by Donald Eng
CHESHIRE, CT — Performance reviews for utility companies, regular franchise renewals and caps on profit were among the handful of utility reforms Gov. Ned Lamont proposed Wednesday at a campaign press conference in Cheshire.
Standing outside the Eversource Energy operations center, Lamont, Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz joined other elected officials and advocates to announce a package of reforms he said would address the state’s high energy costs.
“People are angry when they look at skyrocketing electric bills,” Lamont said. “This package brings real competition, real transparency, and real accountability to a system that has been running on autopilot at the public’s expense. Connecticut families deserve a utility system that works for them, not one they’re forced to subsidize.”
The proposals include:
- Require the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) to consider ratepayer affordability, including household energy burden, when setting utility rates, rate of return, and authorized capital structure.
- Require electric distribution companies (EDCs) to have their franchise agreements, which grant utilities the exclusive right to serve customers, renewed by PURA on a regular basis, and establish an orderly transition process if a franchise is not renewed.
- Require EDCs to file cost-effectiveness analyses before undertaking large grid upgrades that would ultimately be recovered through rates.
- Grant the Office of Consumer Counsel (OCC) subpoena authority when it suspects utilities have violated the law, and update OCC’s statute to allow for expanded use of independent experts to counter utility applications.
- Establish penalties for failure to deploy cost-effective technology that would help lower individual customer bills or reduce costs across the grid.
- Allow new utilities to compete with existing EDCs by permitting them to build fuel cells or solar installations, upgrade grid infrastructure, and connect directly to residences. Encourage regional grid operators
- Impose caps on authorized return on equity.
- Incentivize utility cost controls and align profits with performance.
“If utilities want to raise rates, they’ll have to prove they’ve earned it and Connecticut families will have a watchdog with real teeth to make sure they do,” Lamont said.
Lamont did not have an estimate of how much the plan could save consumers, or how soon, but he did tout previous energy cost reduction efforts, including the 2020 “Take Back Our Grid Act,” negotiations that secured the Millstone nuclear power contract that Lamont said saved taxpayers $450 million this year alone. He also cited reductions in public benefits charges that are already lowering monthly bills for Eversource and United Illuminating customers.
Lamont’s challengers for governor were underwhelmed.
State Rep. Josh Elliott, the Hamden Democrat who is challenging Lamont to a party primary in August, called the plan incredibly weak.
“It does nothing to address the excessive profits Eversource and UI extract from Connecticut families year after year, and it leaves the failed private monopoly model fully intact,” he said. “We already know what actually lowers bills. The six Connecticut towns with publicly owned utilities pay 30 to 40 percent less for their energy than the rest of the state. This is not theory. It is happening right now in Wallingford and Norwich, among other towns. If the governor were serious about affordability, public power would be the centerpiece of his plan instead of absent from it entirely.”
State Sen. Ryan Fazio, R-Greenwich, who is the Republican-endorsed candidate for the November election, said the proposals didn’t amount to much of a plan.
“After 8 years, you’d think the governor would have answers for dealing with one of the biggest crises facing families, which is the overwhelmingly high cost of energy,” he said.
He added that some parts of the plan, like the push for advanced metering infrastructure, could potentially cost billions of dollars with uncertain benefits.
“I’m open minded to them (the proposals), but they probably won’t make much of a difference,” he said.
Tricia Modifica, media relations manager for Eversource, said the company had worked with Lamont and other state officials on proposals to lower and stabilize costs for residents and businesses.
“Some of these have been approved, others have been rejected,” she said. “We are reviewing the concepts announced today to see if they align with the customer-centric focus that is always our top priority.”
United Illuminating spokesperson Sarah Wall Fliotsos said to meaningfully address energy affordability, the entire bill must be examined – not just the state-regulated delivery portion.
“Customer bills include supply costs set by regional energy markets and state-mandated public benefits programs, both of which are significant drivers of overall costs,” she said. “That’s why we continue to support efforts to move certain state program costs off electric bills, where appropriate, to ease the burden on customers. We have also consistently called for reforms to the regional wholesale energy market, which plays a major role in determining supply costs across New England.”