Nov. 3--For the first time, the state's largest electric and natural gas companies have teamed to create a joint plan for promoting energy efficiency that, if approved, could save their residential and business customers more than $580 million over the next decade.

The $130 million plan was submitted jointly to the state Department of Public Utility Control last month by the Connecticut Light & Power Co., United Illuminating Co., Connecticut Natural Gas Co., Southern Connecticut Gas Co. and Yankee Gas Services Co. It was developed with assistance from the state Energy Conservation Management Board.

"This is a first-ever attempt at bringing all of these utility and energy companies together for a unified effort to make Connecticut more energy efficient," said Jeff Gaudiosi, chairman of the Connecticut Energy Efficiency Fund.

The 2010 Conservation Load Management plan would spend more than $130 million from the energy efficiency fund, which raises money from a line-item on electric and natural gas customers bills, and from other sources. Those include $24 million from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative and $11.5 million for energy efficiency programs from the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

Ron Araujo, manager for conservation programs at CL&P, said the utilities will use the money to expand a lengthy menu of programs that help residential and business customers use less energy.

"The distributing utilities work with the Energy Conservation Management Board to devise programs for customers to implement that would lower their bills by lowering their energy usage," he said. "The programs have been around for a while, but continually progress and expand each year and get better over time."

Gaudiosi said the electric utilities and natural gas companies previously filed separate plans. Now, however, the gas companies have energy efficiency programs similar to those electric companies have been offering, such as the Weatherization Residential Assistance Partnership, or WRAP, program for low-income customers or the Home Energy Solutions program.

"In the past, if a customer heated with natural gas we couldn't look at the gas system," he said. "But now that natural gas has its own program, they can look at it."

Such energy efficiency programs are projected to save $4 for every $1 spent on them, he said. So, according to CL&P, if the joint plan is approved and the programs are utilized, customers could save more than $580 million over the next 12 years.

Individual customers "would see an average savings of 10 to 15 percent just going through the program," Guadiosi said. "Some will see more, others will see less."

Reduced energy usage will have positive effects on the environment and reduce the need for more power plants and to find more natural gas, but customers who want to see the largest reductions in their bills need to use these programs, Gaudiosi said.

"You have to make the effort to contact the gas or electric utility to enroll yourself in the program," he said. "They are open to everybody -- homeowners, businesses, municipalities, schools, churches..."

The DPUC is conducting hearings on the plan, with another scheduled for next Tuesday at 9:30 a.m. at its offices in New Britain. A draft decision on the plan is expected to be issued by Dec. 18, with a final decision due before Jan. 1.

-----

To see more of the Waterbury Republican-American, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.rep-am.com.

Copyright (c) 2009, Waterbury Republican-American, Conn.

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.

NU, UIL, CTG,

A service of YellowBrix, Inc.