Gov. Lamont, Sen. Fazio publicly spar over electric bills at Bond Commission meeting
The normally dull meeting led to a public spat between Gov. Ned Lamont and his Republican challenger, state Sen. Ryan Fazio.
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Connecticut borrowed $145 million to lower your electric bill on Tuesday.
But in a rare public spat at the normally dull State Bond Commission meeting, Gov. Ned Lamont and his Republican challenger sparred about whether the relief goes far enough.
LAMONT: RELIEF FOR RATEPAYERS
For years, customers have complained about high electric bills.
“What’s next, they’re going to charge us for air?” one customer told News 12.
Some of the cost comes from the Public Benefits charge, which funds nuclear power, customer hardship programs and energy efficiency programs.
On Tuesday, the commission approved an additional $145 million to move hardship programs and green energy subsidies off your bill, saving customers up to 5% a month. It’s the second year of a bipartisan deal to shift some costs to state bonding – which taxpayers eventually pay back over decades.
“We moved some of the arrearages that were accumulated during COVID because I thought – and I think Ryan thought as well – that it was inappropriate that the ratepayers pay for that over a short period of time,” Lamont said. “We’ve got a long way to go there. We’ve had the highest electric prices in the country going back 50 years. We’re not Texas.”
The deal has led to a temporary credit on customers’ bills because nuclear power is cheaper than natural gas.
FAZIO: LAMONT HAS RAISED RATES
Electric rates have become a key issue in this year's governor's race.
Lamont’s GOP opponent, state Sen. Ryan Fazio (R-Greenwich), also sits on the Bond Commission. He used the occasion to slam the governor for approving new clean energy mandates.
"I heard the governor take credit – “I’ve eliminated the Public Benefits charge’ – even though he just signed a bill into law that will increase Public Benefits charges for the next 20 years,” Fazio told reporters. “He passed this year House Bill 5340, which will increase subsidies to private energy corporations through our Public Benefits charge over the next 30 years.”
Fazio’s latest television ad portrays him as Superman, promising to roll back Public Benefits charges.
“A small portion of those programs can be right-sized and funded through our budget process,” Fazio said. “But almost all of them should be immediately or as soon as possible, eliminated because they're mostly subsidies for private energy companies.”
But Lamont said energy efficiency and clean energy programs actually pay for themselves.
“You may say, ‘I’m tired of doing energy efficiency,’ But that’s a program that really saves people, you know, potentially hundreds of dollars per month,” Lamont said.
