Raiding The Wrong Fund

The New London Day

Published on 6/28/2003

Following the politics of convenience, the legislature and the governor are poised to raid our electric bills to help balance the budget. They want to purloin the $80-million-plus collected on electric bills that pay for conservation programs here in the state. On the average monthly residential Connecticut Light & Power electric bill, the two charges to run such programs amounts to $1.88 out of $61.43.

On surface, it doesn't sound like a big deal to raid the fund. But it is a big deal. It's the wrong thing to do because it will wind up costing Connecticut ratepayers up to four times the amount the government is pilfering from them.

The millions of dollars collected goes to pay for programs that help business owners and residents alike be energy efficient. Such programs market cut-rate, energy-efficient products to help save electric costs. The energy saved goes to keep the cost of electricity down and avoid expensive brownouts, particularly on hot days during the summer when we need to save all the electricity we can get.

This is especially crucial because the new deregulation bill that the governor just signed will make state ratepayers pay more when electric congestion in Connecticut at times of peak demand forces electric prices to go up. Transmission lines to carry power are inadequate in southwest Connecticut, and the fact that there is limited competition among electric companies here makes prices higher. Fairfield County makes enormous demands on the power grid; just this week, prices went haywire because of increased demands there as a result of the sultry weather.

Conservation programs have the potential to significantly reduce the cost the state would otherwise pay during days of peak demand. For every dollar the programs bring in, ratepayers save $4 in costs.

The Department of Public Utility Control already told the state's two major electric companies that if the legislature and governor uses that money for the budget, the companies would not be able to run their programs and recover the money from ratepayers. Already, the companies have laid off most of the employees involved with conservation efforts.

Advocates bitterly charge that it is illegal for the legislature to take the money and use it in ways it was not intended. Attorney General Richard Blumenthal's office flatly says that such is not the case, that the General Assembly is within its rights to use the money for other purposes.

But it is also dishonest and shortsighted. The least the legislature should do is to ask the electric companies to change their bills to reflect some truth in labeling. Instead of conservation and load management charge, and renewable energy investment charge appearing on our bills, they should be changed to say, Connecticut deficit fees, courtesy Gov. John G. Rowland and the General Assembly. At least then we would understand what we were paying for.