 
If a meter could read the stimulus funding being generated for energy projects in Connecticut, it would be spinning like a top.
Add private funding and that meter might overheat.
In late April, Gov. M. Jodi Rell”™s administration detailed plans to spend more than $110 million in federal stimulus funding for a range of projects, from weatherizing homes to increasing the use of fuel cells and other forms of alternative energy.
At the same time, New Haven-based United Illuminating Co. and NRG Energy announced they had secured $534 million in financing to build generators in Milford and Middletown to provide up to 400 megawatts of power during peak periods such as hot summer days when electricity use spikes, sufficient for the equivalent of at least 300,000 homes. The companies plan to buy the power turbines from Fairfield-based General Electric Co.
And Connecticut Light & Power is planning to test more than 3,000 “smart” meters that could alert homeowners and businesses to optimum moments to cut their energy use to achieve savings during peak periods.
The projects provide an early glimpse at what could become a superheated market for energy products and services. In a 100-page study released in late March, Massachusetts-based Navigant Consulting concluded that Connecticut”™s “green collar” economy currently has more than 4,500 workers, while indirectly supporting another 4,700 jobs.
“In the current economic downturn, many companies are going through a period of uncertainty and pain,” Navigant researchers wrote. “Many companies interviewed were reorganizing operations and some were closing operations.
Industries undergoing significant difficulty included fuel cells, solar and biomass.”
In mid-April, the Connecticut Clean Energy Fund (CCEF) and the Department of Public Utility Control called on the state to install solar panels capable of generating nearly 300 megawatts of energy over the next 15 years. At present, Connecticut has less than 10 megawatts of solar power capacity installed statewide.
With People”™s Action for Clean Energy, CCEF has been sponsoring self-guided tours of homes featuring solar panels and other energy efficient technologies, with the next one scheduled for May 16 in Litchfield County.
The federal funding would help support incentives for homeowners and businesses to buy alternative energy technologies to reduce costs as well as for larger systems such as fuel cells and energy efficiency in state buildings.
The funding would include money to help Connecticut Light & Power Co. and United Illuminating to offer more incentives to their business and residential customers.
The state has until May 12 to submit its plan to the U.S. Dept. of Energy to qualify for funding under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
The funding would include:
Ӣ $8 million to complete 14 fuel cell projects already in the planning stages;
Ӣ $6.3 million for utilities to offer energy audits and low-cost efficiency technologies;
Ӣ $6.2 million for CL&P, UI and a New London County utility to expand conservation and efficiency programs for businesses;
Ӣ $5 million for rebates for up to 600 geothermal installations;
Ӣ $5 million for energy efficiency improvements in state buildings;
Ӣ $4 million for rebates for up to 1,000 solar thermal systems;
Ӣ $3 million to add 300 projects under Clean Energy FundӪs solar photovoltaic programs;
Ӣ $550,000 to certify building operators and inspectors to comply with new energy codes and energy components;
Ӣ $300,000 for Office of Policy and Management to administer the state energy plan; and
Ӣ $200,000 to support Connecticut Clean Cities coalition in Southwestern Connecticut and three other locales.
In March, CCEF recognized several Connecticut organizations for their use of clean energy, including the town of Wilton; Ridgefield-based Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals Inc.; and the Royal Bank of Scotland, which is moving into a new office building in Stamford.
