In 2007, former Connecticut Gov. Jodi Rell increased the state’s renewable portfolio standard (RPS), which required 27 percent of retail electricity sales come from renewable sources by 2020. Connecticut classifies renewable sources in three tiers, Class I, Class II, and Class III.
Class I renewables include solar, wind, fuel cells (using renewable or non-renewable fuels), landfill methane, ocean thermal power, wave or tidal power, low-emission advanced renewable energy conversion technologies, certain river hydropower facilities not exceeding five megawatts (MW) in capacity, and sustainable biomass facilities. Emissions limits apply to electricity generated by sustainable biomass facilities. End-user distributed generation (DG) systems using Class I resources also qualify.
Class II renewables include waste-to-energy facilities, biomass facilities not included in Class I, and older hydropower facilities.
Class III renewables include customer-sited combined heat and power (CHP) systems, with a 50 percent minimum operating efficiency installed at commercial or industrial facilities in Connecticut after January 1, 2006, electricity savings from conservation and load management programs begun after January 1, 2006, and waste heat and pressure recovery systems for commercial and industrial processes installed after April 1, 2007.
The law sets a graduated schedule—for each class of renewable resource—for meeting the mandate. By 2020 utilities must generate 20 percent from Class I, 3 percent from Class II and 4 percent from Class III.
Utilities may satisfy the RPS by purchasing renewable energy credits (RECs) or by purchasing renewable energy from certain mid-Atlantic states, if the Connecticut Department of Public Utility Control (DPUC) determines those states have a similar RPS.
Utilities that fail to meet the RPS must pay a $0.055 per kilowatt hour penalty to the DPUC.
The law also tasks the Connecticut Municipal Electric Energy Cooperative (CMEEC) to set RPSs for municipal utilities.
Source: Database for State Incentives for Renewables and Efficiency