WTNH HARTFORD, Conn. Leading Republicans in the state legislature announced a package of measures on Friday to address Connecticut’s escalating electricity bills.
The GOP leader in the Connecticut Senate, Stephen Harding, emphasized to Republicans how urgent the matter is.
Having assumed leadership of the Senate late last week, Harding stated, “We have the second highest utility rate in the continental United States of America.” “We must perform better. All of us in the state should be doing better for our constituents.
A restriction on the state’s power purchase agreements, capping future contracts at 100% over the wholesale energy market price, is the top policy priority for the Republicans.
The majority Republican senator on the legislature’s Energy and Technology Committee, state senator Ryan Fazio, contended that the caps are a reasonable strategy to drive down total electricity prices.
That seems like a really sensible proposal to me. How can you defend purchasing electricity by more than double the wholesale market on the backs of ratepayers? Fazio enquired.
According to Fazio, he has examined power purchase agreements with potentially considerably higher prices.
“Probably going to be two or three times the wholesale market price of electricity.” That is not appropriate.
The plan to limit power purchase agreements, according to state senator Norm Needleman, co-chair of the Energy and Technology Committee, “makes no sense.”
Needleman outlined his objection to the caps with an analogy. Needleman stated, “You go to the store and you buy something that you have to buy.” “You can say that you won’t pay more than three dollars for it, but if it costs five dollars, you should just walk away from the purchase.”
The impending costs of the state’s ban on power outages during the epidemic are another issue that the Republicans wish to discuss. Early in the outbreak, state officials told utility companies not to turn off power to specific customers.
After that, the ban was extended, although it is now scheduled to end this year. Republicans are concerned that the high expenses of not turning off electricity for people who are struggling financially may be borne by all consumers. The costs of doing so have reached the nine figures.
Republicans suggested covering the shortfall with COVID-19 relief money that was left over.
It is unclear whether the governor and Democratic lawmakers would support the plan, or whether the state has a sizeable enough store of leftover cash under the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) to cover the moratorium’s shortfalls.
The Republican proposal also includes provisions to support nuclear and hydropower, two cost-effective instruments in the battle against climate change.
A representative for Governor Ned Lamont stated, “Agree with Republicans that we need to bring in more renewable energy sources at a lower cost and is actively working to do that.”