NEW CANAAN – “Angry, frustrated, mad, annoyed, ripped off.” Those were just some of the words constituents used to describe about energy costs in Connecticut at a recent town hall at New Canaan Library.
They were read aloud by state Sen. Ryan Fazio, R-Greenwich, at the Senate GOP Grassroots Tour stop on Tuesday, April 22. Joined by state Deputy House Republican Leader Tom O’Dea of New Canaan, Fazio used the opportunity to lobby for his six-point plan to fix the ever-growing electric bill crisis.
“I can’t tell you how many emails and hand-written letters I’ve gotten from constituents from the district and across the state who aren’t just upset, but they’re hurting,” Fazio said about the high electric bills. “Some people don’t know how they can afford their prescription drugs, the rent and putting food on the table for their family because of these exorbitantly high electric bills.”
O’Dea chimed in that while representatives of PURA (Public Utilities Regulatory Authority) and Eversource pointed fingers about who’s to blame, he told constituents at a similar town hall in January it was the state lawmakers themselves.
“I said at that presentation, ‘Who do you blame? You blame legislators,’” O’Dea said. “We’re the ones that enact the laws that have put a lot of things on your bill. I told you to hold us accountable – the entire legislature.”
Part of that “fix” is a six-point plan that is laid out in a Senate bill co-sponsored by Fazio, O’Dea and a slew of lawmakers. The thing is similar bills have been proposed and killed over the past three years. And it’s not clear if this version will avoid the same fate.
However, a new bipartisan effort is sponsored by Senate President Pro Tempore John Fonfara (D-Hartford), who is chair of the Finance, Revenue & Bonding Committee, fellow Democrat Rep. Chris Poulos of Southington and Republican Tom Delnicki of South Windsor.
That bill would establish the Connecticut Energy Procurement Authority; establish the Electric Rate Stabilization Fund; redefine “Class I renewable energy source” to include electricity generated from any nuclear power generating facility in the state; require the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority to incorporate time-of-use components into electric rates; establish the Energy Infrastructure Transition Fund; allow for electric distribution companies to issue securities concerning certain storm remediation costs; and authorize bonds of the state to fund the Green Bond Fund.
The Fazio bill calls for eliminating the public benefits charge paid by ratepayers, capping the price of all future long-term energy purchases, redefining the definition of Class I renewable energy sources to include nuclear and hydropower, separating PURA from DEEP (Department of Energy and Environmental Protection), eliminating subsidy programs such as electric vehicle rebates, and increasing the supply of natural gas to the state.
But the crown jewel of the plan – eliminating the public benefit charge – doesn’t look like it will be approved this session, according to Fazio.
“I think we’re moving in the right direction,” he said. “I think most Democratic legislators support keeping most of them, but we’re starting to see some Democrat legislators in Hartford support taking many of them away. It’s currently a source of a schism among some Democratic legislators in Hartford.”
Republicans have called the public benefit charge a “tax” that pays for 57 state-mandated programs and costs. Fazio and O’Dea spelled out some of those programs: subsidies for private electric generation from solar, fuel cell, wind and nuclear sources; costs for redistributive programs that lower electric rates for lower income customers; the “socializing” of payments for unpaid bills; and costs for energy efficiency programs.
“In total, they equate to more than $800 million for a year in taxes and spending through those 57 programs,” Fazio said. “If you exclude the contracts on the nuclear plants in Eastern Connecticut and the one (contract) where we buy power from a plant in New Hampshire, it only goes down to $764 million.”
He surmises the average public benefits charge for state residents to be about $677 per year. And when included with the rest of the electric bill, the average ratepayer is spending about $2,300 per year in total for electric. The rest of the bill includes supply, transmission, and local delivery charges.
Small businesses impact
The impact on small businesses in the state is even worse, according to O’Dea.
“There are some small businesses that testified (on this bill) that they pay in their public benefit charge the same as their weekly employee costs, which is just crazy,” he said.
CBIA’s Chris Davis told an April 16 Finance Committee public hearing that soaring energy costs put Connecticut “at a severe disadvantage as our employers seek to compete on the regional, national, and global stage.”
“Like residents across the state, electricity costs for Connecticut’s employers continue to rise at a staggering rate, impeding economic growth and job creation,” he said.
The CBIA/Marcum 2024 Survey of Connecticut Businesses found that the issue is a top priority for employers, with many already taking steps to mitigate costs through third-party suppliers (23%), power purchase agreements (13%), and solar energy solutions (11%).
Specifically, CBIA, along with some lawmakers, wants to remove the PBC and instead fund related programs through state bonding or the general fund.
