Connecticut residents have long struggled with high electricity costs, but this summer many people experienced unexpected sticker shock. What’s going on and what should be done about it?

 

Connecticut and the rest of New England have among the highest electricity costs in the nation due to our heavy reliance on imported fossil fuels and nuclear power. We have no fossil fuels under our feet and we must import these costly fuels from far away. We will continue to have high electricity costs as long as we are locked into these energy sources. 

 

But this summer has brought even higher electricity bills. The two primary reasons bills are higher are 1) increased consumption of electricity, and 2) the 2017 deal that lawmakers made with the Millstone nuclear power plant owned by Dominion Energy.  

 

Let’s start with increased consumption as a driver of higher bills. The more electricity you use, the higher your bill. According to the Connecticut Office of Consumer Counsel, on average, energy consumption increases by approximately 35% in the summer months due to increased use of air conditioning and cooling systems. This has been a hot summer. The first two months of summer were the hottest on record for the state, with an average temperature of 72.5 degrees, more than four degrees above average. Many people have been running an air conditioner 24/7 to stay comfortable. And guess what? Air conditioning uses a lot of electricity. Connecticut is not the only state where residents are experiencing higher bills due to heat-related usage. For example, Massachusetts customers are also experiencing rising energy costs. There, Eversource says increased usage is to blame. In a warming climate, this is only going to get worse.

 

The recent rate increase has also had an impact. There has been a lot of misinformation spread about the rate increase from Republican lawmakers and their anti-clean energy cronies, so it is important to understand more about it. Rates for the public benefit portion of Connecticut electricity bills have increased. 77% of the public benefit increase is for the Millstone nuclear power plant. In 2017, Dominion threatened to shut down Millstone. Despite the fact that a shutdown is a decision that can only be made by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Connecticut Republicans led efforts to give Millstone a $600 million handout that would impact rates for years to come. Sierra Club Connecticut vigorously opposed this handout. No other state in our region was moved by Dominion’s threat, leaving Connecticut ratepayers entirely on the hook for this corporate give away. 

 

There are real solutions to these issues that will help people. Unfortunately, there are also lies and misinformation that are poisoning the public discourse. The attacks on public benefits are vilifying clean energy, and blaming poor people who struggle to pay electricity bills. Yet, public benefits are just that — benefits. They include help for vulnerable people to access electricity, and they also include Connecticut’s cost saving energy efficiency program, residential and commercial solar program, and managed charging program. These programs benefit consumers and the entire electricity system by lowering demand. Lower demand means we don’t have to turn on high-cost peaker power plants or even worse, build expensive new ones.  

 

Reducing energy bills for consumers in Connecticut will require a new approach to energy that benefits people and our planet, not giant energy corporations. We urge state lawmakers to reject the lies and extremist attacks on clean energy, and to implement immediate and long term solutions to help ratepayers with the cost of electricity and transition to more sustainable low-cost options. These include: 

 

Immediate solutions to drive down costs for consumers:

• Expand access to cost saving energy efficiency. Since the primary cause of increased electricity bills is consumption, helping residents reduce their consumption should be one of the top solutions. Our lawmakers can do this by increasing funding for energy efficiency measures.

• Spread the current rate increase over a longer period of time. PURA Commissioner Marissa Gillette proposed a 3 year timeline for the rate increase, but the utility companies wanted a 10 month timeline. A longer timeline will ease some of the rate increase.

• Renegotiate the Millstone handout with Dominion. In the last year, Dominion’s profits totaled over $10 billion. Connecticut helped Dominion when they claimed they needed it. Now Connecticut ratepayers need help. 

 

Long term solutions to benefit Connecticut ratepayers:

• Increase Connecticut’s commitment to clean and renewable solar, wind and battery storage.  100% clean and renewable energy saves money. Energy efficiency programs funded through the public benefit charge reduce energy use which results in direct savings for ratepayers and avoided costs to the entire grid. Solar power is directly saving money for those that have it, and is also preventing the need to turn on high-cost peaker plants or build expensive new power plants. Offshore wind is an abundant source of power in our region and is expected to reduce electricity bills.

• Create a public utility that answers to Connecticut residents, not Wall Street. For-profit, investor-owned utility companies are focused on increasing profits, not lowering consumer costs. Why not give Connecticut consumers another option?

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Samantha Dynowski is State Director of Sierra Club Connecticut.