Republicans and Democrats clashed Thursday at the Connecticut State Capitol over proposals to lower electric bills.

Democrats are calling for an expansion of nuclear power, including the addition of small-scale reactors in Connecticut.

They also want to explore offshore wind and geothermal energy as alternatives. Meanwhile, Republicans are pushing to remove the Public Benefits Charge from customers' bills, arguing it would provide immediate relief.

"Never do we ever go to the grocery store and have our bill higher at the grocery store for someone else's groceries," said state Rep. Tracy Marra, R-Darien.

"We're living with a broken system. No one disagrees. We want to focus on one slice of the pie because that's convenient? Fine," said state Sen. Norm Needleman, D-Essex.

Electric bills spiked last summer, driven primarily by the cost of nuclear power from the Millstone Power Station in Waterford.