Letter To The Editor: Bi-Partisan Leadership Needed For Fairfield

To the Editor:

Most people experienced moments of shock when they received their electric bills this summer. We were among them. Connecticut has the third highest energy costs in the United States. Now in the last two months, we have seen the results of extreme legislation coming to bear here in Connecticut.

The Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) has charged Eversource and United Illuminating with collecting reimbursements for the state’s energy policies by pushing those costs directly onto residents’ electric bills under the “Public Benefits” portions of our bills. The price hikes are in part due to higher numbers of unpaid bills during COVID (a moratorium granted under COVID executive orders) which still existed a staggering four-plus years after the pandemic.

Residents especially our senior citizens and working families are also feeling the pain in their inflated energy bill. Along with State Sen. Tony Hwang, we call on Fairfield’s delegation, State Representatives Jennifer Leeper, Cristin McCarthy Vahey and Sarah Keitt to support and call for a special session to address the junk fees that we, the people, are burdened with. In an election year op/ed, Rep. Leeper says our utilities are broken and they are the ones to blame but where was her advocacy when we knew we would have to pay these junk fees?

It’s time to act in a bi–partisan way to help our residents and address this critical issue with their colleagues. Our lawmakers should pass policies which put consumers first, not the utilities.

The implications of these high rates could have far reaching effects. Business advocacy groups like CBIA and others have warned that such high costs adversely impact not only existing businesses in Connecticut but also make it more unlikely that companies will come to our state to start a new business or expand existing operations in the state. We should not be piling onto our affordability crisis.

Why was the electricity shut off moratorium continued for over four years? Red flags were raised over a year ago regarding the mounting cost of these reimbursements to the utilities. Even current State Rep. Sarah Keitt acknowledged in her email communication, ‘Perhaps the COVID-related moratorium should have ended sooner…’ But alas, she and her colleagues Reps. Leeper and McCarthy Vahey did and said nothing at the time.

Reps. Leeper, McCarthy Vahey and Keitt all voted for the 2024 budget which could have addressed this problem. Then, there was a chance to use Federal COVID-relief funds (which CT already had) to fund the $200 million shortfall created by unpaid electric bills. Why was that opportunity not seized?

Yet, the solution by Reps. Leeper, Keitt, and McCarthy Vahey is to send an after-the-fact, clean-up on aisle 5 letter to PURA asking them to ‘reconsider’ the rate hike approval. That’s not proper advocacy and will only kick the can down the road, similar to what past legislatures have done on pension debt.

Many Questions

Why was the reimbursement to utilities of the moratorium costs pushed directly onto residents’ electric bills instead of paid out of the state’s coffers from COVID reimbursements from the Federal Government? This seems a proper match of costs and funding, given Connecticut was one of the last states to end emergency executive orders.

Why did PURA decide in August to raise the “public benefits” charge on residents’ electric bills to also reimburse the utilities for the subsidies for electric vehicle (EV) charging stations? Why are those installation costs not financed out of revenues obtained from EV owners that utilize the charging stations? Why are there any free charging stations in Connecticut? We don’t have free gas stations to fill out our tanks. Why are all Connecticut ratepayers paying for an EV charging grid to the tune of $80 million when only 2.5% of drivers own an electric vehicle?

Why weren’t the financial impacts of the legislative policies on all residents, especially on modest to lowest income earners, considered when they decided to directly pass through those “public benefit” costs on residents’ electric bills? Why were these initiatives not paid out of the state's budget surplus?

House and Senate Republicans have asked for Governor Ned Lamont to call the General Assembly into Special Session and to his credit the governor is open to that request. And according to an August 21 article in the Connecticut Post, the Democrat leadership in the House has said they are open to a Special Session after the November elections. A bit late given the urgency of the situation.

We deserve better and should expect more.

One of the essential roles of a legislator is “first, do no harm” and it’s disappointing that our legislators are going along with the bad policies of the majority party. And we have to pay for it.

We also call on our fellow Fairfield residents to sign a petition that calls for ending the public benefits charge from our bills: Petition · Demand Gov Lamont and PURA to cease Public Benefit charge from Electric Bill - United States · Change.org

Sincerely yours,

Alexis Harrison
Candidate for State Representative, 132nd district
Fairfield & Southport

Melissa Longo
Candidate for State Representative, 134nd district
Fairfield & Trumbull