HARTFORD, CT — Connecticut ratepayers will see their electricity bills decline slightly when they receive their July bills following a Friday vote by the state Bond Commission to allocate $155 million to reduce the cost of the systems benefits charge.
The money will provide grants to Eversource and United Illuminating to lower the benefits charge and the federal congestion charges within the public benefits portion of consumers’ electric bills, according to a report from the Office of Fiscal Analysis.
“It is estimated that most consumers could see temporary savings between $4-$10/month passed on based on usage and other factors,” according to the report. “Another round of state borrowing expected in 2026 would enable the savings to continue into at least the first several months of 2027, according to the governor’s office.”
Gov. Ned Lamont has previously said using bond funding to reduce the public benefits charges is one action the state can take to provide some relief to ratepayers. Bonding means the state borrows money and pays it back at a low interest rate over a set number of years from the General Fund.
“But I must stress that this is only one step in the effort to make energy rates more affordable, and we need to do more to address the actual costs of generating and delivering electricity,” he said.
On Friday, the commission, which Lamont chairs, quickly moved through its business. The electric rate bonds were the first two items on the 58-item agenda.
Lamont said the move would allow the charges to be paid out over a longer period, and “reduce your electric bills by a little bit and hopefully that makes a difference.”
The commission approved the bonds unanimously, with only state Rep. Joe Polletta, R-Watertown, asking how much of a reduction in their monthly bills consumers could anticipate as a result of the bonds.
Consumer Counsel Claire Coleman answered that the anticipated savings was between $5 and $10, though she added that was a conservative estimate.
“Because it depends on the type of customer you are — residential, commercial, which utility provider you have — there is a range and some will go above that,” she said.
Following the meeting Lamont said that the bonds plus reduced generation rates spelled good news for consumers.
“What’s not so good news is that July was probably the hottest July in recorded history or close to it, so a lot of air conditioning is up,” he said. “We’ll see what happens to your final bill, but rates are going down as of July 1.”
State Rep. Vincent Candelora, R-North Branford, answers a question during a media briefing following a meeting of the state Bond Commission on Aug. 1, 2025. Credit: Donald Eng
Polletta, joined by House Minority Leader Vincent Candelora, R-North Branford, at a separate media briefing, called the bonds “a good first start” but said the action doesn’t go far enough.
“Republicans have been calling for reducing that public benefits charge even further and getting a lot of those items into the General Fund where we can debate them, we can have a public hearing, and we can vote on them as part of our budget,” he said.
In response to a follow-up question, Polletta added that eliminating the charges would also be an option should the charges be part of the state budget.
Candelora, in response to a question about utility bills becoming politicized, said the beginnings of the politicization came when the state instituted more transparency into consumers’ electric bills.
“So people can see what they’re now being charged,” he said. “Now that they know, and the jig is up, it needs to be restructured. And what I would say is, the legislature should be voting on these programs and understanding the cost of these programs.”
In other actions, the commission approved just under $1.6 billion to finance several Department of Transportation programs, including interstate highway interchange upgrades in Middletown and Meriden, and numerous bridge repair and replacement projects.
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