Sec. 16-32f. Gas company supply and demand forecast reports and conservation plans. - Connecticut Statutes

      Sec. 16-32f. Gas company supply and demand forecast reports and conservation plans. (a) On or before October first of each even-numbered year, a gas company, as defined in section 16-1, shall furnish a report to the Department of Public Utility Control containing a five-year forecast of loads and resources. The report shall describe the facilities and supply sources that, in the judgment of such gas company, will be required to meet gas demands during the forecast period. The report shall be made available to the public and shall be furnished to the chief executive officer of each municipality in the service area of such gas company, the regional planning agency which encompasses each such municipality, the Attorney General, the president pro tempore of the Senate, the speaker of the House of Representatives, the joint standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to public utilities, any other member of the General Assembly making a request to the department for the report and such other state and municipal entities as the department may designate by regulation. The report shall include: (1) A tabulation of estimated peak loads and resources for each year; (2) data on gas use and peak loads for the five preceding calendar years; (3) a list of present and projected gas supply sources; (4) specific measures to control load growth and promote conservation; and (5) such other information as the department may require by regulation. A full description of the methodology used to arrive at the forecast of loads and resources shall also be furnished to the department. The department shall hold a public hearing on such reports upon the request of any person. On or before August first of each odd-numbered year, the department may request a gas company to furnish to the department an updated report. A gas company shall furnish any such updated report not later than sixty days following the request of the department.

      (b) Not later than October 1, 2005, and annually thereafter, a gas company, as defined in section 16-1, shall submit to the Department of Public Utility Control a gas conservation plan, in accordance with the provisions of this section, to implement cost-effective energy conservation programs and market transformation initiatives. All supply and conservation and load management options shall be evaluated and selected within an integrated supply and demand planning framework. Such plan shall be funded during each state fiscal year by the revenue from the tax imposed by section 12-264 on the gross receipts of sales of all public services companies that is in excess of the revenue estimate for said tax that is approved by the General Assembly in the appropriations act for such fiscal year, provided the amount of such excess revenue that shall be allocated to fund such plan in any state fiscal year shall not exceed ten million dollars. Before the accounts for the General Fund have been closed for each fiscal year, such excess revenue shall be deposited by the Comptroller in an account held by the Energy Conservation Management Board, established pursuant to section 16-245m. Services provided under the plan shall be available to all gas company customers. Each gas company shall apply to the Energy Conservation Management Board for reimbursement for expenditures pursuant to the plan. The department shall, in an uncontested proceeding during which the department may hold a public hearing, approve, modify or reject the plan.

      (c) (1) The Energy Conservation Management Board shall advise and assist each such gas company in the development and implementation of the plan submitted under subsection (b) of this section. Each program contained in the plan shall be reviewed by each such gas company and shall be either accepted, modified or rejected by the Energy Conservation Management Board before submission of the plan to the department for approval. The Energy Conservation Management Board shall, as part of its review, examine opportunities to offer joint programs providing similar efficiency measures that save more than one fuel resource or to otherwise coordinate programs targeted at saving more than one fuel resource. Any costs for joint programs shall be allocated equitably among the conservation programs.

      (2) Programs included in the plan shall be screened through cost-effectiveness testing that compares the value and payback period of program benefits to program costs to ensure that the programs are designed to obtain gas savings whose value is greater than the costs of the program. Program cost-effectiveness shall be reviewed annually by the department, or otherwise as is practicable. If the department determines that a program fails the cost-effectiveness test as part of the review process, the program shall either be modified to meet the test or be terminated. On or before January 1, 2007, and annually thereafter, the board shall provide a report, in accordance with the provisions of section 11-4a, to the joint standing committees of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to energy and the environment, that documents expenditures and funding for such programs and evaluates the cost-effectiveness of such programs conducted in the preceding year, including any increased cost-effectiveness owing to offering programs that save more than one fuel resource.

      (3) Programs included in the plan may include, but are not limited to: (A) Conservation and load management programs, including programs that benefit low-income individuals; (B) research, development and commercialization of products or processes that are more energy-efficient than those generally available; (C) development of markets for such products and processes; (D) support for energy use assessment, engineering studies and services related to new construction or major building renovations; (E) the design, manufacture, commercialization and purchase of energy-efficient appliances, air conditioning and heating devices; (F) program planning and evaluation; (G) joint fuel conservation initiatives and programs targeted at saving more than one fuel resource; and (H) public education regarding conservation. Such support may be by direct funding, manufacturers' rebates, sale price and loan subsidies, leases and promotional and educational activities. The plan shall also provide for expenditures by the Energy Conservation Management Board for the retention of expert consultants and reasonable administrative costs, provided such consultants shall not be employed by, or have any contractual relationship with, a gas company. Such costs shall not exceed five per cent of the total cost of the plan.

      (P.A. 87-32; P.A. 89-50; 89-291, S. 5, 8; P.A. 94-1; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 98-1, S. 6, 121; P.A. 02-16, S. 1; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 05-1, S. 22; P.A. 06-196, S. 230; P.A. 07-242, S. 115; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 07-1, S. 130.)

      History: P.A. 89-50 added new Subsec. (b) re submission of gas conservation plans; P.A. 89-291 changed submission date of 10-year forecast report; P.A. 94-1 changed annual reports to biennial reports and added provisions re updated reports and plans and supply and load management; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 98-1 made a technical change in Subsec. (a), effective June 24, 1998; P.A. 02-16 changed the forecast period from 10 years to 5 years throughout, amended Subsec. (a) to add "upon the request of any person" and made a technical change in Subsec. (b); June Sp. Sess. P.A. 05-1 amended Subsec. (b) to make technical changes, to delete provisions re the content of the plan and substitute broader language re compliance with section, to delete language re public hearings and submission of updated plans and substitute language re an uncontested proceeding, added Subsec. (c) re assistance from and review by the Energy Conservation Management Board, cost-effectiveness testing, contents of the programs included in the plan, source of funding, and authority for expenditures, and added Subsec. (d) re the lack of requirement for conservation charge, effective July 1, 2005; P.A. 06-196 made a technical change in Subsec. (c)(2), effective June 7, 2006; P.A. 07-242 amended Subsec. (b) to provide that tax imposed by Sec. 12-264 shall fund the plan, that services shall be available to all gas company customers, and that each company shall apply to board for expense reimbursement, made a technical change in Subsec. (c)(1) and deleted former Subsec. (d) re conservation charge, effective July 1, 2007; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 07-1 amended Subsec. (b) to specify that Comptroller shall deposit excess revenue before accounts for the General Fund have been closed for each fiscal year, effective July 1, 2007.