HARTFORD, CT – Senator Ryan Fazio, the Republican nominee for Governor, today joined members of legislative leadership Stephen Harding and Vincent Candelora, and Matt Corey, the Republican nominee for Lieutenant Governor, along with other candidates for statewide, state Senate, and state House offices at the State Capitol to call on Governor Ned Lamont to veto HB 5340, a bill they warn will further drive up Connecticut’s already sky-high electricity costs.
Just over a week after Eversource announced plans for an average double-digit rate increase for Connecticut customers, the candidates and legislative leaders stated that HB 5340 would layer billions of dollars in additional costs on ratepayers over time through expanded public benefits charges and solar subsidy programs.
“Governor Lamont says he stands with ratepayers. Now he has a chance to prove it,” said Senator Ryan Fazio. “Last week he blasted Eversource for seeking an average of an 11 percent rate hike, but HB 5340 pushes even more costs onto families through their electric bills. He cannot have it both ways. If he truly wants to protect consumers, he must veto HB 5340.”
Fazio pointed to the bill’s reauthorization and expansion of rooftop and community solar subsidy programs, which are funded through public benefits charges on electric bills and already cost ratepayers over $100 million a year. “These programs will cost billions in new public benefits charges over the next 30 years, mostly to subsidize private, for-profit energy companies on the backs of working-class Connecticut families and retirees,” Fazio continued. “These choices are the difference between keeping the lights on or cutting back on groceries for many of our families. These costs are not inevitable; they are the direct result of policy choices made in this building. As governor, I will change course, stop new costs, and cut existing hidden taxes in your electricity bills.”
Senate Republican Leader Stephen Harding and House Republican Leader Vincent Candelora emphasized that the debate over HB 5340 is not about opposing renewable energy, but about how the state pays for it and the strain rising costs are putting on households and small businesses across Connecticut.
“Republicans offered reasonable amendments to take these charges off families’ electric bills and pay for them transparently through the state budget, but they were rejected on party-line votes,” Harding said. “If we are serious about affordability, we cannot keep using people’s utility bills as a credit card for every new program. Governor Lamont should stand with ratepayers and veto this bill.”
“Eversource just told us rates could jump again, and the majority party in Hartford is responding by piling more mandates and charges onto the same bills,” Candelora said. “In an election year, you hear a lot of promises about affordability. After the election, people open their bills and see the opposite. That’s a bait-and-switch on the people of Connecticut. It’s time to give families real relief, not more slogans.”
Matt Corey spoke about how unrealistic the state’s current approach is: “For working people, for single moms coming home from a second shift, for parents whose kids are doing homework at the kitchen table at night, the governor’s plan of ‘shut off your lights’ is not a plan at all. It’s easy for someone who doesn’t worry about his own electric bill to tell you to lower your expectations. We’re here to shine a bright light on the governor’s role in these costs and to say clearly: he can do something about this today. He can veto HB 5340.”
“This is not a Republican or Democrat issue. This is about whether the people of Connecticut can afford to heat their homes in the winter, cool them in the summer, and keep the lights on for their kids,” Fazio said. “Governor Lamont has one week to decide whether he stands with ratepayers or with the special interests of energy corporations who benefit from ever-higher electric bills.”