Lower Electric Rates For Enfield Families

Connecticut has the highest electric rates in New England and some of the highest rates in the country. With the world becoming more digitized, these high electric rates cripple working families and businesses. Moving forward, the states that can purchase electricity cheapest will be the states that best provide for their people and grow their economies.

Tom is the only one in this race with a plan to lower electric rates for Connecticut. It's a bold plan.

First, Connecticut needs to stop doing exclusive electricity purchasing contracts. Right now, Connecticut has an exclusive contract to buy electricity from the Millstone Nuclear Power Plant in Waterford, Connecticut. With electricity demand increasing so much due to AI and data centers, we don't need to do exclusive deals to keep Millstone operating. They will have plenty of work moving forward, and the fact that Microsoft is now getting the nuclear plant at Three Mile Island up and running to provide electricity for their corporation shows that Connecticut shouldn't be forcing ratepayers to pay extra to give Millstone extra work.

The Public Benefits Charge within Connecticut ratepayers' bills would go down by 7% just by stopping this exclusive deal with Millstone. The details are complicated, but Connecticut ratepayers are paying approximately 5 cents on the dollar within their monthly electric bills to supplement ratepayers within the five other New England states due to this exclusive deal with Millstone. Although this exclusive Millstone deal, by law, has to continue until 2029, Connecticut has to not renegotiate another exclusive Millstone deal after 2029 and the state should never engage in any exclusive electricity purchasing contracts ever again.

Second, Connecticut needs to stop purchasing its electricity within the ISO New England energy auction. The details with this are also complicated, but this energy auction locks Connecticut into many three to four year long term electricity purchasing contracts. Big Energy companies like Dominion and NextEra exploit this auction by charging the market rate for electricity during certain portions of these contracts and by charging over the market rate during other portions of these contracts. When you look at the entire three to four year lifecycle of these contracts, it's clear that these Big Energy companies are overcharging ratepayers. Connecticut ratepayers shouldn't be footing the bill to pad the coffers for Big Energy. By leaving the ISO New England energy auction, Connecticut can take advantage of better pricing by purchasing from certain providers when their rates are low and avoiding certain providers when their rates are high. Leveling the playing field in this way would bring down monthly electric bills for Connecticut ratepayers.

Third, Connecticut needs to increase electricity supply from renewables. The last ISO New England energy auction sold only 4% from renewable sources. It's clear that Connecticut can sustain much more than 4% of electricity procurement from renewables, and Connecticut can increase it's renewable sourcing by leaving this energy auction. This increase of electric supply from renewables will lower electric rates and also be environmentally friendly.

Fourth, Connecticut needs to pass regulations and provide incentives to allow cutting edge electricity providers to come here. Electricity supply needs to be increased across the board, and small nuclear reactor technology has recently emerged as a way to increase supply in a safe and cheap manner. Connecticut needs to lead with this. Not only would these cutting-edge providers lower electric rates, but they would bring well-paying jobs to the state. Connecticut should also encourage and support Millstone's efforts to get a second reactor up and running. This reactor has the ability to run but is currently sitting idle. Remember, Millstone isn't an enemy of ratepayers. They just shouldn't be getting sweetheart exclusive deals from Connecticut.

You will get none of these needed reforms from John Santanella. His plan is to simply kick the can down the river. His support of a recent plan that shifted over some of the Public Benefits Charge to state bonds only marginally brought down ratepayers' bills, and it resulted in Connecticut taxpayers picking up a small part of the overall bill. Moreover, John has no other plans. He feels that the problem is already solved due to his support of that recent bonding plan. Not only is he out of touch believing this, you will not lower your electric bills if you keep him in office. Tom is the only one with a bold plan to lower your electric rates.