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General Assembly Substitute Bill No. 1194
January Session, 2025
AN ACT CONCERNING POWER PURCHASE AGREEMENTS AND THE
PROVISION OF STANDARD SERVICE TO ELECTRIC CUSTOMERS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Subsection (e) of section 16a-3m of the general statutes is 1
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 2
1, 2025): 3
(e) (1) Any solicitation issued pursuant to subsection (d) of this 4
section for zero-carbon electricity generating resources, including, but 5
not limited to, eligible nuclear power generating facilities, hydropower, 6
Class I renewable energy sources, as defined in section 16-1, and energy 7
storage systems, shall be for resources delivered into the control area of 8
the regional independent system operator, as defined in section 16-1, 9
and any agreement entered into pursuant to subdivision (2) of this 10
subsection shall be in the best interest of ratepayers. If the commissioner 11
finds proposals received pursuant to such solicitations to be in the best 12
interest of ratepayers, the commissioner may select any such proposal 13
or proposals, provided (A) the total annual energy output of any 14
proposals selected, in the aggregate, shall be not more than twelve 15
million megawatt hours of electricity, (B) any agreement entered into 16
pursuant to this subdivision with an eligible nuclear power generating 17
facility or hydropower shall be for a period of not less than three years 18
and not more than ten years, and (C) any agreement entered into 19 Substitute Bill No. 1194
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pursuant to this subdivision with Class I renewable energy sources, as 20
defined in section 16-1, and energy storage systems shall be for a period 21
of not more than twenty years. 22
(2) If the commissioner has made the determination and finding 23
pursuant to subdivision (1) of this subsection, the commissioner shall, 24
on behalf of all customers of electric distribution companies, direct the 25
electric distribution companies to enter into agreements for energy, 26
capacity and any environmental attributes, or any combination thereof, 27
from proposals submitted pursuant to this subdivision. 28
(3) (A) Any agreement entered into pursuant to subdivision (2) of this 29
subsection shall be subject to review and approval by the Public Utilities 30
Regulatory Authority. The electric distribution company shall file an 31
application for the approval of any such agreement with the authority. 32
The authority's review shall commence upon the filing of the signed 33
power purchase agreement with the authority. The authority shall 34
approve agreements that it determines [(A)] (i) provide for the delivery 35
of adequate and reliable products and services, for which there is a clear 36
public need, at a just and reasonable price, [(B)] (ii) are prudent and cost 37
effective, and [(C)] (iii) that the respondent to the solicitation has the 38
technical, financial and managerial capabilities to perform pursuant to 39
such agreement. For any eligible nuclear power generating facility 40
selected in any solicitation described in subsection (g) of this section, the 41
authority shall require any such agreement to be conditioned upon the 42
approval of such a power purchase agreement or other agreement for 43
energy, capacity and any environmental attributes, or any combination 44
thereof, with such eligible nuclear power generating facility, in at least 45
two other states, by the applicable officials of such states or by electric 46
utilities or other entities designated by the applicable officials of such 47
states. The authority shall issue a decision not later than one hundred 48
eighty days after such filing. If the authority does not issue a decision 49
within one hundred eighty days after such filing, the agreement shall be 50
deemed approved. 51
(B) Notwithstanding any provision of the general statutes or the 52 Substitute Bill No. 1194
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procurement plan adopted pursuant to section 16-244m, as amended by 53
this act, an electric distribution company may, in consultation with the 54
procurement manager of the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority and 55
the Office of Consumer Counsel, elect to use, for a duration of time 56
established in consultation with the procurement manager, any portion 57
of the energy, capacity and other products purchased by such company 58
under any agreement for energy, capacity or any other electricity 59
products approved by the authority pursuant to subparagraph (A) of 60
subdivision (3) of this subsection, or under any other agreement 61
approved by the authority, for the provision of standard service by such 62
company if such company, in consultation with the procurement 63
manager and the Office of Consumer Counsel, concludes such usage is 64
in the best interest of standard service customers. An electric 65
distribution company that elects to use such energy, capacity or 66
products in the provision of standard service shall seek approval from 67
the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority to incorporate any such 68
agreement into standard service at the time such company submits 69
standard service rates to the authority for approval. The authority may 70
establish reporting standards related to any determination of whether 71
the use of such agreements is in the best interest of standard service 72
customers. 73
(C) An electric distribution company that elects to use such energy, 74
capacity or products in the provision of standard service shall, in 75
consultation with the authority and the Office of Consumer Counsel, 76
specify the (i) quantity of energy, capacity and any other products such 77
company shall use to serve standard service customers, (ii) duration of 78
such usage, and (iii) price for such energy, capacity and any other 79
products that will be paid by standard service customers. 80
(D) If any energy, capacity or other products purchased by such 81
company under any such agreement are used to serve standard service 82
customers, the cost of such energy, capacity or other products shall be 83
