Fuel cell project: Weston reaches agreement with CL&P
Written by Kimberly Donnelly
The town has reached a settlement agreement with Connecticut Light & Power (CL&P) that puts a fuel cell project at the schools one step closer to reality.
“It’s a good deal. I’m very happy with the agreement,” said First Selectman Gayle Weinstein earlier this week.
The Board of Selectmen met last Thursday, March 4, and agreed to allow Ms. Weinstein to sign an agreement with CL&P that allows Weston to “net meter”— add together — its electric accounts at Weston High School and Weston Middle School.
CL&P had asked the town to physically connect the electric meters at the two buildings, which would have cost an estimated $900,000. The town, in turn, asked the Department of Public Utility Control (DPUC) for a declaratory ruling allowing the town to combine its energy usage at the middle and high schools by simple accounting (adding the two accounts together) instead.
On Feb. 8, the DPUC issued a draft ruling allowing the town to aggregate electric consumption at the high school and middle school and to apply that net amount against electricity generated by a fuel cell the town wants to install at the middle school.
The DPUC’s ruling stated not only could the town combine usage numbers at the two schools, but it could also include electricity delivered to other town buildings in calculating how much electricity is used.
The following week, however, CL&P filed an exception to the draft ruling, based in part, Ms. Weinstein said, on this broader-than-asked-for allowance.
And so, the first selectman said at last week’s selectmen’s meeting, “we came to a compromise.”
“With this agreement, what CL&P is saying is we’d be able to net meter without having to physically connect [the electrical lines] … which would save us the supplier charges” at the high school, Ms. Weinstein said. There will likely be no supplier charges at the middle school, she added, because the fuel cell will take care of the power there.
Under the agreement, the town also does not have to pay additional distribution charges at the middle school. Because the town will still be using CL&P’s transmission lines at the high school, it will still pay distribution and transmission charges for that building’s electric consumption. “The discount will be on the supply side,” Ms. Weinstein explained.
“What CL&P is offering, which I was very happy about … is they are going to credit us on the supply side at the retail rate, which is significant for us — it’s about a 40% to 50% savings” compared to the wholesale rate, she said.
Weston has asked United Technologies to build and install a 400-kW fuel cell at or near the middle school. It is estimated the fuel cell would provide 95% of the electricity needed for both Weston High School and Weston Middle School, all of the heat for the pool at the middle school, a significant amount of the heat and hot water for the middle school, and all of the air conditioning for the middle school.
“To the extent the alternative generation [by the fuel cell] reduces demand … at the middle school, [Weston’s electric bill] would be reduced accordingly,” Ms. Weinstein said.
Because of the agreement reached with CL&P, Ms. Weinstein and CL&P representatives went before the DPUC last Friday, March 5, and the town withdrew its request for a declaratory ruling.
CL&P asked for and received from the DPUC a protective order, sealing the settlement agreement.
When asked why it had requested the agreement be sealed, Mitch Gross, spokesman for CL&P, said only it was done “at request of our attorneys.”
“I’m very happy with the agreement. It’s absolutely in Weston’s best interest,” said Ms. Weinstein. “The fact that CL&P asked for a protective order proves that.”
