The heroes in the unsucessful effort for lower electric rates.

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.

Energy "compromise" bill, and why it is not real reform.

Right now, the House of Representatives is debating a bill ostensibly to address the problem of rising energy prices. The legislation is House Bill 7432. The real substance of the bill is in House Amendment A on the bill.

I have been working since I was elected to undo the system that has been causing our electric rates to skyrocket.

"Electric deregulation" was approved by the state back in the late 1990s, with promises to lower our electric rates by giving us a choice of who produces our electricity. However, electric deregulation was a failure, and became the tool energy companies, like Enron, used to bilk the entire state of California. In Connecticut, it has caused skyrocketing electric prices. Electric deregulation is an abject failure and is bad for consumers.

Since then, many legislators (especially Reps. Fontana and Nardello) and advocates for consumers and seniors have been working to reform the system and bring back common-sense control on electric prices, like we used to have, when our electric rates were lower.

And our work is the reason that legislators and the Governor are now feeling the pressure to approve energy legislation. But the legislation actually being considered right now fails to address the real problem that has been causing electric rates to rise.

This legislation makes only token efforts to bring lower prices. In fact, in a number of ways, the legislation has the effect of adding to electric rates. For example, the legislation will require that all electric ratepayers pay for the purchase of electric meters that will allow electric companies to charge people higher electric rates at the times of day most people use electricity.

I plan to vote for another amendment that would actually bring electric rates back under control. But, it looks like that amendment will be defeated.

I tried very hard to bring real reform. It is difficult to express how disappointed I am, on behalf of the people I represent, about how this has turned out.

12:37am update after the voting is done:
The real electric reform that would finally help electric consumers was House Amendment C. It was defeated on a 34-114 vote.

The final bill was approved 128-19. If I voted for the bill, I would be able to go out to my constituents and say that I voted for energy legislation. But I would know, in my heart, that it would not be true that this legislation solves the problem - high electric rates - that the people wanted electric reform legislation to get done. So the only right thing I could do was to vote against this poor substitute for real reform of electric pricing.

Legislature approves tax fairness plan.

I am proud to have voted in support of legislation that would make significant reforms to make state's tax systems fairer.

The legislation just approved in the state House of Representatives would, among other things:

• Cut state income taxes for 95% of income tax payers in the state.
• Double the Property Tax Credit tax relief program to $1000.
• Provide relief to thousands of working families with a new state Earned Income Tax Credit.

And the plan, which I voted to support, would cut the gas tax by $.25/gallon through the summer months.

Of course, as with any budget proposal, there are aspects of it that I do not agree with. But the amount of relief that is provided to most people in this state far outweighs these downsides.

There is an analysis of this plan from the legislative Office of Fiscal Analysis. I will post some more of the highlights, later, as well.