The conflict in Ukraine, and resulting spikes in crude oil prices, has brought renewed focus on what we depend upon to generate electricity in our state.
NBC Connecticut Investigates took a look at some federal data that shows what is used here, and you might be surprised what we learned.
Without a doubt, the place that makes the most juice in our state, is the Millstone Nuclear Power Plant in Waterford. The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in 2020, "it generated 38% of Connecticut’s electricity.”
The dominant fuel that we use to keep the lights on, though, has become natural gas.
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The EIA said natural gas fueled 56% of Connecticut’s electricity net generation, more than doubling the amount from just a decade earlier.
Seeing solar arrays sprouting up all around Connecticut might make you think it’s a big source of power, but, at least for now, solar creates just a little more than just 2% of the state’s electricity, squeaking past biomass plants, which use organic fibers and waste for fuel.
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Hydroelectric power generated about 1% of the state's electricity, and minor amounts of petroleum, wind and coal provided the rest.
While petroleum is not used as much to generate power on an ongoing basis in our state, it can be used quite a bit during peak periods with plants that come online then.
