ISO New England's control room.
Franklyn Reynolds sees a green wind blowing our way — and he hopes to harness it to tackle climate change.
Reynolds is the man responsible for keeping the lights on in New Haven: He is president and CEO of UIL Holdings, which includes United Illuminating and Southern Connecticut Gas.
The wind will blow, and be harnessed, in Massachusetts and in Bridgeport. UI’s parent company, Avangrid, is developing a wind farm 14 miles offshore of Martha’s Vineyard. It’s developing an offshore wind farm in Bridgeport that it hopes will supply 14 percent of Connecticut’s electricity while avoiding the emission of millions of tons of carbon.
That wind could be converted into “green hydrogen” through a process called electrolysis. It can then serve as an alternative to fossil fuels to power factories and vehicles.
Reynolds’ company has put in a bid to lead the way on developing that green hydrogen, with a proposal to the federal Department of Energy. It’s competing to obtain the money through the department’s new “Hydrogen Shot” program funded by President Biden’s new infrastructure law. The proposal — which would evolve in its details as potential funders and regulators weigh in — at this point is to create a “20 MW electrolyzer and hydrogen storage facility” for UI facilities in Connecticut, powered by offshore wind and backed up by solar energy.
“We want to make Connecticut a hydrogen hub,” Reynolds said during an interview Thursday on WNHH FM’s “Dateline New Haven” program.
UIL CEO Franklyn Reynolds.
In the interview, Reynolds discussed both the short-term and long-term approaches UI is taking to climate change.
Short term, climate change has brought the state more frequent, and more violent, superstorms. UI has invested in stronger poles to withstand high winds, he said. It is exploring “selective underground” pilots for spots where it may be financially feasible to bury power lines.
ISO New England, which operates the region’s power grid, issued a warning on Dec. 6 that this winter can see enough disruptions — thanks in part to delays in deliveries of oil and liquified natural gas thanks to global supply chain snags — that our area might see its first-ever rolling blackouts (aka “controlled outages”).
That warning caused concern over the past month. Reynolds pointed out that ISO has been issuing similar warnings for years, and this one was based on extended colder-than-usual streaks. In fact, predictions are for a milder winter, he said.
But UI is ready in any case, he said, because difficult weather is the new normal. If rolling blackouts were to occur, he said, either ISO would give UI a 21-day notice, which would give plenty of time to warn customers; or, in the event of an unexpected problem, UI has plans to notify customers in real time through email, social media, and the company website. UI would also seek to rotate any potential blackouts “so that customers could repower their phones” and turn up the heat.
Rather than “panic,” UI and its customers need to “prepare,” said Reynolds, who while working his way up in the power industry served 20 years in the Army National Guard. Born in Jamaica, he grew up in Bloomfield, Connecticut, and attended University of New Haven. He began his career at Southern Connecticut Gas.
Along the way, he came to see keeping the power on as a team mission.
Click on the above video to watch UIL Holdings CEO Franklyn Reynolds discuss that mission — and spell out challenges facing utilities, government, and environmentalists in seeking a green future — on WNHH FM’s “Dateline New Haven.”
We are going to have to move away from fossil fuels and we already have the infrastructure for moving, storing and dispensing gasoline that can be adapted for hydrogen. I love my leased electric car but there are cold days when I lose 30% of the battery power just from the weather and I would am nervous about taking a long trip during cold weather. I know batteries will get better and charging stations will continue to be built but I would love to have a hydrogen car option.