House and Senate Republicans announced a petition for a special session today, calling upon Gov. Ned Lamont and Democrat General Assembly leaders to address the sharp increase in Connecticut electric bills, the result of two years’ worth of public benefits charges for the Millstone Nuclear contract and unpaid electric bills.
House Republican Leader Vincent Candelora, R-North Branford, and Senate Republican Leader Stephen Harding, R-Brookfield, said they tried to address the electric rate issue during the legislative session but were shut down by majority Democrats, and have since sent letters to Lamont and Democrat leaders asking, “for a conversation,” but have heard nothing back – until about one minute before the press conference.
“We’ve heard from our constituents loud and clear that something has to be done,” Harding said. “It is a dereliction of your duty as a representative or a senator not to do something about this issue and not do it now.”
“Today we’re here to say we’re not going away,” Candelora said, adding they’ve sent two letters to Democrat leadership and Gov. Lamont requesting a meeting to have a conversation. “They have gone unanswered. The arrogance of the majority is ringing strong in Connecticut, it’s disrespectful to the residents of Connecticut. We have an obligation to solve this problem.”
The public benefits charge on ratepayers’ bills pays the utility company’s cost for implementing policies and programs passed by the General Assembly. The charge on an average residence generally ranges between $15 and $25, but in July the Public Utilities Regulatory Agency approved an unprecedented increase to the charge that tacked on an additional $47-$58 per bill, even as the cost of energy decreased.
Republicans say they’d like to see the unpaid electric bills paid off with ARPA funds first, instead of having ratepayers cover them, but are unsure how much ARPA money is even left following a reshuffling of ARPA funds to support higher education and other programs during the 2024 legislative session.
The minority party is also pushing for long-term changes, such as having the public benefits charge paid for by the General Fund rather than through electric bills for residents; limiting power purchase agreements and moving PURA out from under the control of the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP), saying the Lamont administration has “politicized” the agency that is supposed to be a watchdog for ratepayers.
“Electricity rates in Connecticut are just too damn high, they’re the third highest in the country, behind only Hawaii, which is an island, and California, which has lost its mind,” said Sen. Ryan Fazio, R-Greenwich, and ranking member on the General Assembly’s Energy and Technology Committee. “Connecticut state policies, our state government, bears responsibility for those enormously expensive rates, and finally they understand that state leadership needs to act, and they need to act now.”
Harding and Candelora said that it was only one minute before the press conference when they finally heard back from Gov. Lamont in a letter indicating he would reach out to legislative leaders and committee chairpersons to have a discussion, and that Republicans could join, but stopped short of indicating any particular action.
“Like you, I believe that Connecticut residents are paying too much for electricity and more needs to be done to lower energy costs,” Lamont wrote. “I have reached out to the chairs and ranking members of the Energy and Technology Committee to once again meet in the near future to continue this discussion. If you would like to join, please do. At our meeting, we should discuss the costs and the benefits of each of our supply options. Some solutions I have been working on is drawing down as much federal resources as possible to strengthen our grid and to work on a regional basis on identifying additional supply.”
Lamont went on to highlight “energy efficiency programs,” that help homeowners and businesses save electricity and “reduce demand on the grid.” Those programs are paid for, in part, by the public benefits charge on ratepayers’ electric bills.
However, at least one of the public policies ratepayers are on the hook for is not decades old; PURA recently approved another increase to the public benefits charge to subsidize the installation of electric vehicle chargers both in private homes and in public – something Candelora said essentially forces the poor to pay for EV charges for the wealthy and is “sick.”
“These electric charging stations cost a lot of freaking money and the people that are driving them are not my constituents, they’re the wealthy constituents in the suburbs, that don’t pay gas tax anymore so they’re not contributing to our roads, they don’t pay any fees for the charging stations and a lot of them get to charge up for free,” Candelora said. “How is that fair to residents who are living in poorer communities that are stuck paying that bill? It’s sick.”
Lamont, in his letter, wrote that the issue is more about “supply and demand.”
“We are at the end of the pipeline, leading to higher supply costs,” Lamont wrote. “This makes even valuable legislatively authorized programs that increase supply and improve grid reliability, like the Millstone contract and electric vehicle charging incentives, more difficult for ratepayers to afford.”
With the election season fast approaching, Republicans are likely to continue hammering Democrats over the cost of electricity, saying that it is the big dinner table issue they are hearing about from their constituents.
“What’s happening here is Democrats are creating policies that are costly for the ratepayers and residents of Connecticut and putting them on their bills,” Candelora said.
