Cheshire rejects grid proposal

Dec 21 - McClatchy-Tribune Regional News - Luther Turmelle New Haven Register, Conn.

Town officials have rejected participating in a state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection pilot program that would use $20 million in state money to create micro-grids across Connecticut.

Micro-grids are small, on-site energy-generation facilities intended to power small-scale areas like neighborhoods or municipal complexes. The idea of developing a micro-grid pilot program came out of the panels that Gov. Dannel Malloy convened in the aftermath of 2011's Tropical Storm Irene and the October snowstorm that left hundreds of thousands of Connecticut residents without power, some for as long as 10 days.

Town Manager Michael Milone asked Town Council members about whether they wanted to submit a proposal to the state to consider that would link the Harmon Leonard Youth Center, Cheshire High School, the community's Yellow House Youth Services facility and the Community Pool using via electric-distribution lines.

The second part of the proposal called for acquiring a fuel cell to all of the facilities using the distribution lines connecting them.

But the council voted 6-3 last week not to have Milone submit the proposal to DEEP. The council's three Democrats -- Peter Talbot, Michael Ecke and Patti Flynn-Harris -- cast the only votes in favor of the plan that Milone put before councilors.

Part of the reason the proposal was rejected is because the time frame for submissions to the pilot program. The deadline for submissions is Jan. 3.

"You really would have needed more time to flesh out the details of this," Council Chairman Tim Slocum said Wednesday.

Vincent Masciana, the director of management services for Cheshire schools, said DEEP's request for micro-grid proposals "didn't come with a lot of meat to it" in terms of providing potential applicants with details.

Fellow Republican Councilman James Sima was more blunt in his assessment of the proposal.

"It seems to me that we're just applying for a grant just for the sake of applying for a grant," Sima said.

Call Luther Turmelle at 203-789-5706 or follow him on Twitter @LutherTurmelle.