Sen. Harding: Chopping $$ Off Rising Electricity Bills “makes perfect sense”

Republican state legislators are closing in on a strategy leaders say would chop $125 or more yearly off Connecticut residents’ rising electric bills.

“I’m hearing from residents they cannot pay this bill. … This could not have hit people at a worse time,” said House Minority Leader Vincent J. Candelora, R-North Branford, who wants to use as much as $300 million from last fiscal year’s $1.6 billion state budget surplus to lower electric bills.

“If that’s political,” Candelora added, “then I’m guilty.”

Most electric customers face two hikes this year

Republicans, who first pitched state intervention in February to lower electric bills, intensified their efforts this summer after state utility regulators approved two changes.

The first, which took effect July 1, authorized Eversource to boost its rates by about 4%, adding roughly $7 to $8 to the typical residential customer’s monthly bill. With almost 1.3 million residential and business customers in Connecticut, Eversource serves the bulk of the state.

United Illuminating, which has about 341,000 residential and business customers in south-central and southwestern Connecticut, dropped rates by 1%, saving the typical household about $1.50 per month.

But earlier this month, state regulators approved another hike effective Sept. 1 as part of a nine-year plan launched in 2021 to establish a statewide electric-vehicle charging program.

This is expected to add another $3 per month to typical residential bills of both utilities.

With Connecticut already charging some of the highest electric rates in the nation, Republicans say the bill is crippling families — and state government can afford to take some pressure off.

GOP: CT’s coffers are large enough to help ratepayers

Thanks to an aggressive savings program that has barred legislators since late 2017 from spending a huge chunk of quarterly state income and business tax receipts, the state’s short-term fiscal position has improved radically.

A meager $212 million budget reserve, equal to about 1% of the General Fund, now stands at $3.3 billion. And about half of the $1.6 billion left over from last fiscal year also is headed for the rainy day fund, which would lift it to a record-setting $4.1 billion or 18% of the General Fund, the maximum allowed by law.

The other half of the 2023-24 fiscal year surplus would be used to pay down Connecticut’s huge pension debt.

Both Candelora and Harding said legislators should consider meeting in special session this fall and redirecting about $300 million currently headed for the rainy day fund to instead mitigate electric rates.

Republicans are talking about using roughly $215 million from last fiscal year’s surplus to mitigate that hardship expense.

And they also want to dedicate roughly $80 million more to neutralize the electric vehicle program’s impact on bills over the next year.

Candelora and Senate Minority Leader Stephen Harding, R-Brookfield, both said that by the state paying these shares of the utility bill, residential customers would save, on average, about $125 per year.

“We at least have to examine if some aspect of that surplus could be used to offset that” electric bill, Harding said. “I think it makes perfect sense.”

CT budget ‘guardrails’ hinder GOP plan to lower electric rates