United Illuminating Co. and partner companies were awarded state contracts to build a 360-megawatt power generator in Bridgeport and a 195-megawatt power plant in Milford, providing short bursts of power during heat waves that strain existing generators.
With a megawatt sufficient for the needs of at least 700 homes, the new plants would supply energy sufficient for the equivalent of nearly 400,000 homes. Along with a smaller “peaking” plant approved for New Haven, the generators could save Connecticut $30 million annually in “congestion” charges levied by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for inadequacies in Connecticut”™s electrical system.
United Illuminating is the dominant transmission utility in the Bridgeport area, and is a subsidiary of New Haven-based UIL Holdings Corp. The company is building the Milford plant with Princeton, N.J.-based NRG Energy Inc., and the Bridgeport plant with Houston-based Dynegy Inc. and LS Power Group, which has its headquarters in St. Louis.
In separate news, NRG added 40 megawatts of capacity to its Greenwich power station used for spikes in electrical use, sufficient power for 30,000 homes during heat waves.
NRG is adding two gas turbines to the Greenwich plant, in addition to three existing turbines that provide 60 megawatts of power. The company retrofitted all five units with water-injection technology, which is expected to cut nitrogen-oxide emissions in half. NRG also added housings to reduce the plant”™s noise level, as well as landscaping.
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