Connecticut General Assembly - Energy and Technology Committee

Connecticut Energy Programs and Policy

State Energy Agencies
and Other Energy Entities

A Citizen's Guide to Energy Assistance and Tax Breaks. The Senate Republicans website has information on residential help with energy bills, energy efficiency programs, renewable energy programs and incentives for business. (http://www.senaterepublicans.ct.gov/energy/index.aspx)

CT Clean Energy Fund. This website has information on its residential and commercial programs. (http://www.ctcleanenergy.com/)

CT Energy Assistance Program. The House Democrats website has information on the CT energy assistance program. (http://www.housedems.ct.gov/Home_Heating_Assistance_2008.pdf)

CT Energy Resources is the Governor's Energy website which includes information on the furnace rebate program and carpooling as well as much of the information on the ct-energyinfo.com website. (http://www.ct.gov/Governorrell/cwp/view.asp?A=1317&Q=421388)

EnergyInfo describes most of the resources available in Connecticut and has separate links to residential and commercial energy-efficiency programs. (http://www.ct-energyinfo.com/)

Energy Reports from the Office of Legislative Research (OLR): (http://www.cga.ct.gov/olr/OLRReportsByIssue.asp)

Energy Star has information on Energy Star appliances as well as the federal tax breaks for investments in efficiency. It is sponsored by the Federal Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency. (http://www.energystar.gov)

Home Heating Assistance. The Senate Democrats website has information on residential help with energy bills and the furnace replacement program. (http://www.senatedems.ct.gov/Energy.html)

ACRONYM	NAME	ROLE

CEAB	Connecticut Energy Advisory Board	Advisory body responsible for reviewing the procurement plans submitted by electric companies and representing the state in regional energy planning, among other things.

CMEEC	Connecticut Municipal Electric Energy Cooperative	Nonprofit that purchases electricity and provides other services for the state's municipal electric utilities.

DEP	Department of Environmental Protection	Regulates, among other things, air emissions and water discharges from power plants and issues water diversion permits.

DPUC	Department of Public Utility Control	Regulates electric, gas, water, and telecommunications companies. Has limited jurisdiction over municipal utilities.

ECMB	Energy Conservation Management Board	Reviews conservation plans developed by electric and gas companies.

FCC	Federal Communications Commission	Federal agency that regulates telecommunications companies. In some cases, such as telephone companies, it shares jurisdiction with state agencies while in other cases, such as cell phone companies, FCC has exclusive jurisdiction.

FERC	Federal Energy Regulatory Commission	Federal agency that regulates the wholesale electric and gas industries. Has related responsibilities, e.g., licensing hydroelectric projects.

ISO-New England	Independent System Operator-New England	Nonprofit organization that administers the New England wholesale electric market and the regional transmission grid.

LDC	Local distribution company	Natural gas companies: (Connecticut Natural Gas, Southern Connecticut Gas, and Yankee Gas) Electric distribution companies: (Northeast Utilities, United Illuminating)

OCC	Office of Consumer Counsel	Represents the interest of ratepayers in DPUC and federal proceedings

OPM	Office of Policy and Management	OPM's Energy Office is responsible for developing the state's energy policy. It also tracks energy prices and procures electricity and natural gas for state agencies.

Common Abbreviations

BTU	British Thermal Unit	A unit of energy. A cubic foot of natural gas has slightly more than 1,000 BTUs and a gallon of reformulated gasoline (the type sold in CT) has about 112,000 BTUs,
CHP	Combined heat and power	A type of technology, also called cogeneration, that uses the steam produced in electric generation for heating.
CTA	Competitive transition assessment	The part of a consumer's electric bill used to cover the electric company's stranded costs i.e., costs that had previously been approved by DPUC (primarily for power plants) whose continued recovery was jeopardized by the start of competition in the electric industry.
DG	Distributed Generation	A variety of technologies, including microturbines and fuel cells, used to generate electricity on site rather than at power plants.
CEAP	Connecticut Energy Assistance Program	The state's primary program for providing energy assistance to low and moderate income households. Administered by the Department of Social Services through local community action agencies.
FMCC	Federally-mandated congestion charges	Charges on a consumer's electric bill that are related to congestion on the state's transmission system.
IRP	Integrated resources planning	A process in which electric companies determine their future demand and meet this demand through a cost-effective mix of efficiency measures and power purchases/generation.
kwh	Kilowatt-hour	A unit of electricity consumption. A kwh is the amount of electricity used by 10 100-watt light bulbs over one hour. In Connecticut, a typical household used about 700 kwh in an average month in 2007.
kv	Kilovolt (1,000 volts)	A unit of electromotive force. Transmission lines in Connecticut typically operate at 115 to 345 kv.
LEC	Local exchange carrier	The company that provides local telephone service. These include AT&T, Verizon (in Greenwich), and several other companies.
Mcf		1,000 cubic feet of natural gas.
MW	Megawatt	A unit of electric generating capacity. A commercial power plant typically has a capacity of 500 to 1,000 MWs.
PEG	Public, educational, and governmental	Types of community access channels that cable companies are required to support.
PV	photovoltaic	PV systems convert solar energy into electricity.
RPS	Renewable portfolio standard	State requirement that electric companies obtain a specified amount of their supply from renewable resources and efficiency measures. There are specific requirements for three classes of resources.
SBC	Systems benefits charge	The component of a consumer's electric bill used to cover various public policy costs.
VRAD	Video ready access device	The boxes being installed by AT&T on streets and highways to support its U-Verse video service.