Free Daily Headlines :

  • COVID-19
  • Money
  • Election 2020
  • Politics
  • Education
  • Health
  • Justice
  • More
    • Environment
    • Economic Development
    • Gaming
    • Investigations
    • Social Services
    • TRANSPORTATION
  • Opinion
    • CT Viewpoints
    • CT Artpoints
DONATE
Reflecting Connecticut’s Reality.
    COVID-19
    Money
    Election 2020
    Politics
    Education
    Health
    Justice
    More
    Environment
    Economic Development
    Gaming
    Investigations
    Social Services
    TRANSPORTATION
    Opinion
    CT Viewpoints
    CT Artpoints

LET�S GET SOCIAL

Show your love for great stories and out standing journalism

Some electric customers may never have to pay surcharge

  • by Jacqueline Rabe Thomas
  • May 17, 2010
  • View as "Clean Read" "Exit Clean Read"

Connecticut’s largest electric utility company believes the state’s budget signed into law earlier this month leaves their 1.2 million customers picking up the tab to close the budget hole.

Meanwhile, some other utility customers may never be hit with the surcharge of some $3 a month, or may pay for a much shorter time, said Tanya Meck, spokeswoman for Connecticut Light & Power Co.

“It’s not fair to have one company’s customers paying the brunt of this debt,” she said. CL&P supplies electric to almost 75 percent of the state’s customers.

And a key lawmaker doesn’t dispute CL&P customers might be left footing the bill.

“Is it possible the municipal utilities will not have to chip in? Yes, absolutely. I don’t think there is anything wrong with that,” said Rep. Cameron C. Staples, D-New Haven, co-chairman of the legislature’s Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee.

The way the budget is written, the 74,500 customers served by municipal utility companies may never have to pay the new monthly surcharge CL&P customers are due to begin paying Jan. 1. And the 325,000 United Illuminating customers will likely pay less then CL&P customers–the question is how much.

In the $19.01 billion budget Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell signed into law earlier this month, UI customers are scheduled to begin paying the surcharge in January 2014 and the six municipal utility companies in January 2018. Collectively, this surcharge is expected to generate $903.2 million now to plug the upcoming year’s budget hole.

Non-CL&P customers are exempt from paying the surcharge until years down the road because they are still paying a separate surcharge tied to a state-ordered deregulation in 2000.

“The intent was to make the utility tax equitable, but they have not identified how they intend to do that,” Meck said.

Because CL&P customers will begin paying two years before any other utility company, they will carry most of the load. Both Meck and Staples said it’s a real possibility the economy will rebound over the next few years, allowing the state to pay off the debt earlier and further reducing the burden on non-CL&P customers.

If that happens, Staples said, municipal utility companies may never have to pay the surcharge.

“I think there’s a very distinct probability that we pay off this debt early. If you look at our state’s history of coming out of recessions, we have been very robust on other occasions,” he said.

In fact, the state borrowed money using Economic Recovery Notes in 1991, 2002 and 2003. Each time the state paid the debt off two years early.

Staples said if the debt is paid off early and the municipal utility companies are never are hit with the surcharge, “that will be a nice problem to have.”

State lawmakers and Rell were quick to reject having the surcharge tacked onto everyone’s electric bill at the same time come Jan. 1. Instead they opted to retain a percentage of an expiring tax from the state-ordered deregulation in 2000. However, the tax expires for the companies years apart.

“This was never about parity, it’s always been about looking for hidden money,” Julie Cammarata said, a spokeswoman for the municipal utilities. “If these bills are paid off early, I can only hope they don’t make us settle it up. It may not be equitable, but none of this is justice or fair for anyone.”

Sign up for CT Mirror's free daily news summary.

Free to Read. Not Free to Produce.

The Connecticut Mirror is a nonprofit newsroom. 90% of our revenue comes from people like you. If you value our reporting please consider making a donation. You'll enjoy reading CT Mirror even more knowing you helped make it happen.

YES, I'LL DONATE TODAY

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jacqueline Rabe Thomas

SEE WHAT READERS SAID

RELATED STORIES
Advocates call for closure of Northern Correctional, reinvestment in community supports
by Kelan Lyons

The coalition says the $19 million spent annually to run the prison can help provide housing services and employment.

Miguel Cardona’s ideas about education were forged in Meriden, CT. Now he will bring them to Washington, D.C.
by Jacqueline Rabe Thomas and Adria Watson

Miguel Cardona's experiences in Meriden will likely be front-of-mind as he coordinates policy as U.S. Secretary of Education.

