Bill Text: CT SB01050 | 2015 | General Assembly | Comm Sub

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Bill Title: An Act Concerning Abandoned Electric Generating Facilities And Corporate Responsibility.

Spectrum: Committee Bill

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2015-04-13 - File Number 615 [SB01050 Detail]

Download: Connecticut-2015-SB01050-Comm_Sub.html

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General Assembly		Raised Bill No. 1050
January Session, 2015		LCO No. 4458
		*_____SB01050ET____032515____*
Referred to Committee on ENERGY AND TECHNOLOGY
Introduced by:
(ET)

AN ACT CONCERNING ABANDONED ELECTRIC GENERATING FACILITIES AND CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY.

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

Section 1. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2015) (a) As used in this section:

(1) "Electric generating facility" means an electric generating facility described in subdivision (3) of subsection (a) of section 16-50i of the general statutes, but does not include a nuclear power generating facility.

(2) "Decommission" means the process undertaken at the time an electric generating facility is permanently retired from service to ensure that the decontamination, dismantlement, removal and disposal of the facility, including the facility site and any components and materials associated with the facility, are accomplished in compliance with all applicable state and federal laws, and to ensure that such final disposition does not pose any threat to the public health and safety.

(3) "Retirement" as related to an electric generating facility means a facility (A) that has not generated electric power for a period of six months or more, (B) for which the facility owner no longer has a power purchase agreement to sell electric power generated by the facility, and (C) that is not considered by the regional independent system operator, as defined in section 16-1 of the general statutes, to be necessary or capable of servicing the region's electric reliability needs.

(b) (1) Not later than six months after the retirement of an electric generating facility on or after the effective date of this section, the facility owner shall submit a plan to the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority to sell, transfer, reenergize or decommission the facility.

(2) In the case of retirement of an electric generating facility before the effective date of this section, the owner of the facility shall submit such a plan to the authority not later than six months after the effective date of this section.

(3) Upon submission of a plan under subdivision (1) or (2) of this subsection, the electric generating facility owner shall have two years to execute such plan.

(4) During the two-year period, the electric generating facility owner shall provide the authority and the municipality where the facility is situated with a status report every six months regarding its progress toward completing such plan.

(c) The Public Utilities Regulatory Authority shall adopt regulations in accordance with the provisions of chapter 54 of the general statutes to carry out the purposes of this section.

Sec. 2. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2015) (a) As used in this section: "Abandoned electric generating facility" means a facility (A) that has not generated electric power for a period of two years or more, (B) for which the facility owner no longer has a power purchase agreement to sell electric power generated by the facility, and (C) that is not considered by the regional independent system operator, as defined in section 16-1 of the general statutes, to be necessary or capable of servicing the region's electric reliability needs.

(b) (1) Not later than six months after the effective date of this section, the owner of an abandoned electric generating facility shall submit a plan to the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority to sell, transfer, reenergize or decommission the facility.

(2) Upon submission of a plan under subdivision (1) of this subsection, the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority shall issue an order prescribing a time period, not exceeding one year and without the possibility of extension, for the facility owner to sell, transfer, reenergize or decommission the facility.

(3) If the facility owner fails to meet the conditions prescribed in the authority's order, the authority shall assess a civil penalty in accordance with section 16-41 of the general statutes.

(4) Each distinct violation of the authority's order shall be a separate offense and, in case of a continued violation, each day thereof shall be deemed a separate offense.

(c) (1) Any town may exercise the power of eminent domain over the tract of land where an abandoned electric generating facility is situated for the purposes described in sections 48-3, 48-5, 48-7 and 48-8 of the general statutes.

(2) The town is exempt from all costs for environmental remediation pertaining to such land.

(3) Liability for all environmental remediation costs shall revert to the former owner of the abandoned electric generating facility.

Sec. 3. Subdivision (2) of subsection (a) of section 16-50l of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2015):

(2) In the case of facilities described in subdivision (3) of subsection (a) of section 16-50i: (A) A description of the proposed electric generating or storage facility; (B) a statement and full explanation of why the proposed facility is necessary; (C) a statement of loads and resources as described in section 16-50r; (D) safety and reliability information, including planned provisions for emergency operations and shutdowns; (E) estimated cost information, including plant costs, fuel costs, plant service life and capacity factor, and total generating cost per kilowatt-hour, both at the plant and related transmission, and comparative costs of alternatives considered; (F) a schedule showing the program for design, material acquisition, construction and testing, and operating dates; (G) available site information, including maps and description and present and proposed development, and geological, scenic, ecological, seismic, biological, water supply, population and load center data; (H) justification for adoption of the site selected, including comparison with alternative sites; (I) design information, including a description of facilities, plant efficiencies, electrical connections to the system, and control systems; (J) a description of provisions, including devices and operations, for mitigation of the effect of the operation of the facility on air and water quality, for waste disposal, and for noise abatement, and information on other environmental aspects; [and] (K) a listing of federal, state, regional, district and municipal agencies from which approvals either have been obtained or will be sought covering the proposed facility, copies of approvals received and the planned schedule for obtaining those approvals not yet received; and (L) a decommissioning plan, including the projected useful life of the facility, identification of any circumstances that would trigger decommissioning of the facility in advance of the end of the projected useful life of the facility, a description of the method by which foundations, associated equipment and components will be dismantled and removed, a description of the method by which the site will be restored as near as possible to its original condition, including, stabilization, regrading and revegetation, an estimate of the total cost of implementing the decommissioning plan calculated by a certified professional engineer based on the projected useful life and the projected salvage value of the facility, and financial assurance that sufficient funds are available for decommissioning the facility. For the purposes of this subparagraph, financial assurance may include a performance bond, surety bond, letter of credit, corporate guarantee, escrow, deposit, insurance, certificate of deposit, domestic security, trust, any combination of such financial devices or any other form of financial device that is acceptable to the council to ensure sufficient funds are available for decommissioning the facility.

This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections:
Section 1	October 1, 2015	New section
Sec. 2	October 1, 2015	New section
Sec. 3	October 1, 2015	16-50l(a)(2)

ET

Joint Favorable