A new state law aims to lower your electric bill after years of outrage from customers.

But Republicans are warning that the savings could be erased because of proposed new electric vehicle incentives.

Just weeks ago, Gov. Ned Lamont signed a new law reducing the Public Benefits portion of your utility bill. Customers could save around $10 a month.

“We were able to reduce that charge by about $10 million starting in 2026,” said state Rep. Tracy Marra (R-Darien).

But Marra said those savings could vanish.

The law removes EV incentives from customers’ utility bills – but only for light-duty passenger cars. Now, the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) is proposing new incentives for larger vehicles like commercial trucks, vans and buses. Thefive-year program would include discounted electric rates, assistance for installing chargers and logistical help to electrify school buses.

Utilities could recover their costs on the Public Benefits portion of customer bills – but they would need approval from PURA.

“I think this kind of flies in the face of what we were trying to do legislatively this year,” Marra said.

Why are the new incentives needed?

As the planet warms, Connecticut is nowhere close to meeting its ambitious emissions targets. By 2040, state law calls for a 65% reduction over 2001 levels. And a decade later, “an economy-wide net-zero level.”

In addition, all new medium- and heavy-duty vehicles must be electric by 2030, according to an agreement between Connecticut and 16 other states.

Some electric buses are already on the road, but adoption has been slow because larger vehicles are extremely costly to charge. Charging units are also prohibitively expensive.

Advocates said the environmental benefits far outweigh the cost.

“Medium- and heavy-duty vehicles, I think, are in the realm of 6% of Connecticut's on-road vehicles. But then, they contribute 40% of our emissions,” said Kevin Moss, the Connecticut Green Bank’s senior manager for Transportation.

The question is – if Connecticut offers EV incentives, how should we pay for it?

Incentives for light-duty vehicles were moved to state borrowing.

"We’ve moved a lot off Public Benefits over to bonding. But you’re not solving any problems; you're just shifting," Lamont said. “It’s either going to be on customers’ bills or taxpayers’ bills or users’ bills. Somebody has to pay – unless you don’t want any EV charging."

Marra thinks PURA should delay a decision on new incentives until the Public Benefits law is fully implemented.

“If this is a priority for the state of Connecticut, it needs to come from our budget at the state of Connecticut,” she said. “It should not be coming off a ratepayer budget.”

This is only a proposed decision. PURA will take a final vote on Aug. 13.