Connecticut needs to overcome its energy demands and high prices while balancing renewables in its new Integrated Resource Plan, said State Representative Jonathan Steinberg in an interview with NPM.

The Nutmeg State recently announced plans to hold public meetings to garner feedback in order to design a new IRP for 2026-2035. So far, two white papers have been released from the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) describing the state’s need for a new plan. The documents mention interest in nuclear facilities as expensive but worth exploring, particularly with small modular reactors. DEEP is also interested in procuring more distributed generation and improving its transmission infrastructure.

Steinberg currently serves as the House Chair of the State’s Energy and Technology Committee. He first joined the committee after he was sworn in circa 2011. That first year, he also attended a summit where he heard Dan Esty, the minister of DEEP from 2011-2014.

“I heard the talk about energy policy and I was smitten. I realized that this was going to be something important,” Steinberg said.

Steinberg said committing to clean energy now is more important than ever as federal roadblocks threaten the offshore wind market in New England.

Part of President Trump’s first week of actions included an executive order that halted permitting and leasing agreements for wind projects on federal land and in federal waters. A separate executive order hampered the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ ability to issue permits to 168 renewable energy projects. A spokesperson told NPM in February that permitting had resumed on some projects but a pause remained in effect for onshore wind.

“We are already, through our permits and procurements, very invested in Maine wind and Hydro-Québec, and some of the other offshore wind is coming down the pipe, hopefully without further impediment by the Trump administration,” Steinberg told NPM.

Though projects have gotten cancelled left and right in recent months, the Revolution Wind project did close its bank financing in late 2024 and plans to open up in 2026 supplying 304 MW to Connecticut and 400 MW to Rhode Island. The project is owned by Orsted and Global Infrastructure Partners.

Steinberg said that Connecticut is trying to create a diverse mix of resources to increase resiliency and keep costs low. As it stands, New England’s transmission costs are the highest in the country, according to DEEP. The department noted that New England spends USD 5.90 on transmission for every megawatt hour of demand served, which is higher than in any other U.S. region. Florida was the least costly at 17 cents spent on transmission per MWh of demand served.

“We are working and, as many states are, are much more open minded to the idea of expanding nuclear energy,” he said. “We can’t really afford to throw out any areas right now, except for perhaps the dirtiest fuels.”

Connecticut is home to the Millstone Nuclear Plant. Owned by Dominion Energy, the 2,000 MW power plant has been pinpointed as an area of interest for co-located a data center, though nothing has been solidified by the utility company. Steinberg said data centers bring valuable tax revenues, but on the ISO-NE grid, they can come at a hefty price to ratepayers.

“Obviously, every state is going to want to participate in the jobs and the revenue related to data centers, but some states are better positioned than others. New England suffers from being a very high cost of energy region, which ties one arm behind our back. Now, as we are looking at the addition of data centers as a potential constraint on supply and reliability, which is a whole new thing.”

If prices remain high or climb as they have in other energy regions, there could be a domino effect to ratepayers like Gian-Carl Casa, CEO of The Alliance, a nonprofit cooperative in Connecticut.

“Some nonprofits can be big consumers of electricity with large physical plants. They and others may operate group homes that are spread throughout the state, with a big cumulative need,” Casa told NPM. “In both cases, they will generally be using electricity during peak hours. That means their dependence on the availability of affordable electricity is no different than that of both for-profit businesses and residential homeowners. But if they cannot open their doors they cannot help people who need services.”

He added that many nonprofits “are already struggling financially, as they have been underfunded for a decade and are holding their budgets together with string and tape. Should supply choke and prices spike, it will be that much more difficult for them to continue.”

Between 2016 and 2024, New England transmission operators invested more than USD 9bn in transmission projects to address reliability needs identified by ISO-NE and replace aging transmission infrastructure, DEEP said. In the last decade, annual transmission costs “as a whole have grown by 72% and now make up 10-11% of the typical Connecticut residential customer’s monthly electricity bill.” DEEP’s white papers on its new IRP strategy stated New England is projected to invest another $6.5 billion in asset condition and reliability transmission projects through 2030.

Steinberg said he would like to see Connecticut adopt smart meters to allow ratepayers to see their real-time use. Without it, he said it “really puts us behind the eight ball in most other states.”

DEEP is seeking public input on its transmission white paper and several questions included in a public notice announcing the IRP. Its collection and analysis will be conducted over the coming months. Initial comments are due to DEEP by March 31.

Afterward, DEEP will hold a public kickoff meeting to discuss the IRP scope with stakeholders. The department also plans to host additional stakeholder meetings and provide opportunities for public input on the IRP in the months ahead, though it has not yet released a schedule for those meetings.