Finding solutions for soaring electric bills

"Why is my electricity bill so high?"I hear this repeatedly as I talk to my constituents in the supermarket, at the ball field and in the emails that arrive in my inbox. This lament became even louder with last month's bill from Eversource. We all saw a huge increase in our bills, linked to the growth of the "system benefits charge." As a resident of East Lyme exclaimed, "system benefits charge? I guess I'm part of the system and this sure doesn't benefit me!"One of my priorities in Hartford has always been to make our state more affordable, especially by addressing utility rates. These high rates are due to factors like our location and lack of natural resources, infrastructure upgrades, Connecticut's high business costs, legislative policies and decisions by state utility regulators.I've been asked if the increase was driven by the bipartisan decision to preserve the generation from the Millstone Nuclear Power Station, a plant that supplies 50% of all the electricity generated in Connecticut and 90% of our carbon-free power. With the fragile nature of our New England grid and the ever-increasing electricity demand, allowing Millstone to close was never an option. In fact, ratepayers saw the benefits of the fixed 10-year price with rebates on their electricity bills when the price of natural gas, which powers most of our grid, went through the roof because of the war in the Ukraine. Had Millstone closed, the residents of Connecticut could have experienced $1.8 billion in added costs for the more expensive generation that would have had to have been built to provide the region's power needs and electric reliability. In fact, the Independent System Operator of New England (ISO-NE) issued a report indicating that absent Millstone, the region's grid is at risk of rolling black and brown-outs.So yes, some of the increase was the result of that power purchase agreement. However, it was the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) that required the utilities to recover those costs over a short time frame, as opposed to securitizing them, which would have spread those costs out over a couple of years, and greatly reduced the shock to ratepayers.What can be done in the future to help shield us from these rate shocks? I joined my party as we tried to address this crisis earlier this year. We proposed unbundling that dreaded system benefits charge, which pays for hardship protection measures, low-income conservation programs, as well as other public policies like mandating only zero-carbon electricity by 2040 and putting the costs of building out EV charging stations on ratepayers. We need to fund these programs in the state budget rather than including them on ratepayer bills.Furthermore, the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection is currently soliciting proposals for offshore wind procurements to meet the zero-carbon 2040 mandate. We should cap future Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) so that no contract can be significantly greater than the wholesale electric market price. (FYI, according to DEEP's 2020 Integrated Resource Plan, the continued operation of Millstone is by far the cheapest way to reach the 2040 zero-carbon goal.)What else can we do? Last session I proposed a bill to establish community choice aggregation, which would permit municipalities to buy power in bulk and make that lower cost power available to all their residents. Neighboring states like Massachusetts, New York and New Hampshire all allow this. Connecticut should join them. I will support energy goals that are practical and achievable, based on a framework that is realistic and affordable, without arbitrary deadlines. Finally, as I have always done in my eight years serving as state representative, I will advocate for sound policy decisions that recognize the economic realities and human needs of our residents.State Rep. Holly Cheeseman, a Republican, represents the 37th District, which covers East Lyme and parts of Montville and Salem.