CT Mayors Support Harding & GOP’s Push for Electric Rate Relief Special Session
October 9, 2024CCM: Use ARPA money for electric rate relief
CT Inside Investigator
The Connecticut Conference of Municipalities (CCM) is asking state officials to use American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding to offset electric rates.
During their Sept. 10 meeting, the CCM Board of Director’s made an official recommendation to the state. One week later, they sent a letter to Senate Republican Leader Stephen Harding.
The letter stated, “We know this issue is important to you and the Republican Caucus” before going into detail about the items the board supported.
CCM leaders want to use ARPA funds to “offset the cost of covering the non-payment of utility bills, which is currently being paid for by ratepayers through the Public Benefits Charge on residential and commercial utility bills. They make this recommendation in order to provide needed relief to ratepayers and help address the rising cost of electricity in the state of Connecticut. If a special session is needed to accommodate this recommendation, CCM supports this action.”
Harding offered a response, saying: “What we see here with CCM is emblematic of the fact that they are echoing the voices of individuals all across our state, all political stripes and affiliations, who have grown understandably frustrated with the rate of electricity here in Connecticut,” he said. “[They] believe that something needs to be done and something needs to be done immediately to address these exponentially rising electric rates.”
CCM’s recommendations are in line with what the Republican Caucus has been advocating for, for months, according to Harding.
“We have the third highest electric rate in the country,” Harding said. “We’re third only to Hawaii, which is an island, and California. There is no reason, no reason our electric rates should be so high.”
Republicans in the Connecticut House of Representations and the Senate have been pushing to use ARPA funding to offset the cost of electric utilities since February, according to Harding.
“This seems like an issue where everyone should be able to get on board,” Harding said. “I understand that there’s an election at this point less than a month away, but in my opinion, it is a dereliction of your duty as a legislature, regardless of your political affiliation, not to go into special session now and provide immediate relief to ratepayers.”
The Senate Democratic Committee could not be reached for comment.
There are other reforms that Republicans want to make in a special session, including moving the Public Benefits Charge to the state budget, making the Public Utilities and Regulatory Authority (PURA) independent from the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) and introducing a policy to cap purchase agreements at 1.5-2 times the market rate.
In August, Republicans created a petition to enter special session to address high costs to ratepayers.