(The Center Square) — Connecticut Republicans are pitching their own energy relief plan that calls for reducing electricity costs by cutting state taxes and eliminating utility bill surcharges.
The plan, unveiled this week, includes proposals to do away with fees tacked onto utility bills, tap into more nuclear and hydropower, reform how utilities procure energy, as well as policy changes aimed at giving utility rate regulators more “independence” from other state agencies.
Republicans said the plan, if implemented, will reduce consumer energy costs by more than $362 million a year, saving the average household over $210 a year.
“No one should be struggling to keep the lights on or heat their home,” Senate Republican minority leader Kevin Kelly said in a statement on the GOP proposal. “In the long run, the plan will drive down costs by even more and implement important ratepayer protections against utilities.”
A key element of the plan calls for eliminating surcharges and fees that are tacked onto energy consumers bills, often through policies enacted by the state government. GOP lawmakers say money for those initiatives should come from the state budget, not energy consumers’ pockets.
“There are many costs embedded into our bills that are policies that lawmakers have passed,” Vincent Candelora, Republican House minority leader, said during a Tuesday briefing on the plan. “Some of them are laudable. But they are all paid for by the ratepayers.“
Republicans also want the state to include nuclear and “all forms” of hydropower in the state’s Renewable Portfolio Standard program, which requires utilities to procure a certain amount of clean energy. The GOP said that would increase the state’s reliability of clean energy while driving down costs.
“By excluding some of the most reliable green energy options, Connecticut is at a significant disadvantage to achieve its renewable energy goals, maintain a reliable energy grid, and keep costs down,” GOP lawmakers said. “If we continue on this path, we are setting ourselves up for rolling black outs, rising prices, and an energy system that cannot support demand.”
The GOP plan also proposes more transparency and oversight of utility regulations, including a proposal to remove the public utilities regulatory authority from under the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, which they called an “inherent conflict of interest.”
“Connecticut is the only state with a public utility regulatory structure like this,” the lawmakers said. “The fact that Connecticut today has the highest energy rates in the continental U.S. is evidence that we need to review that structure more closely.”
Earlier this month, Democratic Gov. Ned Lamont unveiled his energy plan that calls for pumping more money into fuel assistance to provide short-term relief for consumers while taking steps to wean the state off fossil fuels.
Under Lamont’s plan, the Connecticut Energy Assistance Program will increase fuel assistance payments to qualifying residents by another $430 this season to help with home heating costs and unpaid utility bills through the state’s Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program.
But Lamont is also pursuing a long-term strategy to improve energy affordability and reliability by developing offshore wind, tapping into Canadian hydropower and expanding solar and other renewables.
The pledges of energy relief come as Connecticut consumers are being hit with higher energy bills amid double digit electricity rate hikes by the state’s two largest utilities, Eversource and United Illuminating.
The Northeast region also has a lack of natural gas pipeline capacity that has dramatically driven up spot prices for the fuel this winter, analysts say.