State Rep. Scanlon launches tax fairness debate with proposed $450M break for poor, middle class families
by Keith M. Phaneuf

A new proposal Tuesday would give middle class families with children their largest state income tax break in a decade.

Treason is in the air
by David Holahan

Abraham Lincoln had been elected but had yet to assume the presidency when southern states started seceding from the Union in the months before his March 4, 1961 inauguration. Four others would follow that spring. American soldiers —like Robert E. Lee, who had taken an oath of loyalty to the nation that he had served since 1825— defected to the Confederacy. By joining the rebellion Lee and fellow travellers became, in effect, traitors.

The change in leadership must not lead to complacency
by Jenna Van Donselaar

We are beginning 2021, and most people are far done with election talk. Sure, the polls are closed, and the results are in, and it is time to move on. I am weary from the hours I spent texting voters this fall, and I’d like to think all my efforts were worth it. But the work is far from done.

Support Our Work

Show your love for great stories and outstanding journalism.

$
Select One
  • Monthly
  • Yearly
  • Once
Artpoint painter
CT ViewpointsCT Artpoints
Opinion The change in leadership must not lead to complacency
by Jenna Van Donselaar

We are beginning 2021, and most people are far done with election talk. Sure, the polls are closed, and the results are in, and it is time to move on. I am weary from the hours I spent texting voters this fall, and I’d like to think all my efforts were worth it. But the work is far from done.

Opinion Treason is in the air
by David Holahan

Abraham Lincoln had been elected but had yet to assume the presidency when southern states started seceding from the Union in the months before his March 4, 1961 inauguration. Four others would follow that spring. American soldiers —like Robert E. Lee, who had taken an oath of loyalty to the nation that he had served since 1825— defected to the Confederacy. By joining the rebellion Lee and fellow travellers became, in effect, traitors.

Opinion Trump’s reaction to defeat further confirms urgency for school focus on social emotional skills 
by Sandra M. Chafouleas 

Imagine what would happen if a preschooler didn’t “use their words” when they got upset about sharing, instead stomping around yelling while adults simply observed in silence. Think about what the school climate would feel like if a student punched another during recess while others watched without seeking help.  Now consider the actions – and inactions – by Trump Jan. 6 as the electoral vote counts occurred at the U.S. Capitol.

Opinion Is Trump leading a cult?
by Elena Sada

My experience as a former cult member and researcher in the field of Social Sciences earned me the ability to identify narcissism and cultish tendencies. Furthermore, as a former  New York City resident who kept abreast of interviews with the city’s apparent “movers and shakers,” I often questioned Trump’s qualifications as a leader, let alone as national presidential leader.

Artwork Grand guidance
by Anne:Gogh

In a world of systemic oppression aimed towards those of darker skintones – representation matters. We are more than our equity elusive environments, more than numbers in a prison and much more than victims of societal dispositions. This piece depicts a melanated young man draped in a cape ascending high above multiple forms of oppression. […]

Artwork Shea
by Anthony Valentine

Shea is a story about race and social inequalities that plague America. It is a narrative that prompts the question, “Do you know what it’s like to wake up in new skin?”

Artwork The Declaration of Human Rights
by Andres Chaparro

Through my artwork I strive to create an example of ideas that reflect my desire to raise social consciousness, and cultural awareness. Jazz music is the catalyst to all my work, and plays a major influence in each piece of work.”

Artwork ‘A thing of beauty. Destroy it forever’
by Richard DiCarlo | Derby

During times like these it’s often fun to revisit something familiar and approach things with a different slant. I have been taking some Pop culture and Art masterpieces and applying the vintage 1960’s and 70’s classic figures (Fisher Price, little people) to the make an amusing pieces. Here is my homage to Fisher -Price, Yellow […]

Twitter Feed
A Twitter List by CTMirror

Engage

  • Reflections Tickets & Sponsorships
  • Events
  • Donate
  • Newsletter Sign-Up
  • Submit to Viewpoints
  • Submit to ArtPoints
  • Economic Indicator Dashboard
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Commenting Guidelines
  • Legal Notices
  • Contact Us

About

  • About CT Mirror
  • Announcements
  • Board
  • Staff
  • Sponsors and Funders
  • Donors
  • Friends of CT Mirror
  • History
  • Financial
  • Policies
  • Strategic Plan

Opportunity

  • Advertising and Sponsorship
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Use of Photography
  • Work for Us

Go Deeper

  • Steady Habits Podcast
  • Economic Indicator Dashboard
  • Five Things

The Connecticut News Project, Inc. 1049 Asylum Avenue, Hartford, CT 06105. Phone: 860-218-6380

© Copyright 2021, The Connecticut News Project. All Rights Reserved. Website by Web Publisher PRO