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Eversource, UI lay out five‑year integrated distribution system plan for Connecticut
Summary
Eversource and UI told the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority they will file a five‑year Integrated Distribution System Plan (IDSP) with annual checkpoints, forecasting, resiliency analyses and proposals for DER interconnection and cost allocation; OCC urged granular forecasts, benefit‑cost analysis and transparent stakeholder engagement.
Eversource and United Illuminating representatives told the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority on the 10th technical meeting in docket 210515REO3 that they intend to file an Integrated Distribution System Plan (IDSP) that covers five‑year planning cycles, forecasting for electrification, and a set of solutions to address distribution capacity, reliability and resilience.
"It's our role as EDC to provide safe, reliable, and resilient service, to all customers and communities," said Vinicius Hosacci, director for integrated system planning at UI, outlining the utilities' dual emphasis on maintaining core distribution assets while integrating non‑wires options and storage.
The utilities proposed an IDSP structured as a chaptered report: an executive summary; alignment with equitable modern grid priorities; stakeholder engagement; a detailed current‑state assessment; planning processes and methodologies; a multi‑year demand forecast; multi‑year solution packages; long‑term assessments; reliability and resiliency planning; DER interconnection group studies; and a five‑year capital plan. Lucas Cruz (UI) said chapter 6 would present 5–10 year demand forecasts that account for EV and heat‑pump adoption, and chapter 7 would present vetted solutions to address identified bottlenecks.
Eversource's Lovell Freeman described the IDSP's approach to resiliency and climate adaptation, explaining that the utilities will pair historical zonal vulnerability analyses with scenario work to identify incremental resiliency investments. On interconnection, Freeman said the companies will use group studies and proactive upgrades in areas with limited hosting capacity, noting that "there are, at this point, 8 substations across the state where there is a significant queue and a lack of hosting capacity." He added that the IDSP would present cost‑allocation proposals for developers and, where warranted, distribution customers.
The companies said they envision filing an initial IDSP 12 months after a final decision in this docket, repeating the plan on a five‑year cycle, and allowing the plan to take effect 18 months after submission with annual or semiannual reporting to PURA and stakeholders. Freeman emphasized that approval of an IDSP "does not constitute a pre a pre authorization of any individual infrastructure project," and that traditional prudency reviews on specific projects would still apply when projects are presented for rate‑base inclusion.
During staff questioning, Thomas Jackson (PURA) pressed how the utilities' proposed annual standardized reports would align with the Office of Consumer Counsel's suggestions for annual adjustment filings and "entering service" reviews. EDC witnesses said they already perform annual planning exercises and would provide the requested disclosures, and that engineering changes that affect scope or in‑service timing would be telegraphed in advance to stakeholders where material.
Next steps identified on the record included PURA staff issuing a revised concept paper to capture technical corrections submitted by participants and continued stakeholder deliberations on detailed methodologies for forecasting, scenario development and benefit‑cost analyses.
The meeting moved on to a separate presentation from the Office of Consumer Counsel that addressed IDSP content and review (see separate article).
