Electric rates have become one of the biggest issues in the race for Connecticut governor, and Governor Ned Lamont has put forward a plan he says would bring bills down. The proposal has immediately drawn pushback from his opponents, turning the cost of keeping the lights on into a central battleground in the campaign. For ratepayers who have watched their bills climb, the dispute is about more than politics.
Lamont made the case in a pointed setting, going to Eversource's front yard to lay out his plan to lower bills. He accused the state's two big electric utilities, Eversource and United Illuminating, of gouging customers, framing the issue as one of companies profiting at the expense of the people who depend on them for power.
At the heart of his plan are two main ideas. Lamont wants to cap the profits that electric utilities are allowed to earn, and to force them to renew their franchise every 15 years rather than holding it indefinitely. The aim, as he presented it, is to put pressure on the companies to deliver for customers if they want to keep operating in the state.
He summed up the second idea in blunt terms. Lamont said the utilities have to earn their right to that monopoly, or perhaps they would have to sell their wires to somebody who can do a better job. The comment underscored his argument that the current arrangement leaves customers with too little leverage over the companies that serve them.
The governor also singled out spending on new technology. He pointed to about one billion dollars in smart meters that he said earn a 9.5 percent return, saying he was not going to let the utilities install them and then let them sit there. For Lamont, that example captured the kind of guaranteed returns he wants to rein in.
His opponents were quick to dismiss the plan. They argued that it would not save customers real money, with one critic saying that the plan he released was really no plan at all. The response signalled that, even with broad agreement that bills are too high, there is sharp disagreement over how to actually bring them down.
Among those pushing back is Republican Ryan Fazio, who wants deeper cuts to bills than the governor is proposing. With roughly 50 different charges making up a typical bill, the debate has turned to which of those costs can realistically be reduced. As the governor's race continues, electric rates look set to remain a defining issue for Connecticut voters.