Connecticut electric customers just got a shock – sticker shock. Many bills jumped dramatically this month.

Now, politicians are pointing fingers over who caused the spike and what to do about it.

Many customers were stunned when their July power bill arrived.

"I'd say from the last month to this month – well, maybe because of the air conditioning – maybe $100 or something dollars more," said Mike Tracey, an Eversource customer from Norwalk.

Specifically, the "public benefits" portion of your bill just went up. The average customer paid $46 more this month.

"They're charging too much," said Elaine Levy, of Norwalk. "I don't know what they charge per kilowatt. I have no idea."

At the state Capitol, both parties are blaming each other.

"Enough is enough," said state Senate Republican leader Stephen Harding (R-Brookfield).

At a Thursday morning news conference, Republicans blamed Gov. Ned Lamont's four-year ban on utility shutoffs during COVID. The move saved thousands of families from losing electricity. But now, power companies are recouping all those unpaid bills from ratepayers.

"They shouldn't have to be paying other people's bills," said state Rep. Vin Candelora (R-North Branford), the Connecticut House GOP leader. "They're having trouble paying their own."

Meantime, top Democrats called Republican hypocrites. Most of this month's price spike is due to the cost of nuclear power – a bi-partisan deal from 2017 to keep the Millstone Nuclear Plant open. Without it, the state would lose a third of its power supply.

"It's very important we keep Millstone going," Lamont told reporters. "It's a big source of our base load power and a big source of our carbon-free power, so I think it was the right thing to do."

The total cost for Millstone and the shutoff losses is $800 million. In April, the state Public Utilities Regulatory Authority voted to let utilities recover that entire amount over just 10 months. PURA chair Marissa Gillett argued for a longer time frame, saying, "Today's decision by PURA is likely to place further financial strain on those that can least afford it."