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State Energy Profile - Connecticut

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State Energy Profile for Connecticut
Last Update: February 4, 2010
Next Update: February 11, 2010

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    Connecticut Quick Facts

  • Two of the Nation’s three Northeast Home Heating Oil Reserve sites, intended to cushion the effects of disruptions in the supply of home heating oil, are located in Groton and New Haven.
  • The 2,037-megawatt Millstone nuclear power plant is the State’s highest-capacity power plant.
  • Connecticut is one of the few States that require the statewide use of reformulated motor gasoline blended with ethanol.
  • In 2008, Connecticut ranked in the top-ten States for solar power capacity within the United States.




 

Overview

Resources and Consumption

Connecticut has no fossil fuel reserves but does have minor renewable energy resources, including wind power potential and fuelwood resources in the northern part of the State. Connecticut’s economy is not energy intensive, and industry is the State’s smallest energy-consuming sector. The residential and transportation sectors lead State energy consumption.

Petroleum

Connecticut receives petroleum products at the coastal ports of New Haven, New London, and Bridgeport, and the Connecticut River is an important inland water route for petroleum product barges supplying central Connecticut. In addition, a small-capacity product pipeline originating in New Haven supplies Hartford before terminating in central Massachusetts. Connecticut is one of a handful of States that require the statewide use of reformulated motor gasoline blended with ethanol.

Connecticut, along with much of the U.S. Northeast, is vulnerable to distillate fuel oil shortages and price spikes during winter months due to high demand for home heating. About one-half of Connecticut households use fuel oil as their primary energy source for home heating. In January and February 2000, distillate fuel oil prices in the Northeast rose sharply when extreme winter weather increased demand unexpectedly and hindered the delivery of new supply, as frozen rivers and high winds slowed the docking and unloading of barges and tankers. In July 2000, in order to reduce the risk of future shortages, the President directed the U.S. Department of Energy to establish the Northeast Heating Oil Reserve. The Reserve gives Northeast consumers adequate supplies for about 10 days, the time required for ships to carry heating oil from the Gulf of Mexico to New York Harbor. One of the Reserve sites, with an inventory of 750 thousand barrels, is located in New Haven while another, with an inventory of 250 thousand barrels, is located in Groton. The Reserve’s third storage facility is located in Perth Amboy, New Jersey.

Natural Gas

In Connecticut, natural gas is used mostly for electricity generation and residential home heating. Connecticut receives its natural gas supply from production areas in the U.S. Gulf Coast region and Canada, and from natural gas storage sites in the Appalachian Basin region, which includes parts of New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio. The gas is supplied by pipelines entering the State from New York and Massachusetts. Connecticut ships almost one-third of its natural gas supplies to Rhode Island. Like other New England States, Connecticut has no natural gas storage sites and must rely on the Appalachian Basin storage capacity to supply peak demand in winter.

Coal, Electricity, and Renewables

For many years, nuclear power from Waterford’s Millstone nuclear plant accounted for more than one-half of Connecticut’s electricity production. However, nuclear power lost some of its dominance in the late 1990s when one of Millstone’s three reactors was permanently taken offline. In recent years, natural gas-fired electricity production has grown rapidly, and natural gas is now Connecticut’s second leading generation fuel, typically accounting for more than one-fourth of net generation. As in other New England States, the growing use of natural gas in Connecticut’s power industry has been driven by the benefits of the lower emission levels of natural gas compared with other fossil fuels and the ease of siting new natural gas-fired power plants. In addition to nuclear power and natural gas, Connecticut also produces electricity from coal, petroleum, and renewable energy sources including landfill gas, municipal solid waste, hydroelectric power, and solar radiation. In 2008, Connecticut ranked in the top-ten States for solar power capacity within the United States. In June 2007, Connecticut adopted a renewable portfolio standard that requires 27 percent of the State’s electricity to be generated from renewable sources by 2020.

Connecticut’s residential electricity use is below the national average, in part because demand for air-conditioning is low during the typically mild summer months and electricity is not widely used as a primary energy source for home heating in winter.



