of energy and environmental protection and the
chairperson of the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (or their
designees); one selected by the speaker of the House and another
selected by the Senate president pro tempore; and five members of the
public appointed by the governor, at least two of which must have
experience in ecology. The bill additionally requires that three of these
public members have experience in engineering.
The bill expands the council’s membership by adding four ad hoc
members. Three of these must be electors from the municipality where
the proposed facility would be located, and the fourth must be an elector
from a neighboring municipality likely to be most affected by the
proposed facility. All four must be appointed by the chief elected official
of the municipality they represent.
The bill’s addition of these four ad hoc members generally matches
the council’s composition when it considers hazardous waste facilities
under existing law. And as under that law, (1) the council’s permanent
members must determine which municipality will be most affected by
a proposed facility and (2) public members are paid up to $200 per day
for attending council-related business.
Under current law, only one of the five public members appointed by
the governor may have a past or present affiliation with (1) a utility or
governmental utility regulatory agency or (2) any person who owns, 2024HB-05453-R000461-BA.DOCX
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operates, controls, or contracts with a facility regulated by the council.
The bill expands this limitation to also (1) cover the two members
appointed by the legislative leaders and the four new ad hoc members
and (2) specify that a prohibited affiliation with a utility includes direct
financial investments in them (other than a mutual fund).
The bill explicitly requires the council to hire the employees it needs
to carry out its purposes, and requires that at least (1) two of them have
expertise in engineering and (3) three of them have expertise in financial
analysis.
§§ 2 & 3 — APPLICATIONS
The bill expands the type of information that must be included in
applications for siting electric transmission facilities. To start a
certificate proceeding with the council under current law, an application
for a transmission facility must include, among other things, a
description of the proposed transmission line, an explanation of why it
is needed, and a justification for the selected route. The bill requires
these applications to additionally include analyses of the following:
1. the costs and benefits for state ratepayers while also comparing
the proposed location and type of proposed facility to any
feasible alternatives,
2. how the proposed facility’s costs will be reimbursed or
distributed among Connecticut ratepayers and those in other
states, and
3. the benefits to Connecticut ratepayers compared to those for
people in other states.
The bill also requires an applicant submitting an initial application
for electric transmission facilities to indicate if it intends to submit
additional applications within the next five years for additional
transmission facilities that will either be physically connected to the
initial facility or located within five miles of it. If so, then the applicant
must also give the council any information about the additional facilities
it requires. 2024HB-05453-R000461-BA.DOCX
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§ 4 — COUNCIL DECISIONS
By law, the council must issue an opinion when it decides a certificate
application and it cannot grant a certificate unless it makes certain
findings and determinations. The bill requires that these be made using
a clear and convincing standard of evidence (i.e., highly and
substantially more likely to be true than untrue). Current law does not
specify a standard of evidence that must be used.
Current law requires the council, for any type of facility, to make
findings and determinations about the facility’s probable environmental
impact, including every significant adverse effect, such as ecological
balance, public health and safety, and air and water purity. The bill
specifies that these adverse effects also include aesthetic and economic
values.
More specifically for electric transmission facilities, the bill expands
the council’s required findings and determinations to include that the
(1) facility’s benefits outweigh the costs to Connecticut ratepayers when
compared to reasonable alternatives, (2) facility’s plan is the most cost-
effective method when compared to reasonable alternatives, and (3)
share of the facility’s costs among Connecticut ratepayers is reasonable
when compared to the costs borne by ratepayers of other states that will
benefit from it. Current law also requires the council’s findings and
determinations on electric transmission facilities to cover (1) what part
of the facility will be located overhead and if they are cost appropriate
and (2) whether the facility conforms to long-range plans for expanding
the power grid and serves the state’s interests for electric system
economy and reliability.
§ 5 — MUNICIPAL CONDITIONS FOR CERTAIN SOLAR FACILITIES
The bill generally allows certain municipal chief elected officials to
approve, disapprove, or set conditions for the Siting Council’s approval
of certificates for certain solar facilities in their municipalities. More
specifically, for proposed solar photovoltaic facilities with over two
megawatts (MW) capacity located within five miles of a 100 MW solar
facility, the bill binds the council’s decision to the approval, disapproval,
or conditions that the chief elected officer in the municipality where the 2024HB-05453-R000461-BA.DOCX
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facility is located submits to the council. However, the officer must
submit these to the council within 30 days after he or she is served a
copy of the certificate application for the facility as required by law.
