Capital Program Planning for Connecticut Electric Utilities

by | Oct 21, 2026

Connecticut · Electric & Grid Utilities

Connecticut pays the nation's third-highest power prices — and every project on your capital list is under the microscope.

Electrification is pushing winter demand up while a single nuclear station carries nearly half the state's power, offshore wind arrives, and federal regulators just cut transmission returns. Each of those forces reshuffles the projects competing for the same dollars. Invizion helps electric utilities re-sequence a capital portfolio in a click — and defend every decision to PURA and their boards.

See how Invizion helps utilities See what Connecticut utilities face Download the briefing (PDF)
The bottom line: Connecticut carries the nation's third-highest power prices on a grid that leans on one nuclear plant while electrification pushes the winter peak up and transmission returns fall. The utilities that hold rates and reliability together will be the ones whose capital plans can re-sequence as fast as the pressures change.
24.4¢1
Connecticut's average residential electricity price per kWh — the third-highest in the nation (2024).
~47%2
Share of Connecticut's electricity generated by the single Millstone nuclear station.
$26.5B3
Eversource's 2026–2030 capital investment plan across its service territories.
+2.9%/yr4
ISO New England's forecast winter peak-demand growth — driven by heat pumps and EVs.

The Connecticut Landscape

Four forces are moving your project list at once

None of these is theoretical, and none of them waits for your next budget cycle. Together they mean the capital plan you approved last year may already be the wrong plan.

Demand — Electrification

The load is shifting to winter

ISO New England forecasts overall regional electricity demand rising about 1.0% a year and the winter peak climbing roughly 2.9% a year through 2035 — a structural shift driven by heat-pump heating, transportation electrification, and large new loads.4

Connecticut already has about 48,800 battery-electric and 26,400 plug-in hybrid vehicles on the road.5 Every electrified home and fleet is a new capacity commitment competing for the same capital.

Reliability — Winter & Gas

A gas-dependent grid, tightening margins

ISO New England set its all-time summer peak of 28,130 MW in 2006 and operates roughly 29,300 MW of generating capability region-wide.4 The concern now is winter: natural gas is Connecticut's primary generation fuel,1 and the same pipelines feed heat and power on the coldest days.

As heating electrifies, the winter peak grows fastest — so resource adequacy increasingly depends on projects landing on schedule.4

Generation — The Transition

One nuclear plant, and what replaces the rest

Dominion's Millstone station (2,112 MW across two units) is Connecticut's only nuclear plant and generates about 47% of the state's electricity and over 90% of its carbon-free power under a 2019 state-directed, ten-year purchase agreement.26 Nuclear alone supplied more than 40% of in-state generation.7

The clean build-out is arriving alongside it: the 704 MW Revolution Wind project (a roughly $1.5 billion investment) sends 304 MW to Connecticut and is expected online in 2026, on top of about 1,481 MW of installed solar.89

Capital — Grid & Transmission

Invest more, recover less

Eversource, Connecticut's largest electric utility serving more than 1.2 million customers in roughly 149 cities and towns, is a major transmission builder and has laid out a $26.5 billion 2026–2030 capital plan across its territories.103

Yet returns are tightening: FERC's March 2026 reduction to the New England transmission owners' ROE triggered a $43.9 million after-tax charge at Eversource alone.3 New obligations stack on the backlog — and something on the list has to move.

Who Runs Connecticut's Grid

Two investor-owned utilities, a fleet of municipals, and a merchant nuclear generator

Connecticut's grid is carried by two PURA-regulated investor-owned utilities, a set of municipal electric systems, and Dominion's Millstone station as a merchant generator. The pressures are shared; the accountability path differs.

Investor-owned utilities

Rates & capital recovery regulated by PURA

Eversource Energy (CL&P) 1.2M+ electric customers · ~149 towns10
United Illuminating (UI) ~325,000 customers · New Haven / Bridgeport (Avangrid)11

Eversource's 2026–2030 capital plan totals roughly $26.5 billion across its Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire operations.3

Municipal power & generation

Governed by boards & towns, not PURA rates

Norwich Public Utilities Municipal electric · CMEEC member
Groton Utilities & Bozrah Light & Power Municipal electric systems
Wallingford Electric Division Town-owned distribution
Dominion — Millstone Station Merchant nuclear · ~47% of state power2

Rate-Setting & Oversight

Every capital dollar has to be defensible

In one of the highest-cost electricity markets in the country, the question on every project is the same: why this, why now, why at this cost?

  • The Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) sets rates and reviews capital recovery and resource plans for Connecticut's electric, gas, and water companies, including Eversource and United Illuminating.12
  • Among the nation's highest rates. At about 24.4¢/kWh residential, Connecticut ranks third in the country — so rate requests and prudence reviews draw intense scrutiny.1
  • Transmission returns under pressure. FERC's March 2026 cut to the New England transmission owners' base ROE produced a $43.9 million after-tax charge at Eversource — recovery assumptions are no longer a given.3
  • A performance-focused climate. PURA's move toward performance-based ratemaking and heightened reliability oversight raises the bar on justifying — and documenting — each capital decision.12

Money On The Table

Large sums are moving — can your plan absorb them?

Connecticut utilities have more grid and clean-energy capital in motion than in a generation. The constraint is readiness: which projects qualify, which are shovel-ready, and how the timing lines up.

  • Revolution Wind: ~$1.5B offshore project sending 304 MW to Connecticut, expected online in 2026.8
  • Eversource: $26.5B 2026–2030 capital plan concentrated in grid reliability, transmission, and modernization.3
  • Millstone: a 10-year state-directed purchase agreement (signed 2019) that keeps more than 90% of Connecticut's carbon-free electricity under contract.2
  • Connecticut Green Bank continues to mobilize private capital for distributed solar and storage, including a Solar for All effort that has reached roughly 5,000 lower-income households.13
  • IRA investment and production tax credits — including direct-pay for municipals — put utility-scale solar, storage, and offshore wind within closer reach for Connecticut providers.