Data

Economy
Population and Employment Connecticut U.S. Rank Period
Population 3.5 million    29
2008
Civilian Labor Force 1.9 million    28
Dec-09
Per Capita Personal Income $54,117    2
2007
Industry Connecticut U.S. Rank Period
Gross Domestic Product by State $216.2 billion    24 2008
Land in Farms 0.4 million acres    49
2007
Market Value of Agricultural Products Sold $0.6 billion    44
2007

 Prices
Petroleum Connecticut U.S. Avg. Period
Domestic Crude Oil First Purchase $71.98/barrel Nov-09
No. 2 Heating Oil, Residential $2.62/gal $2.60/gal Nov-09 Click to see State rankings
  Regular Motor Gasoline Sold Through Retail Outlets (Excluding Taxes) $2.22/gal $2.15/gal Nov-09 Click to see State rankings
  State Tax Rate on Motor Gasoline
(other taxes may apply)
$0.25/gal $0.22/gal Aug-08
  No. 2 Diesel Fuel Sold Through Retail Outlets (Excluding Taxes) $2.28/gal $2.27/gal Nov-09 Click to see State rankings
  State Tax Rate on On-Highway Diesel
(other taxes may apply)
$0.37/gal $0.22/gal Aug-08
Natural Gas Connecticut U.S. Avg. Period
  Wellhead $6.37/thousand cu ft 2007
  City Gate $6.21/thousand cu ft $6.32/thousand cu ft Nov-09
  Residential $13.71/thousand cu ft $11.25/thousand cu ft Nov-09 Click to see State rankings
Coal Connecticut U.S. Avg. Period
  Average Open Market Sales Price $32.06/short ton 2008
  Delivered to Electric Power Sector W $ 2.16 /million Btu Oct-09
Electricity Connecticut U.S. Avg. Period
  Residential 20.78 cents/kWh 11.76 cents/kWh Oct-09 Click to see State rankings
  Commercial 16.53 cents/kWh 10.22 cents/kWh Oct-09
  Industrial 18.03 cents/kWh 6.68 cents/kWh Oct-09
       

 Reserves & Supply
Reserves Connecticut Share of U.S. Period
  Crude Oil 2008
  Dry Natural Gas 2008
  Natural Gas Liquids 2008
  Recoverable Coal at Producing Mines 2008
Rotary Rigs & Wells Connecticut Share of U.S. Period
Rotary Rigs in Operation 0 0.0% 2008
Crude Oil Producing Wells 0 0.0% 2008
Natural Gas Producing Wells 2007
Production Connecticut Share of U.S. Period
  Total Energy 199 trillion Btu 0.3% 2007 Click to see State rankings
  Crude Oil Sep-09 Click to see State rankings
  Natural Gas - Marketed 2007 Click to see State rankings
  Coal 2008 Click to see State rankings
Capacity Connecticut Share of U.S. Period
  Crude Oil Refinery Capacity (as of Jan. 1) 2009
  Electric Power Industry Net Summer Capability 7,824 MW 0.8% 2008
Net Electricity Generation Connecticut Share of U.S. Period
  Total Net Electricity Generation 2,346 thousand MWh 0.8% Oct-09 Click to see State rankings
  Petroleum-Fired NM NA Oct-09
  Natural Gas-Fired 898 thousand MWh 1.2% Oct-09
  Coal-Fired 247 thousand MWh 0.2% Oct-09
  Nuclear 1,034 thousand MWh 1.8% Oct-09
  Hydroelectric NM NA Oct-09
  Other Renewables 64 thousand MWh 0.6% Oct-09
Stocks Connecticut Share of U.S. Period
  Motor Gasoline (Excludes Pipelines) Nov-09
  Distillate Fuel Oil (Excludes Pipelines) 5,256 thousand barrels 3.8% Nov-09
  Natural Gas in Underground Storage Nov-09
  Petroleum Stocks at Electric Power Producers W W Oct-09
  Coal Stocks at Electric Power Producers W W Oct-09
Production Facilities Connecticut
  Major Coal Mines None
  Petroleum Refineries None
  Major Non-Nuclear Electricity Generating Plants Middletown (Middletown Power LLC) • Lake Road Generating Plant (Lake Road Generating Co LP) • Bridgeport Station (PSEG Power Connecticut LLC) • Montville Station (NRG Montville Operations Inc) • Milford Power Project (Milford Power Co LLC)
  Nuclear Power Plants Millstone (Dominion Nuclear Conn Inc)
       

