Sec.16-50j-1. Description of organization

(a) General Course of Operations.

The Connecticut Siting Council (Council), formerly known as the Power Facility Evaluation Council, was established in the executive branch of the state government by Public Act 575 of the 1971 General Assembly. The Public Utility Environmental Standards Act (PUESA), Title 16, Chapter 277a of the Connecticut General Statutes, governs the operation of the Council.

The Council is charged with:

(1) balancing the need for adequate and reliable public utility services at the lowest reasonable cost to consumers with the need to protect the environment and ecology of the state and to minimize damage to scenic, historic, and recreational values;

(2) providing environmental quality standards and criteria for the location, design, construction and operation of facilities for the furnishing of public utility services at least as stringent as the federal environmental quality standards and criteria, and technically sufficient to assure the welfare and protection of the people of the state;

(3) encouraging research to develop new and improved methods of generating, storing, and transmitting electricity and fuel and of transmitting and receiving television and telecommunications signals with minimal damage to the environment;

(4) promoting energy security;

(5) promoting the sharing of towers for fair consideration wherever technically, legally, environmentally and economically feasible to avoid the unnecessary proliferation of towers in the state;

(6) requiring annual forecasts of the demand for electric power, together with identification and advance planning of the facilities needed to supply that demand; and

(7) facilitating local, regional, state-wide and interstate planning.

(b) Public Participation.

The public may participate in the Council process in one of two ways: through party or intervenor status, or through a limited appearance by submission of oral or written comments to the Council. Information describing the types of participation is discussed in depth on the Council website, available at www.ct.gov/csc. The Council's website provides information regarding pending and past proceedings, forms and instructions, and statements of policy. The public is welcome to contact Council staff and make requests for information during normal business hours from 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM each weekday except Saturdays, Sundays and holidays, either in person at the Council office located at 10 Franklin Square, New Britain, CT 06051, by phone at [phone], by fax at [phone] or by e-mail at [e-mail].

(Effective March 7, 1989; Amended September 7, 2012)