By Sen. Ryan Fazio
I have heard from countless seniors, middle-class families, and small businesses this month struggling to pay their electric bills. Connecticut has the third-highest electricity rates of any state in the country, and it is hurting families everywhere. State government policy bears responsibility for these high rates and we need to bring people together to change it.
One of the reasons for our high rates is the “public benefits” portion of the bill, which is the cost of policies imposed by the state legislature and governor. There are around 15 different government energy programs funded through that portion of the bill that total hundreds of millions of dollars per year. That’s why I call it a “hidden tax.” According to Chair Marissa Gillett, PURA’s analysis finds that that these “public benefits” are one of the main reasons our electric rates are higher than neighboring states.
The good news is it doesn’t have to be this way. I co-authored a seven-point plan to reduce our electric rates and Republican legislative colleagues and I have called for a special session of the legislature to pass it. Rather than cast stones, we want to be constructive and provide relief to residents.
First, the plan eliminates most of the “public benefits” charges from your energy bill. Cut the hidden tax! The 15 different programs include subsidies for the unpaid bills of customers from the state’s four-year “shutoff moratorium” to various subsidies for energy producers and several other programs. Most of these programs, if they exist at all, should be vetted through the normal state budget process every two years and compete with the other billions in appropriations that exist under our spending cap.
Second, we would limit the cost of any state directed electricity contracts to no more than 150 percent above competitive power markets. That is a modest proposal by any standard—and yet our state directs purchases of electricity from certain preferred energy sources at as much as 10-times the cost on the open market! Unfortunately, our Democrat colleagues rejected this proposal despite its modesty and so you continue to pay for these inflated costs in your bill.
Third, we call for an all-of-the-above clean energy strategy that puts all sources of zero-carbon electricity on an equal playing field. Currently wind and solar have much higher subsidies per kilowatt-hour than hydropower and nuclear power, for example, despite all being zero-carbon emissions and the latter being more reliable. We were glad to make incremental progress on this front in 2023, when we passed a bipartisan law that gives slightly better treatment to run-of-river hydropower and future new nuclear production, but we can do more.
Fourth, we need to secure our natural gas supply for the region. Connecticut should pave the way for expanded natural gas supply in existing pipeline rights of way to ensure that we can affordably keep the heat and lights on in the winter. Natural gas is around half the emissions of oil and coal and will theoretically allow consumers to reduce reliance on oil power plants, oil heating, and gasoline for transportation. The regional regulator, ISO New England, predicts severe shortages of electricity generation in 15 years. Natural gas will be needed to keep the lights on with minimal environmental impact.
Fifth, we should end the program voted on by PURA this week which will subsidize private vehicle charger installations through the public benefits charges in everyone else’s electric bill. We want to make it easy and affordable for people to buy whatever vehicle they want in our state, but we shouldn’t mandate a low-income family or senior on a fixed income pay for someone else’s purchase.
Sixth, we should use the remaining roughly $40 million of one-time federal ARPA dollars to pay down the unpaid bills in the “public benefits” charges. Use one-time funds to pay down one-time costs, rather than fund the expansion of state government bureaucracy.
Seventh, we need a strong and independent energy regulator to protect consumers. PURA should be staffed with the proper number of commissioners allowed under law. They should be bipartisan appointees, strong defenders of consumers, and enforce our laws. PURA, the adjudicator, should also be structurally independent of the policy-making regulators, the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. In 2023, in SB7, we also passed good bipartisan laws to improve the transparency of the regulatory process, but there is more we can do.
Electricity rates in Connecticut are too damn high. They are the third highest of any state in the country. But it doesn’t have to be this way. With the right reforms, we can cut the average family’s costs while ensuring reliability and environmental protection in the future too. However, we cannot keep doing the same thing and expecting different results.
Expanding the large legislative majorities for Democrats, who have presided over these costly policies, would make things worse. I believe in bipartisanship. Bipartisanship comes with balance of power. This year we can vote for balance and positive policy change to our state.
Senator Ryan Fazio, the Senate Ranking Member of the Energy & Technology Committee, represents Greenwich, Stamford, and New Canaan.
