In my previous post, I wrote about the electric legislation that was approved yesterday, minus the parts that would have finally brought our rising electric rates under control again.
Even though the key amendment they advocated for failed, I think it is important to mention two legislators who showed great courage on this issue. They are the House Chair of the Energy and Technology Committee, Rep. Steve Fontana and the Vice Chair of the Committee, Rep. Vickie Nardello.
This issue is so complex that it seemed easier to criticize Reps. Fontana and Nardello because of the disagreement they were having with other legislators than it was to look into the substance of the disagreement and see that the Fontana/Nardello electric reform legislation was the one that was really going to address the causes of rising electric rates.
Rep. Nardello has been working on this issue for many years, spending enormous time understanding this issue in great detail so she could advocate effectively on behalf of consumers. She was trying to undo electric deregulation before it really started to cause consumer rates to rise and, when rates did rise, her dire predictions were proven correct.
Rep. Fontana, who is also Vice Chair of the Connecticut Democratic Party, has taken a meticulous and sober approach to this issue, gaining a great understanding of it before concluding that serious reforms were needed to bring control back onto electric rates. He also worked very hard to reach compromise on an energy bill, while sticking to the most critical issue of restoring cost-based generation that is necessary to bring prices back down.
These two legislators deserve enormous credit for the time and effort they put into working on behalf of electric consumers, and for their principles in standing up for what is right.
Even though the key amendment they advocated for failed, I think it is important to mention two legislators who showed great courage on this issue. They are the House Chair of the Energy and Technology Committee, Rep. Steve Fontana and the Vice Chair of the Committee, Rep. Vickie Nardello.
This issue is so complex that it seemed easier to criticize Reps. Fontana and Nardello because of the disagreement they were having with other legislators than it was to look into the substance of the disagreement and see that the Fontana/Nardello electric reform legislation was the one that was really going to address the causes of rising electric rates.
Rep. Nardello has been working on this issue for many years, spending enormous time understanding this issue in great detail so she could advocate effectively on behalf of consumers. She was trying to undo electric deregulation before it really started to cause consumer rates to rise and, when rates did rise, her dire predictions were proven correct.
Rep. Fontana, who is also Vice Chair of the Connecticut Democratic Party, has taken a meticulous and sober approach to this issue, gaining a great understanding of it before concluding that serious reforms were needed to bring control back onto electric rates. He also worked very hard to reach compromise on an energy bill, while sticking to the most critical issue of restoring cost-based generation that is necessary to bring prices back down.
These two legislators deserve enormous credit for the time and effort they put into working on behalf of electric consumers, and for their principles in standing up for what is right.
