In a new report submitted to state legislators, two UConn professors have come up with some ideas to lower electric rates in the state.
As lawmakers search for ways to bring down costs here in the state, some University of Connecticut researchers said they have 42 ideas to help get things started.
“The goal here is to really tackle the bull by the horns,” Charles Vanator-Santiago, director of UConn’s Puerto Rican Studies Initiative, said.
Vanator-Santiago and UConn data analyst Volodymyr Gupan authored the study for the legislature’s Puerto Rican and Latino caucus.
The two admit some of their ideas call for major changes, including reviewing the public benefits charges tacked onto electricity bills.
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Customers are currently paying a surge in the public benefits charge through May for a subsidy to the Millstone Power Plant and a COVID-era moratorium on shutoffs.
But the study suggested looking at all of those programs to see if they benefit all ratepayers, not just homeowners.
“64% of Puerto Ricans are renters, so they don’t get direct benefits from some of the energy policies in Connecticut,” Venator-Santiago said.
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Republicans latched on to the suggesting as a sign of support for their proposal to remove the public benefits charge from utility bills altogether.
The authors say they simply want a review, noting some programs benefit all customers regardless of whether they own their home.
“Each policy needs to be taken separately and looked at the outcomes,” Gupan said. “Who benefitted from it?”
Sen. Ryan Fazio (R-Greenwich) said Republicans support funding through programs in the state budget instead.
“We pay enough in taxes in this country – in this state, and this country but especially this state, that they can be financed through the normal budget process,” he said.
The report also suggested changes to the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA), including removing it from the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection and extending the terms for commissioners.
Additionally, the report recommends a regulatory process that requires utilities to defend rate requests, but also giving them guidance on what PURA wants.
“You can’t just implement caps and penalties without providing some kind of clarity for utilities,” Gupan said.
Elsewhere, the report suggests revamping the way Connecticut procures clean energy.
This would include getting companies to submit bids to the state as a way to bring prices down while seeking other benefits, such as jobs in the state.
Connecticut should also explore adding more small reactor nuclear power plants to boost clean energy productions within the state, the report recommends.
The two authors said Connecticut should re-examine its relationship with regional power grid ISO-New England, noting Massachusetts tends to benefit from the arrangement more than other states.
The report suggests Connecticut even consider leaving the partnership for ISO-New York, or at least use the possibility to leverage a better arrangement.
Other suggestions include the creation of a quasi-public agency to purchase energy on the wholesale market as a competitor to the handful of companies that do this now.
Eversource and United Illuminating do not produce their own energy. Instead, they purchase it from wholesalers.
Some lawmakers welcomed the report and its bold recommendations.
“One of the reasons I liked the report and appreciated the report is because it had some, maybe shall we say provocative and substantial suggestions of reform,” Fazio said.
The Democratic co-chairs of the Energy and Technology Committee declined interviews.
One, Rep. Jonathan Steinberg (D-Westbrook) said the report was flawed and based on a misunderstanding of the energy market.
The authors, though, said the state needs big ideas.
“Put your money where you’re mouth is, because if you really want to lower the prices you need to be quite aggressive about it,” Gupan said.
A spokesman for Eversource said the company still needed to review the full plan.
“While we’ll need to further review the UConn report and its recommendations, we remain eager to support measures that promote affordability for our customers, especially when it comes to the most pressing issue of the region’s volatile energy supply given this is typically the largest portion of customer bills,” Tricia Modifica said.
