CT Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA)

THIS INTERNSHIP IS OPEN TO BOTH RETURNING YALE GRADUATE/PROFESSIONAL STUDENTS AND RETURNING YALE COLLEGE UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS

About the Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority:

The Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) is Connecticut’s utility regulator, charged with regulating the rates and services of Connecticut’s investor-owned electricity, natural gas, water and telecommunication companies and is the franchising authority for the state’s cable television companies.  Over the past few years, PURA has undertaken a multi-faceted approach to grid modernization, called the Equitable Modern Grid Initiative.  More recently, PURA has been charged by the Connecticut General Assembly in Public Act 20-5 to investigate, develop, and adopt a framework for implementing performance-based regulation (PBR) of each electric distribution company.

The opportunity:

One part of PURA’s wide-ranging Equitable Modern Grid Initiative is an investigation of the interconnection process for distributed energy resources (DER) – i.e., the engineering requirements, system upgrades, and costs of connecting new clean energy resources like solar or battery storage to the electric distribution grid.  Recently, working groups established under the Equitable Modern Grid Initiative have asked PURA to implement certain cost allocation methodologies (i.e., determinations of who pays, and how much) for the interconnection of DER in the residential space. The summer intern will support PURA’s efforts to modernize the DER interconnection process, with an eye toward equity and in alignment with the overall goals of the Equitable Modern Grid Initiative. 

The summer intern will engage in projects such as: analyzing bottlenecks in the DER interconnection process; exploring best practices on DER interconnection cost allocation from other jurisdictions (e.g., New York, Massachusetts, and California) and which model might work best for Connecticut; evaluating whether DER interconnection has or may hinder deployment of solar and battery storage at low- and moderate-income residential and multi-family housing locations; and developing performance metrics for DER interconnection in support of PURA’s implementation of PBR. The summer intern will also engage in PURA’s ongoing energy affordability and low-income discount rate design initiatives, and may also work on other assignments related to clean and affordable energy, reliability, and resilience topics as time permits. 

The intern will report to PURA’s Reliability, Security, and Resilience (RSR) Unit Supervisor Stephen Capozzi, with additional support from PURA’s Clean and Affordable Energy (CAE) Supervisor Stefanie Keohane.  

Location:

This will be a hybrid internship (in-person and remote), with at least one day per week in-person at PURA’s offices in New Britain. (The intern will have a workspace and access to computer/internet resources while on site in New Britain.) 

How to apply:

Please submit:

• a cover letter (no more than 2 pages) to include:
  • your interest in this project
  • any relevant background/experience
  • why you believe this work is important
  • share any important identity or identities you hold. Note that this is completely optional. Examples of identities that may be important to you might include (but are not limited to): gender, race, ethnicity, political affiliation, generation, education level, cultural identity, occupation, sexuality, family structure, housing status, mental health (health status/ability), incarceration status, institution affiliation, primary language, religion, immigration status, medical history, first-generation, income/ socio-economic class, quality of education, occupation, and/or parent's education.
• your resume

Please email the above directly to Ms. Laura Lupoli at PURA at Laura.Lupoli@ct.gov with “CBEY Planetary Solutions Internship Program in Clean Energy” in the subject line. Please also copy cbey@yale.edu.  Application deadline is 11:59 PM ET on April 10, 2022.