Where Invizion Fits

Turn Connecticut's grid build-out into a defensible capital plan

Invizion is scenario-based capital portfolio optimization built for utilities. When load forecasts jump, a grant lands, or a retirement date moves, you don't re-plan by hand for weeks — you model it and decide with a record to stand behind.

1

Model the “what-if” before it's forced on you

A data-center interconnect, a delayed transmission line, a moved retirement date — build the scenario and see the impact on the whole portfolio, side by side with today's plan.

2

Re-sequence 500 projects in a click

When priorities move, Invizion re-orders the portfolio automatically — accelerating, stretching, or deferring projects against the constraints you set, not weeks of spreadsheet surgery.

3

Give regulators or your board a defensible record

Every prioritization and trade-off is captured. When you're asked “why this project, why now,” the answer is documented — not reconstructed after the fact.

Connecticut's Grid, In Brief

Questions Connecticut utility leaders are asking

Short, sourced answers — the same facts we dig into with utilities looking at their capital programs.

Why are Connecticut's electricity rates so high?
Connecticut's average residential price is about 24.4¢/kWh, the third-highest in the nation, reflecting heavy reliance on natural gas for generation and the cost of an aging, constrained regional grid.14
How important is the Millstone nuclear plant?
Dominion's Millstone station (2,112 MW) generates roughly 47% of Connecticut's electricity and over 90% of its carbon-free power, secured under a 2019 ten-year state purchase agreement.26
How fast is Connecticut's electricity demand growing?
ISO New England forecasts about 1.0% annual growth in overall demand and roughly 2.9% a year in the winter peak through 2035, driven by heat pumps and EVs — Connecticut already has about 75,000 plug-in vehicles registered.45
What's happening with offshore wind in Connecticut?
The state's flagship project, the 704 MW Revolution Wind, delivers 304 MW to Connecticut and is expected online in 2026; larger regional projects such as the 804 MW New England Wind remain in development.814
Who regulates my utility's rates?
PURA sets rates and reviews capital recovery and resource plans for the investor-owned utilities — Eversource and United Illuminating. Connecticut's municipal electric systems are governed by their towns and boards instead.121011
How does Invizion help Connecticut electric utilities plan capital?
Invizion is scenario-based capital portfolio optimization for utilities. It lets you model how an electrification surge, an offshore-wind interconnection, or a change in transmission ROE reshuffles your whole project list, re-sequence the portfolio automatically, and keep a defensible record of every decision for PURA or your board.

Go Deeper

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About the Author

GB

Guy Barlow

President, Invizion

Guy Barlow leads Invizion, a capital lifecycle management platform for water and wastewater utilities. He has spent two decades at the intersection of utility capital programs, funding, and analytics, helping utilities make faster, more defensible capital decisions.

Explore Further

See how utilities keep capital plans defensible

Invizion helps utilities model, optimize, and defend their capital programs. Explore how it works, or read our latest thinking on capital planning across the utility sector.

Explore Invizion

This briefing was last reviewed September 2026.

Sources

  1. U.S. Energy Information Administration — Connecticut Electricity Profile: 24.37¢/kWh residential (3rd-highest); natural gas primary generation source, 2024. www.eia.gov
  2. Dominion Energy — Millstone Power Station: ~16.8M MWh/yr, ~47% of Connecticut's electricity, over 90% of its carbon-free power; 2019 ten-year agreement. www.dominionenergy.com
  3. StockTitan / Eversource Energy news — $26.5B 2026–2030 investment plan; $43.9M after-tax charge from FERC's March 2026 New England transmission ROE reduction. www.stocktitan.net
  4. ISO New England — Key Grid & Market Stats: 28,130 MW all-time summer peak (2006); ~29,300 MW capability; ~1.0%/yr demand and ~2.9%/yr winter-peak growth forecast. www.iso-ne.com
  5. U.S. DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center — Connecticut: ~48,800 EV and ~26,400 plug-in hybrid registrations; 5,473 charging ports, 2025. afdc.energy.gov
  6. Wikipedia — Millstone Nuclear Power Plant: 2,112 MW (Units 2 & 3), owned by Dominion Energy. en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia — Energy in Connecticut: nuclear supplied over 40% of state generation (2019). en.wikipedia.org
  8. Wikipedia — Revolution Wind: 704 MW total, 304 MW to Connecticut, ~$1.5B, developed by Ørsted; construction ongoing, completion expected 2026. en.wikipedia.org
  9. Wikipedia — Solar power in Connecticut: ~1,481 MW of grid-connected PV capacity (2023). en.wikipedia.org
  10. Wikipedia — Eversource Energy: Connecticut's largest electric utility, 1.2M+ customers in ~149 cities and towns; major transmission builder. en.wikipedia.org
  11. Wikipedia — United Illuminating: ~325,000 customers in 17 towns of greater New Haven and Bridgeport; a subsidiary of Avangrid. en.wikipedia.org
  12. Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) — regulates rates and services of the state's electric, gas, water, and telecom utilities. portal.ct.gov/pura
  13. Connecticut Green Bank — clean-energy finance, including a Solar for All partnership reaching ~5,000 lower-income families (2023). www.ctgreenbank.com
  14. Wikipedia — Wind power in Connecticut: Revolution Wind (704 MW) and New England Wind (804 MW) offshore projects. en.wikipedia.org