 Distribution & Marketing
Distribution Centers Connecticut
Oil Seaports/Oil Import Sites New Haven
  Natural Gas Market Centers None
Major Pipelines Connecticut
Crude Oil None
Petroleum Product Buckeye
Liquefied Petroleum Gases None
  Interstate Natural Gas Pipelines Algonquin Gas Tansmission Co. • Iroquois Pipeline Co. • Tennessee Gas Pipeline Co.
Fueling Stations Connecticut Share of U.S. Period
Motor Gasoline 1,530 0.9% 2008
Liquefied Petroleum Gases 12 0.5% 2009
Compressed Natural Gas 9 1.2% 2009
Ethanol 4 0.2% 2009
Other Alternative Fuels 3 0.2% 2009
       

 Consumption

per Capita Connecticut U.S. Rank Period
Total Energy 249 million Btu    45 2007 Click to see State rankings
by Source Connecticut Share of U.S. Period
Total Energy 871 trillion Btu 0.9% 2007
Total Petroleum 73.1 million barrels 1.0% 2007
    Motor Gasoline 36.2 million barrels 1.1% 2008
    Distillate Fuel 23.4 million barrels 1.6% 2008
    Liquefied Petroleum Gases 3.4 million barrels 0.4% 2007
    Jet Fuel 1.9 million barrels 0.3% 2008
Natural Gas 180,178 million cu ft 0.8% 2007
Coal W W 2007
by End-Use Sector Connecticut Share of U.S. Period
Residential 276,537 billion Btu 1.3% 2007
Commercial 218,519 billion Btu 1.2% 2007
Industrial 115,156 billion Btu 0.4% 2007
Transportation 260,459 billion Btu 0.9% 2007
for Electricity Generation Connecticut Share of U.S. Period
Petroleum NM NA Oct-09
Natural Gas 6,558 million cu ft 1.2% Oct-09
Coal 114 thousand short tons 0.2% Oct-09
for Home Heating (share of households) Connecticut U.S. Avg. Period
Natural Gas 29% 51.2% 2000
Fuel Oil 52% 9.0% 2000
Electricity 15% 30.3% 2000
Liquefied Petroleum Gases 2% 6.5% 2000
Other/None 2% 1.8% 2000
       

 Environment
Special Programs Connecticut
Clean Cities Coalitions Capitol Clean Cities of Connecticut • Connecticut Southwestern Area • New Haven • Norwich.
Alternative Fuels Connecticut Share of U.S. Period
  Alternative-Fueled Vehicles in Use 5,418 0.8% 2007
Ethanol Plants 0 0.0% 2008
Ethanol Plant Capacity 0 million gal/year 0.0% 2008
Ethanol Consumption 2,910 thousand barrels 1.3% 2008
Electric Power Industry Emissions Connecticut Share of U.S. Period
  Carbon Dioxide
9,429,044 metric tons 0.4% 2008 Click to see State rankings
  Sulfur Dioxide
3,872 metric tons 0.0% 2008
  Nitrogen Oxide
7,457 metric tons 0.2% 2008
       
     = No data reported.    * = Number less than 0.5 rounded to zero.    NA = Not available.    NM = Not meaningful due to large relative standard error or excessive percentage change.    W = Withheld to avoid disclosure of individual company data.
    Click the icon Click to see State rankings next to a data series to see State rankings for that series.

Update on February 4, 2010
New statistics for November 2009:
• Prices of crude oil, residential heating oil, motor gasoline, and diesel fuel
• Prices of city gate and residential natural gas
• Stocks of motor gasoline and distillate fuel oil
• Natural gas in underground storage
New statistics for September 2009:
• Production of crude oil
New statistics for 2008:
• Consumption of distillate fuel oil
 

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