AN ACT CONCERNING REVISIONS TO PROVISIONS AFFECTING ELECTRIC DISTRIBUTION COMPANIES.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:

Section 1. Subsection (b) of section 16a-7c of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2006):

(b) On or after December 1, 2004, not later than fifteen days after the filing of an application pursuant to subdivision (1) of subsection (a) of said section 16-50i, except for an application for a facility described in subdivision (5) or (6) of subsection (a) of section 16-50i, as amended, or a facility described in subdivision (4) of subsection (a) of said section 16-50i that is not part of a project that includes a facility described in subdivision (1) of subsection (a) of said section 16-50i with a voltage of three hundred forty-five kilovolts or more, the Connecticut Energy Advisory Board shall issue a request-for-proposal to seek alternative solutions to the need that will be addressed by the proposed facility in such application. Such request-for-proposal shall, where relevant, solicit proposals that include distributed generation or energy efficiency measures. The board shall publish such request-for-proposal in one or more newspapers or periodicals, as selected by the board.

Sec. 2. Subdivision (2) of subsection (a) of section 16-50l of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2006):

(2) On or after December 1, 2004, the filing of an application pursuant to subdivision (1) of this subsection shall initiate the request-for-proposal process, except for an application for a facility described in subdivision (5) or (6) of subsection (a) of section 16-50i, as amended, or a facility described in subdivision (4) of subsection (a) of said section 16-50i that is not part of a project that includes a facility described in subdivision (1) of subsection (a) of said section 16-50i with a voltage of three hundred forty-five kilovolts or more.

Sec. 3. Subsection (a) of section 16-243a of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2006):

(a) As used in this section, "avoided costs" means the incremental costs to an electric public service company, municipal electric energy cooperative organized under chapter 101a or municipal electric utility organized under chapter 101, of electric energy or capacity or both which, but for the purchase from a private power producer, as defined in section 16-243b, such company, cooperative or utility would generate itself or purchase from another source. For the purposes of this section, an electric distribution company's avoided cost is zero if the company purchases generation services pursuant to section 16-244c of the 2006 supplement to the general statutes.

Sec. 4. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2006) Notwithstanding any limitation imposed by its charter, each domestic electric company is authorized and empowered to generate and transmit electric energy, and to acquire utility facilities necessary or convenient for the purposes of its electric utility business or undivided interests therein and to operate the same, anywhere within or without this state, provided nothing in this section shall be construed to authorize such a company to sell electric energy in this state to any person, or within any area, except as otherwise authorized by its charter or the general statutes. For purposes of this section, "domestic electric company" means an electric company or electric distribution company, as defined in section 16-1 of the 2006 supplement to the general statutes, any membership electric cooperative organized under chapter 597 and any municipal electric utility or municipal electric energy cooperative, as defined respectively in section 7-233b of the general statutes that has been chartered by or organized or constituted within or under the laws of this state.

Statement of Purpose:

To create an exception to the Connecticut Energy Advisory Board's request for proposal process for certain electric substations or switchyards, to extend provisions regarding avoided costs of the generation of electricity to the purchase of electricity under the electric restructuring provisions, and to reinstate language regarding the operation of domestic electric companies.

[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not underlined.]