Ned Lamont Proposes Sweeping Utility Reforms to Lower Energy Costs for Connecticut Families

HARTFORD, CT – Governor Ned Lamont today unveiled a comprehensive package of utility accountability reforms designed to lower energy costs, increase competition, and put ratepayers first.

Joined by legislators and advocates, the proposal builds on years of action by the Lamont administration to address Connecticut’s persistently high electricity costs. These efforts include the 2020 “Take Back Our Grid Act,” negotiations that secured the Millstone nuclear power contract, which is saving ratepayers an estimated $450 million this year alone, and reductions in public benefits charges that are already lowering monthly bills for Eversource and United Illuminating customers.

“People are angry when they look at skyrocketing electric bills,” Governor Lamont said. “The 20th century utility model is no longer built for Connecticut families, it’s built to serve utility shareholders. For too long, ratepayers have been treated as a captive source of revenue while profits climbed and bills followed. This package brings real competition, real transparency, and real accountability to a system that has been running on autopilot at the public’s expense. Connecticut families deserve a utility system that works for them, not one they’re forced to subsidize.”

“When Connecticut residents are struggling with high electric bills, they should not be paying for corporate lobbyists or other utility expenses that have nothing to do with delivering reliable service,” said Lt. Governor Susan Bysiewicz. “Governor Lamont and I believe utilities must be held accountable for every dollar they ask ratepayers to spend. These reforms put consumers first and make it clear that utilities must earn the public’s trust, not take Connecticut families for granted.”

The proposals include the following proposed reforms:

• Affordability as a regulatory standard: Require the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) to consider ratepayer affordability, including household energy burden, when setting utility rates, rate of return, and authorized capital structure. This ensures that utility profits are checked against what Connecticut families can actually afford to pay.
• Franchise accountability: Require electric distribution companies (EDCs) to have their franchise agreements, which grant utilities the exclusive right to serve customers, renewed by PURA on a regular basis, and establish an orderly transition process if a franchise is not renewed. Utilities must continually earn their right to operate as a monopoly.
• Cost-effectiveness reviews: Require EDCs to file cost-effectiveness analyses before undertaking large grid upgrades that would ultimately be recovered through rates. Improving oversight of utility planning processes reduces system costs and protects ratepayers from unnecessary infrastructure spending, ensuring the most impactful grid investments are prioritized and proven before families foot the bill.
• Stronger consumer protection enforcement: Grant the Office of Consumer Counsel (OCC) subpoena authority when it suspects utilities have violated the law, and update OCC’s statute to allow for expanded use of independent experts to counter utility applications, giving Connecticut’s utility watchdog the tools it needs to effectively advocate for ratepayers.
• Increased competition: Allow new utilities to compete with existing EDCs by permitting them to build fuel cells or solar installations, upgrade grid infrastructure, and connect directly to residences, an expansion of existing microgrid policy that would drive down costs through competition. Encourage regional grid operators to ensure robust competition for transmission infrastructure projects.
• Penalties for failure to deploy cost-effective technology: Establish that EDCs act imprudently when they fail to timely deploy cost-effective technologies that would help lower individual customer bills or reduce costs across the grid, and align utility performance incentives accordingly.
• Utility profit caps to reflect true utility costs: Impose caps on authorized Return on Equity so that it does not exceed the cost of capital.
• Reinforce PURA’s performance-based tools: Incentivize utility cost controls and align profits with performance.  

“Rates are coming down, the Millstone nuclear contract is delivering hundreds of millions of dollars in savings for ratepayers, and we’ve taken steps to reduce monthly bills through cuts to public benefits charges,” Governor Lamont said. “These are concrete results that are already putting money back in people’s pockets. If utilities want to raise rates, they’ll have to prove they’ve earned it and Connecticut families will have a watchdog with real teeth to make sure they do.”