(Existing law, unchanged by the bill, requires the council to approve
certain distributed resources projects by declaratory ruling.
Presumably, these projects would not be subject to requirements the bill
adds to certificate proceedings (see BACKGROUND).)
The bill also excludes from this provision applications for solar
photovoltaic facilities that are proposed as part of an expansion of an
existing facility under an existing certificate, whether it is proposed on
the same site or on contiguous parcels with the existing facility.
§ 7 — NOTICE REQUIREMENTS FOR UTILITY CONDEMNATION
Existing law generally allows electric transmission companies to
acquire real property through eminent domain (i.e., condemnation) to
(1) relocate a transmission facility or right-of-way required by a public
highway project or other governmental action; (2) acquire additional
rights or title to property already subject to an easement or other rights
for electric transmission lines; or (3) widen a portion, up to one mile
long, of a transmission right-of-way for public safety or convenience.
Under current law, when a utility company wants to acquire
residential real property by condemnation, and the property’s owner
disputes the company’s need to acquire the property, the owner may
bring the issue to the Siting Council within 30 days after being informed
about the company’s intention. The company’s notification to the owner
about its intention to acquire the property by condemnation must
include a statement that the owner may bring the issue of the purpose
for which the property is being acquired to the Siting Council.
The bill more specifically requires the company to give the property
owner two separate notices about the potential condemnation, with one
required at least 60 days before the intended condemnation date (it is
unclear if this deadline is based on when the notice is sent or received),
and the second sent at least 30 days before that date. Both must be in an
envelope with “NOTICE REGARDING POTENTIAL 2024HB-05453-R000461-BA.DOCX
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CONDEMNATION OF YOUR PROPERTY” written in at least 12-point
bold type. As under current law, the notices must be sent by certified
mail and include a statement that the owner may bring the issue of the
purpose for which the property is being acquired to the Siting Council.
The bill further specifies that the property owner must bring the issue
to the council within 30 days after the second notice (it is unclear if this
deadline is based on when the notice is sent or received).
BACKGROUND
Facilities Approved by Declaratory Ruling
Existing law requires the Siting Council to approve the following
types of projects by declaratory ruling, rather than through the
certificate process:
1. an electric generation facility, other than one fueled by coal or
nuclear materials, at a site where an electric generating facility
operated before July 1, 2004;
2. a fuel cell, unless the council finds a substantial adverse
environmental effect; and
3. a customer-side distributed resources project or facility or a grid-
side distributed resources project or facility with a capacity up to
65 MW, as long as the project meets air and water quality
standards, the council finds no substantial adverse
environmental effect, and, if applicable, the project complies with
certain requirements for siting on prime farmland or core forest
(CGS § 16-50k).
A customer-side distributed resource is a generating unit of up to 65
MW on a retail end user’s premises within the transmission and
distribution system (e.g., fuel cells, solar facilities, and small wind
turbines) or a retail end user’s reduction in demand for electricity
through conservation and load management (CGS § 16-1(a)(34)).
A grid-side distributed resource is a generating unit of up to 65 MW
that is connected to the transmission or distribution system, including
units primarily used to generate electricity to meet peak demand (CGS 2024HB-05453-R000461-BA.DOCX
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§ 16-1(a)(37)).
Related Bills
sSB 198 (File 184), favorably reported by the Environment
Committee, adds to the Siting Council an elector from the municipality
where a proposed facility would be located.
sHB 5361, favorably reported by the Energy and Technology
Committee, requires, among other things, the Siting Council to consider
the testimony of the chief elected official of any municipality in which a
proposed facility would be located.
sHB 5507, favorably reported by the Judiciary Committee, among
other things, (1) brings electric transmission line projects under the law
for environmental justice communities, (2) expands requirements for
developers to consult with certain local and state officials before
applying to the Siting Council, (3) expands the information that must be
included in applications for transmission lines, and (4) requires the
council to consider additional information when deciding applications
for transmission lines.
COMMITTEE ACTION
Government Administration and Elections Committee
Joint Favorable
Yea 19 Nay 0 (03/22/2024)