Hartford Business Journal

44 HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | MARCH 4, 2024 By Chris Powell F eeling unusually put-upon by state government, Connecti- cut's two major electric utility companies, Eversource and United Illuminating, are pushing back, which is good, since, whatever their faults, they are too easily dema- gogued against, as nearly every- body hates electric companies, electricity being too expensive. Connecticut has the second-highest electricity costs in the country. But now the utilities, which formerly only grumbled privately about the biggest reason, are talking openly about it: government policy. The forthcoming rate increases, expected to be around 19%, are reported to be entirely the result of two state government mandates. The first mandate requires the utilities to purchase the production of the Millstone nuclear power plant in Waterford, electricity that sometimes is cheaper than other sources and sometimes isn't. State government has concluded that keeping Mill- stone operating is vital to Connecti- cut's energy security. The second mandate requires Opinion & Commentary Contact Us John McCormick | +1 860 987 4736 | john.mccormick@cbre.com Anna Kocsondy | +1 860 987 4749 | anna.kocsondy@cbre.com www.cbre.com/hartford Boutique Office Space Available 100 Allyn Street | Hartford, CT Under new Ownership, 100 Allyn Street is an excellent choice for tenants seeking boutique, urban office space with a convenient CBD location. Current space available includes a �2,500 SF on the fourth floor, ideal for a small tenant looking for something unique in downtown Hartford. Storage space is also available. 100 Allyn Street is located directly across from the XL Center Coliseum, with parking available in the immediately adjacent lot on Allyn Street. Retail amenities include Agave Cantina Bar & Grill and Aladdin's Pizzeria restaurants. Come see what this unique building has to offer! 100 Allyn Street boasts distinctive turn of the century architecture and high- quality finishes including exposed brick and wood beam ceilings, polished hardwood floors, mahogany wood trim and modern thermopanel windows. Also known as the Crosthwaite Building, 100 Allyn Street was originally constructed in 1911 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Contact Us John McCormick Executive Vice President Anna Kocsondy Vice President Other Voices CT uses electricity to hide cost of government Chris Powell the utilities to keep providing elec- tricity to customers who consider themselves too poor to pay for it. Whereupon that cost is transferred to customers who don't consider themselves too poor to pay, and whose rates go up. Quite apart from those mandates, Eversource long has estimated that 15% to 20% of its charges to customers arise from state mandates having little or nothing to do with the cost of the production or delivery of electricity. Then there is the failure of Connecticut to import more natural gas, largely the result of New York's obstruction of new pipelines from the west. The co-chairman of the General Assembly's Energy and Technology Committee, Sen. Norm Needleman (D-Essex), accuses Eversource of trying to make customers pay for a cash-flow problem the company suffered as a result of its recent "wind-power investment gamble." But even there, state government has to share responsibility. After all, why would electric companies "gamble" on wind power if govern- ment wasn't encouraging "green" energy and setting targets for accomplishing it? New candor The state government policies affecting electric rates are not neces- sarily wrong. But recovering their costs by hiding them in electricity bills, as Connecticut does, is dishonest. It deliberately misleads the public into thinking that the utilities are responsible for high rates when they are the work of government. There is no social justice in requiring electricity users who pay their bills to pay as well for users who don't pay. The cost of people who don't pay their electric bills easily could be drawn against everyone from general taxation. Even the much bigger cost of subsidizing Millstone could be paid directly from general tax revenue. Of course, other taxes might have to be raised, but then people would see that it wasn't the big, bad utilities that took their money, but that their own state legislators and governor did. Then people would be prompted to make a judgment on the policies behind the extra costs. But hiding the cost of govern- ment in the cost of living is practi- cally a principle of government in Connecticut. State taxes and the cost of state government policies are concealed not just in electricity rates but also in wholesale fuel taxes and medical and insurance bills so that energy companies, hospitals, doctors and insurers take the blame, just as electric companies do. Indeed, hiding the cost of govern- ment in the cost of living is now a primary principle of the federal government as well, with trillions of dollars in government expense being covered not by taxes, but by borrowing, debt, the resulting money creation, and thus by inflation, which most people imagine is a force of nature, like the weather, something beyond human control. Inflationary finance prevents people from asking their members of Congress inconvenient questions, like: How much more war in Ukraine, other stupid imperial wars, illegal immigra- tion, Social Security, Medicare, and new subsidy programs can we afford? With their new candor about the origin of high electricity prices the utility companies are taking a big risk. Through the Public Utilities Regu- latory Authority, the governor and legislators can punish the companies expensively for telling the truth. But state government's deception of the public is already expensive. Chris Powell is the former managing editor of the Journal Inquirer who has written about Connecticut government and politics for many years.

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