To hear Gov. Ned Lamont say it, Connecticut and the northeast are “running out of electricity” and need more generating capacity.

The solution, he told CT Mirror Events Host John Dankosky, involves a combination of doubling down on nuclear power, growing wind and solar energy capability — and also increasing the region’s supply of natural gas.

That potential natural gas investment became a rare point of contention between Lamont and his audience at the University of Hartford on Wednesday night, where the governor made his second appearance in The Connecticut Mirror’s “In the Room” event series.

A few audience members booed when Lamont mentioned natural gas, which he described as “an interim way to get additional low carbon power into this region.” He argued that approach would be less expensive, a benefit to the state’s middle-class residents who he said “are getting hammered by electricity prices.”

But, Dankosky asked the governor, if Connecticut invests in natural gas now, wouldn’t the state be committing itself to fossil fuels for the next several decades? And if the state’s residents made it clear that they didn’t want that to happen, would he abide by their opinion?

“Yeah, I guess you gotta lay out the facts to people,” Lamont responded. “You will pay a lot more for your electricity, but, you know, we wouldn’t have that — wouldn’t do natural gas.”

Last month, Lamont met with two members of President Donald Trump’s cabinet in Washington, D.C. to discuss the region’s energy needs. There, he found that getting more energy from nuclear and natural gas into New England was a point of agreement between himself and Trump.

But so far, it’s one of very few. 

The governor’s approach to the president has largely been to engage with Trump without appeasing or provoking him. He told Dankosky that he won’t stir up unnecessary drama, but on policies like those surrounding immigration and transgender athletes, he will “stand for Connecticut values.”

“I don’t go out of my way to pick a fight, but I also know the lines that won’t be crossed,” Lamont said, referring to a hypothetical scenario in which federal immigration officials try to deport a Connecticut high school student who came to the United States with their family as a toddler.

Lamont said the potential for cuts to Medicaid, which funds health care for 1.2 million Connecticut residents, is “probably the biggest risk right now.”

The Republican-controlled U.S. House is targeting $880 billion in overall federal budget cuts — a figure that can’t be achieved absent major reductions in Medicaid, according to a report this month from the Congressional Budget Office.

As someone with a background in the private sector, Lamont said he agrees with the theory that the government can deliver better services at lower costs. But, the newly-created Department of Government Efficiency’s sweeping cuts to federal funding amount to “going in with a chainsaw,” he said.

In particular, Lamont and Dankosky touched on the funding cuts to medical research at higher education institutions. Those cuts could particularly affect places like New Haven, where medical research and education play a large role in the economy.

Lamont described the reductions in funding as “really shortsighted,” saying they not only harm the institutions themselves but are “taking away our future.”

So, Dankosky asked, how should Connecticut respond?

Lamont paused for a few seconds before responding: “Get a new president.”

Lamont’s future

Toward the end of the conversation, Dankosky asked Lamont about his future plans. The governor is up for reelection in 2026, and he has not publicly stated whether he plans to run for a third term.

Lamont said he wants to “stay away from that question for as long as I can” to focus on the state’s 2025 legislative session, but Dankosky then asked for the 71-year-old’s take on the ongoing debate over age in politics.

Do you think, he asked, about whether it’s time to step aside and hand the reins over to the next generation?

“I think about the fact that [Vice President] JD Vance is really smart, and doesn’t have a clue about how the world works either, at the age of 41,” Lamont responded, to laughs and applause. “I think there are tradeoffs in life.”