Hartford — In preparation for what one state official described as “one of the big bills we’ll see this year,” Millstone owner Dominion Resources presented a new report to the Legislature’s Energy and Technology Committee supporting action to reduce the Waterford nuclear plant’s vulnerability to falling energy prices.

“We recognize that Millstone is a huge part of Connecticut’s energy market,” said Consumer Counsel Elin Swanson Katz, whose office represents customers of the state’s regulated utilities. “We think Millstone is important and we want it to stay around. If we can solve a problem for Millstone and help out consumers at the same time, I think we have an opportunity for a net benefit.”

Katz’s remarks during the committee’s informational forum set the stage for the presentation later from consultants hired by Dominion to quantify the impact on energy prices and greenhouse gas emissions if the two operating Millstone reactors were to close prematurely, as has happened with at least five other nuclear plants elsewhere in the country.

The study was done in preparation for proposed legislation that would allow Dominion to sell its power directly to the state’s two main distributors, Eversource and United Illuminating, through contracts awarded through a bid process with big hydroelectric and other large-scale renewable power producers. Currently Dominion sells the 2,111 megawatts of electricity generated at Millstone’s two operating reactors to third-party brokers.

Enabling the company to sell its power directly would stabilize revenues, which have fallen 44 percent over the last decade due to falling natural gas prices and other factors. 

Report co-author Susan Tierney, senior advisor at the Analysis Group, said her research determined that avoiding the premature closure of Millstone would save the average Connecticut customer $500 per year on electricity bills through 2030. Without the plant, electricity bills would rise 21 percent, the study found.

The current license for Millstone Unit 2 expires in 2035, while the Unit 3 license is set to expire in 2045. Together, the two plants generate about 60 percent of the power consumed in the state.

In addition to its considerable contribution to the power supply, the plant also produces 98 percent of the carbon-free electricity generated in the state. Without it, her study found, the state’s carbon emissions would increase by 2.2 million metric tons, because the bulk of power would be produced by natural gas-powered generation, her study found. That would set the state back significantly in its goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 20 megatons by 2050.

“Connecticut has strong and aggressive goals for greenhouse gas emissions,” Tierney said. “Without Millstone, carbon emissions goals would backslide.”

She said her study factored in “every speck” of renewable energy that realistically could come online, but that there would not be enough to make up for the loss of Millstone without additional natural gas power generation.

“I was really conservative,” she said.

She added that if natural gas prices increase, the impact of losing Millstone would be greater.

“I see Millstone as a big asset the state has that is important going forward,” she said.

Legislation slated to be considered this session would allow Millstone to be considered a “clean energy” producer on par with big hydroelectric, solar, wind and other renewable sources in state bid proposals for long-term contracts with energy distributors. State Sen. Paul Formica, R-East Lyme, and Rep. Lonnie Reed, D-Branford, both have described the proposed legislation as a priority in the current session.

“This is a very unique way Connecticut is looking at it, to allow all clean energy to have a chance to compete,” Tierney said.

The new report was presented less than two weeks after release of another report quantifying the economic impact of Millstone. The Nuclear Energy Institute study concluded that Millstone generates $1.3 billion in annual economic output for Connecticut and another $1.3 billion annually for the rest of New England.

j.benson@theday.com