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It’s the fault of this congress in the state as to why our rates are so high. Why must ratepayers pay for delinquent users of electricity? Why doesn’t this come out of the money the state received for the COVID issues? Democrats are the cause of this as well as not allowing Eversource or UI to lock in long term electric rates from suppliers. The purchase of electricity every 6 months did not work out as the legislature expected so, change the rules!!! I paid $0.29 per Kwh used in CT – I pay $0.12 in South Carolina – so what is so different – Legislative regulations (i.e. – Democrats).
You ain’t see nuttin yet. Public Policy(which means government imposed) increases for the NetZero citizen impoverishment program will dwarf the Millstone public policy cost by 4-14 times per kWh. ISO has published the cost of energy for 2023 and it was 3.579 cents per kWh..a small fraction of the NetZero wind, solar, and battery costs. And the ISO market, like the nukes, provides electricity for all hours not just the low cost hours when the sun is shining.
The public benefits charge is computed by subtracting the ISO market price (eg 3.579 cents) from power purchase agreement (PPA) price. For Millstone the PPA price is 5 cents, for Seabrook Nuclear it’s only 4 cents, for the upcoming offshore wind it’s expected to be 15 cents.
Solar: For the residential roof top solar the average over the last 6 months has been 24 cents or creating 14 times Millstone’s public benefit impact per kWh. For a recent community solar it was 9.25 cents or 4 times the public benefits cost increase. But most solar costs are hidden in your bill and not itemized as a public benefit charge.
Heat pumps are by far the most costly NetZero program as they require expensive offshore wind. NetZero electricity for heat pumps will cost 4 times NetZero electricity for the present load. This will more than double the price according to the ISO which is a huge subsidy of the heat pump customers. Without heat pumps and EVs, the ISO says that 90% of the offshore wind and 70% of the batteries would not be needed.
The NetZero programs are even more expensive than noted above but the federal government subsidizes 30-50+% of the cost.
The public benefits charge is the first step in creating transparency of NetZero costs. The problem is that most solar costs are not included and only the nuclear is made public. The PPAs for all wind, solar, and battery contracts should all be made public as their Public Benefits Cost (cost per kWh above the market price) is 4-14 times greater than the Millstone contract.
Why should we pay for these upgrades? You want them you pay- want electric stations car owners should pay- not us!
I believe that there needs to be a change in Pura instead of protecting the we the people who gave them their jobs its been apparent for years that they are in the interest of the utilities. Also I also recommend that politicians who are on the oversight board for Pura NOT also be employed by the utility ( Witkos when he was in office and still employed by EVERSOURCE) And I agree with what others have said here that taxpayers should not be having to pay for charging stations, that should fall back on the owners of EVs.
It’s not a matter of supply and demand. If Ned thinks we believe that lie, he better step back and read what people have to say about him and his policies.
The weasel Gov Lamont said nothing about us electric rate payers having to pay for those who did not pay their electric bills when he was pushing through his Dictatorial COVID measures. This should have gone through the budget process back then. Now the costs suddenly appear on our electric bills. Lamont and the Democrats are a bunch of weasels. Add this to the the rest of state government mismanagement of our tax dollars.
Lamont purposely did not fill the PURA positions so he And his payoff buddies the Democrats would get the vote he wanted. I am not among the rich or the elite. I do not support at all paying for electric charging stations when I most definitely cannot afford an electric vehicle. That is a major slap in the face for blue-collar workers to continue to pay. Lamont does not have our best interest at heart and never did for the state of Connecticut. Every time he needed money, he ratified the state contract well now I say he needs to ratify his deal that he made with Eversource and Millstone made himself the king during Covid and pushed down our throats requirements that did not work To limit or prevent Covid infection .He ruined businesses and put them out of business. Where did all the federal money go Ned? We want an accounting of it. Show us where it went. And forced a vaccine on people that has and is causing super cancers and other health ailments Including death. You need to be impeached Ned don’t bother running again because we’re not voting for you
The Connecticut Legislature put a “Millstone” around the necks of the ratepayers with the 10 year above market monopoly power purchase agreements with Millstone and Seabrook, which agreements are up for renewal in 2029.
SOLUTION: The long-term solution to the current high-cost Millstone/Seabrook nuclear power energy contract is natural gas. Solar and wind, while viable, simply cannot compete with nature gas as a reliable low-cost energy source. The natural gas fields in Northeast Pennsylvania hold a 200+-year supply of natural gas which could be readily piped to Connecticut/New England. These gas lines could be operational prior to 2029, which would give Connecticut negotiation leverage with Millstone/Seabrook (FYI, Pennsylvania rate payers enjoy electric bills which are 30%+ lower than those paid by your constituents. Source: Electric Rates by State | Payless Power).
