New Haven Register (Sunday) (New Haven, CT)
UI, Eversource reach deal to keep Millstone operating
Dominion Energy had threatened plant closure without a deal
Gov. Ned Lamont and Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Commissioner Katie Dykes said Friday Dominion Energy and Connecticut’s two major electric utility companies, Eversource and United Illuminating, struck a deal Friday that will keep the company’s Millstone nuclear facility in Waterford operating.
Word of the deal came hours before a deadline that Virginiabased Dominion had to notify New England’s regional electric grid operator, ISO-New England, whether or not the nuclear plant would be shut down. Under the terms of the agreement, Dominion will supply Eversource and UI with electric power generated at Millstone for a 10-year period.
The deal must still be approved by Connecticut’s Public Utilities Regulatory Authority, which has 180 days to act on it. Ken Holt, a Dominion spokesman, said the date when Millstone begins supplying the power to the utilities and other details of the contract won’t be released until PURA has ruled on the deal.
The contract is for 10 years and calls for Millstone to produce 9 million megawatt hours per year for UI and Eversource customers. Millstone currently provides about half of the electricity that Connecticut uses and 19 percent of the power used in New England, Holt said.
Dominion Energy had threatened to close Millstone if a deal could not be reached because the cost of natural gas has allowed power plants that operate on that fuel to run more cheaply than the aging nuclear plant, which is located on Long Island Sound.
Paul Koonce, president and chief executive officer of company’s Power Generation Group, called the agreement “a huge win for Connecticut, the region, and our colleagues at Millstone.”
“Not only does this preserve the vast majority of Connecticut’s carbon-free electricity, it preserves good jobs for the 1,500 women and men who work at Millstone and keeps 4,000 other residents employed, Koonce said in a statement.”
Company officials said in a statement the contract “represents a modest financial uplift.”
“This result marks another significant milestone in Dominion Energy’s multi-year progression towards a more regulated and long-term contracted earnings profile and the resulting reduction in business risk,” the company’s statement said in part.
Lamont said “the loss of Millstone would have been catastrophic for our state and our region.”
“The shutdown of the plant would have exposed the New England region to a nearly 25 percent increase in carbon emissions, increased risk of rolling blackouts, billions of dollars in power replacement costs, and the loss of more than 1,500 well-paying jobs,” Lamont said in a statement. “The deal the utilities have negotiated secures Millstone’s zero-carbon power for ten years, and reduces by nearly 50 percent the incremental ratepayer cost of the contract, as compared to the original bid selected.”
Millstone was one of the winning bidders selected by DEEP officials late last year to meet Connecticut’s future energy needs. But a deal between UI, Eversource Energy and Dominion still had to be reached and in-person negotiations didn’t start until earlier this month and DEEP officials had given the two Connecticut utilities a mandate to reduce the costs associated with the original bid.
Lamont said he also has a commitment from all New England governors to evaluate regional mechanisms to help maintain critical nuclear and clean energy facilities.