B50 Coming to Connecticut by 2035

State legislature passes renewable liquid fuel blending bill

The Connecticut Energy Marketers Association (CEMA) reports that the state legislature has passed a bill requiring all heating oil sold in the state to be blended with a lower-carbon liquid fuel. The bill, introduced to provide a low-carbon alternative to electrification, was headed to the governor for his signature.

The bill expands the state’s definition of fuel that can be blended with heating oil to lower its carbon intensity from just biodiesel to all advanced biofuels identified under the federal Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), including but not limited to biodiesel, renewable diesel and cellulosic biofuels.

The bill requires all heating oil sold in the state to contain 5 percent advanced biofuels by July 1, 2022, 10 percent by July 1, 2025, 15 percent by July 1, 2030, 20 percent by July 1, 2034, and 50 percent by July 1, 2035. A previous stipulation that the state must have “sufficient” in-state production of biodiesel to trigger fuel blending requirements is now repealed.

Additionally, the bill requires fuel retailers to disclose “approximate” percentages of low-carbon fuel blends sold to customers. The bill also requires Connecticut’s Comprehensive Energy Strategy (CES) to consider the greenhouse gas (GHG) reductions from low-carbon liquid fuels on a lifecycle basis, and it requires the CES to evaluate the GHG reduction benefits of a Thermal Renewable Energy Credits program similar to the Alternative Energy Portfolio Standard in Massachusetts.

Connecticut’s renewable liquid fuel blending bill is the second to be passed by a state legislature in the Northeast this year. In May, the New York State legislature passed a bill that would require all heating oil sold in the state to contain 5 percent biodiesel and/or renewable diesel by July 1, 2022, 10 percent by July 1, 2025, and 20 percent by July 1, 2030 (see “B20 Bill Passes NYS Legislature” from last issue’s print edition, page 40).

Oil & Energy will continue to follow this story as it develops and provide updates, along with reactions from industry stakeholders, in a later issue.

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