PROBLEM/ OBSTACLE regarding gas lines from Pennsylvania: New York State has consistently blocked all efforts to install gas lines that would traverse New York State to Connecticut/New England.
SOLUTION: The Six New England States need to band together and file a lawsuit against New York State asserting interference with interstate commerce. The current U S Supreme Court would rule in New England’s favor. Additionally, if Trump wins in 2024, many of the “regulations” that could delay gas pipeline installation would be eliminated.
REDUCE/ELIMINATE VIRTUE SIGNALING EXPENSES FROM RATEPAYER BILLS.—Except in extreme cases, eliminate ratepayer/voter funding of unpaid utility bills. Subsidizing NONPAYING customers will ONLY encourage/create MORE nonpaying customers, and thereby create a bottomless money pit for ratepayers/taxpayers.
Also eliminate ratepayer subsidizing electric vehicle charging stations. The recent push to ban the sale of new gasoline/diesel powered vehicles was defeated in the Connecticut Legislature due in part to the declining sales of electric vehicles and/or legislators wishing to avoid the politically related fallout. All of which begs the question–why are the ratepayers subsidizing recharging stations for electric vehicles which fewer and fewer buyers wish to own.
Why are we paying off the bills of those who didn’t pay during the governor’s shutoff moratorium? Why aren’t these accounts simply put onto an affordable payment plan, instead of shifting the cost to ratepayers or government resources?
Will the bills to those delinquent accounts be zeroed out, or will Eversource continue to attempt to bill these accounts? If the accounts are forgiven, how do they get a free ride by simply not paying their bills? It doesn’t seem fair to me.
Hmmm, I don’t remember reading where taxpayers were charged with the cost of building gasoline stations. Taking away choice and forcing taxpayers to pay for electric vehicle charging stations or wind turbines that many do not want speaks volumes of the leadership of Comrade Lamont and our socialist legislature!!
Government pushed electric heat in new construction at one time, now it’s electric cars. I’m not listening to what the government wants any more. Lamont has done a reasonable job here in Ct. but this sharing our personal bills to pay for someone else’s bills isn’t fare. There are a lot of hurting people out there that are paying more for everything. Inflation has taken it’s tole on many.
The big problem is the pay the CEO gets 18 million why have that person take a cut in pay like there doing to every customer that can’t afford this expense why does the pay have to be so large in my mind it’s a done deal repeal the cost and shove it right back at them he can afford to pay it let him
This type of “lack of transparency “ is emblematic of the Democrats rule in CT for the last 5 or 6 decades. It’s in the murky margins that they devise new ways to prey on the people of the State of CT. The legislature has no respect for the people of the state. It’s easy for the Dem’s to keep spending someone else’s money but what are they going to do when the money runs out? How are they going to represent their next “grand idea” … will they once again tell the residents of the State it’s in their best interest to create yet another fund so that the poor and underprivileged can pay their bills? You can bet they’ll try. Don’t fall for it. They have no compulsion to tell the truth, they’ve been getting away with it for decades.
I don’t miss receiving a $500 electric bill from the days when I lived in CT …. having moved to Florida, my electric bills are now less than $100 per month. Best of luck to those choosing or forced to stay in CT. Your leadership isn’t going to change, they’ve been running that same playbook for decades.
Today I got my crooked Eversource bill $187, only $55 for supply $132 for all the other inflated b.s. charges. One old tactic used is to turn people’s attention away from the true corruption by blaming the poor, by now I hope we all understand this corruption lies not at the feet of the poor but at our government, squarely at Lamont. He never answers any correspondence so I stopped..he is why I no longer am a democrat!
As someone who has voted for Gov Lamont in each election (as well as other democrat reps) I am extremely frustrated! I have spent an extensive amount of time trying to reach out to our leaders about the incredible 300% increase in the Public Benefit rate in July. I have reached out by phone, email and social media numerous times with NO response on this matter. I DID receive responses from some of our Republican reps and also Congressman Courtney indicating a special session has been requested to the Governor to address this but it seems Lamont does not see this as an urgent matter. Well I have a 90 year old mother whose monthly bill is now over $600 and an elderly aunt whose already exorbitant bills have increased by hundreds of $s with this rate change! After careful planning and saving, I finally retired after a 45 year career and live on a fixed income. Why are WE paying for those who could not pay their own bills when the federal government gave our state so much COVID $? Why are we subsiding EV stations when we do not even own electric cars? Why is this not being paid with the Budget surplus our leaders have been boasting about. Gov. Ned Lamont’s budget office estimated that Connecticut closed the fiscal year that ended June 30 with more than $1.64 billion left over. WHERE IS LAMONT????? I am disgusted by the lack of attention to this issue and believe all Democrats will see the effect in the upcoming election!!!