paid by standard service customers. 84
(E) (i) The remaining net costs of any such agreement that are not 85 Substitute Bill No. 1194
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associated with the provision of standard service, including costs 86
incurred by the electric distribution company under the agreement and 87
reasonable costs incurred by the electric distribution company in 88
connection with the agreement, shall be recovered on a timely basis 89
through a nonbypassable fully reconciling component of electric rates 90
for all customers of the electric distribution company, [. Any] and (ii) 91
any net revenues from the sale of products purchased in accordance 92
with long-term contracts entered into pursuant to this subsection, or 93
pursuant to any other provision of the general statutes, that are not 94
associated with the provision of standard service, shall be credited to 95
customers through the same nonbypassable fully reconciling rate 96
component for all customers of the contracting electric distribution 97
company. 98
(F) No provision of this subdivision shall be construed to amend or 99
alter the terms and conditions of any such agreement approved by the 100
authority. 101
Sec. 2. Subsections (a) and (b) of section 16-244m of the general 102
statutes are repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof 103
(Effective October 1, 2025): 104
(a) (1) On or before January 1, 2012, and annually thereafter, the 105
procurement manager of the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority, in 106
consultation with each electric distribution company, and others at the 107
procurement manager's discretion, including, but not limited to, the 108
Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection, a municipal 109
energy cooperative established pursuant to chapter 101a, other than 110
entities, individuals and companies or their affiliates potentially 111
involved in bidding on standard service, shall develop a plan for the 112
procurement of electric generation services and related wholesale 113
electricity market products that will enable each electric distribution 114
company to manage a portfolio of contracts to reduce the average cost 115
of standard service while maintaining standard service cost volatility 116
within reasonable levels. [Each Procurement Plan] The procurement 117
plan (A) shall provide for the competitive solicitation for load-following 118 Substitute Bill No. 1194
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electric service, [and] (B) may include a provision for the use of self-119
service by an electric distribution company under which such company 120
may purchase all or any portion of the energy, capacity or other market 121
products needed to serve such company's standard service load from 122
applicable markets or other sources, and (C) may include any other 123
contracts, including, but not limited to, contracts for generation or other 124
electricity market products and financial contracts, and may provide for 125
the use of varying lengths of contracts. If such plan includes the 126
purchase of full requirements contracts, it shall include an explanation 127
of why such purchases are in the best interests of standard service 128
customers. 129
(2) All reasonable costs associated with the development of the 130
[Procurement Plan] procurement plan by the authority shall be 131
recoverable through the assessment in section 16-49. All electric 132
distribution companies' reasonable costs associated with the 133
development of the [Procurement Plan] procurement plan shall be 134
recoverable through a reconciling bypassable component of the electric 135
rates as determined by the authority. 136
(b) (1) The procurement manager shall, not less than [quarterly] 137
annually, prepare a written report on the implementation of the 138
[Procurement Plan] procurement plan. 139
(2) If the procurement manager finds that an [interim] amendment to 140
the [annual plan might] plan may substantially further the goals of 141
reducing the cost or cost volatility of standard service, the procurement 142
manager may petition the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority for such 143
an [interim] amendment. The [Public Utilities Regulatory Authority] 144
authority shall provide notice of the proposed amendment to the Office 145
of Consumer Counsel and the electric distribution companies. The 146
Office of Consumer Counsel and the electric distribution companies 147
shall have two business days from the date of such notice to request an 148
uncontested proceeding and a technical meeting of the [Public Utilities 149
Regulatory Authority] authority regarding the proposed amendment, 150
[which] and the authority shall hold such proceeding and meeting, 151 Substitute Bill No. 1194
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[shall occur] if requested. [The Public Utilities Regulatory Authority] 152
After such proceeding and such meeting, if requested, the authority may 153
approve, modify or deny the proposed amendment. [, with such 154
approval, modification or denial following the technical meeting if one 155
is requested. The Public Utilities Regulatory Authority's] The authority's 156
ruling on the proposed amendment shall occur [within] not more than 157
three business days after the technical meeting, if [one] such meeting is 158
requested, or [within] not more than three business days [of] after the 159
expiration of the time for requesting a technical meeting if no technical 160
meeting is requested. The [Public Utilities Regulatory Authority] 161
authority may maintain the confidentiality of the technical meeting to 162
the full extent allowed by law. 163
(3) The authority may initiate an uncontested proceeding to amend 164
the procurement plan from time to time. 165
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 October 1, 2025 16a-3m(e)
Sec. 2 October 1, 2025 16-244m(a) and (b)
Statement of Legislative Commissioners:
In Section 1(e)(3)(D), "When" was changed to "If" for accuracy; and in
Section 1(e)(3)(E), "any other general statute" was changed to "any
other provision of the general statutes" for consistency with standard
drafting conventions.
ET Joint Favorable Subst.