Connecticut legislators are working on breaking up the state's electric utility monopolies, according to the CT Mirror.
The bill would disallow companies from owning both gas and electric utilities. This could potentially force companies like Eversource and United Illuminating to spin off some of their businesses. Additionally, the bill would limit the amount of profit utilities could pull in from investments and force them to yield to requests via the Freedom of Information Act.
In an attempt to reduce conflicts of interest, the bill would also enforce cooling-off periods that would slow the transition of employees between regulatory bodies and utilities. This provision, in particular, seemed to be directed at John Fonfara, who co-owned an electric utility that racked up $1 million in fines before becoming a senator on the committee that polices those fines.
"It shouldn't be that we have the second-highest electricity prices in the country," said Matt Blumenthal, who serves as House chair of the Government Administration and Elections Committee, per CT Mirror. "These are massive corporate monopolies, they respond to shareholders and private investors, and it's important that they not have too much power in our state, vis-à-vis the ratepayers."
The bill would also enshrine "grid-enhancing and energy-efficient technologies" and prevent utilities from charging customers fees for adopting them. This includes solar power, which is clearly outperforming fossil fuels in cost. Power utilities have been known to have adversarial policies to ensure they can continue protecting polluting power sources.
Connecticut's Energy and Technology Committee is also working on reducing utility costs through a separate bill.
"We've been coming at it, the problem, from slightly different angles," Blumenthal said, per CT Mirror. "Our aim is to work cooperatively with that committee to come up with a product that is going to best benefit the citizens of Connecticut."
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