CONNECTICUT, USA — Anyone who had the stomach to look at their electric bill this month likely wondered two questions: why is it so high and is anyone doing anything about it?
Sticker shock led to public complaints and now, political outrage.
“Call us into a special session now. This is an emergency,” remarked State Senate Republican leader Stephen Harding.
“The legislature is coming into session in six months,” remarked Gov. Ned Lamont.
Here’s why the electric bill is so high:
The standard service rate that is paid per kilowatt hour for the amount of electricity used gets adjusted twice a year. In July, that rate went down, which saves people money. But the cost to generate that energy, which in Connecticut is 40% nuclear derived, has gone up due to a state contract signed years ago.
“I’m hopeful that by next May this all resolves itself,” remarked State Sen. Norm Needleman, the co-chair of the Legislature’s Energy Committee.
“It saved us a lot of money a couple of years ago. It is costing us money today,” added Lamont.
That accounts for about 80% of the increase to the bill. The other 20% comes from a public benefits charge, which is a series of fees tacked on to make the grid more reliable and green but also forces people to pay the electric bills of those who couldn’t pay during COVID.
“We wanted to protect the consumers who could least afford it. That always has an impact on every other rate payer,” said Needleman.
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The equivalent is when someone goes out to dinner and makes everyone in the restaurant pay their bill.
“That’s unacceptable,” remarked State Rep. Bill Buckbee, a Republican ranking member on the Energy Committee. “No one in that restaurant expected that. No one asked for that. No one had any input to that. They are just being told you are buying."
Republicans are saying "we told you so."
“We told the majority in the legislature that we had to do something then,” said Harding.
Democrats said that there is no extra money.
“We have a very tight budget right now. There’s no surplus,” said Lamont.
Both sides said the state should have used leftover COVID recovery funds six months ago to offset the increase.
“I’m afraid we subsidized it,” remarked Lamont.
Now, Republicans are calling on Democrats to dip into the budget surplus.
“If all of that money is not going to work for the Connecticut residents and is only going to work for the government then there is a problem,” said State Rep. Vincent Candelora, the house Republican leader.
As a short-term fix, the state government needs to find $200 million to level out people's electric bills. Longer term fixes may include capping costs, restructuring PURA and scrutinizing what are expected to be expensive offshore wind procurement costs.
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Matt Caron is a reporter at FOX61 News. He can be reached at mcaron@fox61.com. Follow him on Facebook, X and Instagram.
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