UI substation relocation incentive nixed

Project expected to cost utility in excess of $100M

Federal energy regulators have rejected certain incentives being sought by The United Illuminating Co. as the Orange-based utility seeks to replace its Pequonnock substation in Bridgeport with a newer one.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Tuesday issued a 27-page ruling in which it denies incentives that would have added $6.5 million to the price tag of the Pequonnock substation project, which the company has said in regulatory filings is expected to cost in excess of $100 million. In its ruling, FERC officials said UI failed to prove that “the scope of the risks associated with the project” warranted the incentive.

The project, expected to break ground during the third quarter of this year, would relocate the existing substation at 1 Atlantic St. to higher ground a short distance away. In addition to relocation of the substation, the existing transmission and distribution lines that connect to the facility would have to be moved, as well.

The project is expected to be completed and the new substation put into service by December 2022, according to regulatory filings. UI made its filing seeking the incentives in March.

A Washington, D.C., consumer

advocacy group, Public Citizen, had urged FERC to reject approving the incentives UI was seeking. Tyson Slocum, director of Public Citizen’s Energy Program, said the organization “serves as a watchdog at FERC and intervenes to promote renewable energy, fight unfair rate hikes and hold energy corporations accountable.”

“This is a win for New En

glanders, who shouldn’t be asked to foot a multimilliondollar bill purely to increase a corporation’s profit margins,” Slocum said. Because the project involves work on a substation, which is considered part of New England’s electric transmission network, the increase would have been paid for by electric consumers in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont instead of just UI ratepayers.

Ed Crowder, a spokesman for

the utility, said UI “is reviewing the May 14 FERC order and determining the appropriate next steps.”

“UI remains committed to the Pequonnock Substation Project,” Crowder said. “(It) is critical to ensuring that our customers, as well as residents and businesses across the New England region, continue to enjoy reliable electrical service in the face of increasing threats from severe weather and a changing climate.”

The substation relocation is

coming nearly seven years after storm surge from Hurricane Sandy in late October 2012 forced officials with the utility to de-energize the substation to protect it from flood damage. The company spent $11 million in 2013 to implement interim measures to protect the Pequonnock substation and six others in Bridgeport and New Haven from flooding during severe storms.