Ready for relief from high electric bills?

A sweeping plan to bring rates down is headed to Gov. Ned Lamont, after Connecticut lawmakers overwhelmingly approved it Tuesday evening.

Residential customers will save a modest $10 a month on average, according to supporters. That’s not a lot, but the bill paves the way for longer-term savings in the future.

The legislation targets the Public Benefits Charge on your bill, which pays for customers who get behind on their bills, as well as conservation and clean energy programs, among others. The charge jumped dramatically last summer.

“Horrendous,” said Giuseppe Conte, an electric customer from Norwalk. “It’s outrageous.”

Lawmakers spent months negotiating a bipartisan bill to reduce the Public Benefits Charge.

The legislation could save customers $800 million over three years. That includes $250 million from customer hardship program customers who couldn’t pay their bills during COVID, $105 million for storm recovery, $75 million by cutting the state’s renewable energy targets for the next five years, $50 million by capping subsidies for electric vehicle chargers and solar panels and $30 million by deploying “smart meters.”

Most of those costs will shift from customers’ bills to state borrowing – which taxpayers eventually pay back over decades.

“This is not an end-all, be-all of where we should be with our energy bill,” said state Rep. Tracy Marra (R-Darien). “But thankfully, at least the committee did hear that across the state, people have been screaming for lower energy bills.”

Customers aren’t exactly wowed by saving $10 or $15 a month.

“They're going to cut it for $15 for customers?” Conte asked. “I think they can do better than that.”

But the legislation makes longer-term changes that could keep bills lower – and prevent wild price fluctuations. That includes giving utilities more flexibility in purchasing wholesale electricity, as well as grid upgrades and lower, off-peak rates to spread out demand.

“While this is progress, energy costs are still going to continue to be high in Connecticut,” said House Majority Leader Jason Rojas (D-East Hartford). “And that requires a whole different conversation around producing energy, how we get our energy. All those questions.”

Longer term, lawmakers want to expand nuclear power and hydroelectric supply. Republicans are also hoping New York state will finally approve a new natural gas pipeline to New England.

But those savings could all take years to realize.

Ted Coppola, formerly of Norwalk, is happy to see rate relief now – even if it’s modest.

“Saving anything is better than nothing,” he said.

Environmental groups warned that the savings come at a cost – scaling back conservation efforts as climate change threatens to bring more storms and higher seas to Connecticut.

“We do not need an energy bill that makes it harder for families and businesses to cut their dependence on utilities and go solar,” said Environment Connecticut state director Chris Phelps.

Green energy groups also warned about tying sustainability projects to state borrowing.

“We shouldn’t be bonding and subjecting these programs to the whims of the Legislature,” said state Rep. Steve Winter (D-New Haven).

Following vocal protests, negotiators dropped a proposal to use bonding to pay for energy efficiency programs.

“For every dollar we invest in those programs, we leverage more than five times that amount in energy savings for households, for businesses,” said Charles Rothenberger, with Save The Sound.

The 11th hour agreement was nearly derailed over language giving the state’s top utility regulator more power. Public Utilities Regulatory Authority Chair Marissa Gillett is facing a lawsuit from the state’s major utilities, accusing her of abusing her authority.

House Republican leader Vin Candelora (R-North Branford) backed off a filibuster threat after the language was removed and Lamont agreed to appoint five full-time commissioners to PURA. The agency will also get more independence from the executive branch.

“It provides some relief,” Candelora said. “It’s not what Republicans wanted, but I think the bill is moving us in the right direction.”

Candelora also noted that reducing the Public Benefits Charge could save businesses hundreds, or even thousands, of dollars.

“My own business paid $70,000 in those charges this year," he said.

Lamont praised the compromise.

“I think they’re going to move some things out of the Public Benefits Charge. I think they'll reduce some other costs,” the governor told reporters. “I think it’s the beginning of a process where we do everything we can to hold down the rates of electricity.”