Electricity costs jolt seniors, AARP study finds

Apr 27 - New Haven Register

Eight in 10 state residents ages 50 and older say they are concerned about the rising cost of electricity and a majority of respondents think they are paying too much, according to a survey released Tuesday by AARP Connecticut.

Another 40 percent of the 802 residents surveyed by telephone between March 21 and April 1 said their electric bill has gone up in the last 12 months.

Participants were members and nonmembers of AARP, said John Erlingheuser, the organization's state advocacy director.

Twenty percent of respondents buy power through alternative suppliers, he said.

he survey also found that 68 percent do not believe state elected officials are doing enough to lower their electric bills.

"AARP is calling on the legislature and the governor to enact legislation this year that will begin to lower electric rates for state residents and make Connecticut more competitive with our neighbors," said Brenda Kelley, state director of AARP, which has nearly 600,000 Connecticut members who are 50 and older.

The survey results come as Connecticut lawmakers consider two bills that focus on remaking the way the state regulates energy and create a tax on power generators.

When it comes to specific provisions of Senate Bill 1, An Act Concerning Connecticut's Energy Future, 89 percent said they support legislation that mandates a reduction in electricity rates by 15 percent over the next five years; and 58 percent said they would be more likely to vote for a candidate who supports this legislation.

The legislation would consolidate the Department of Environmental Protection and Department of Public Utility Control into a Department of Energy and Environmental Protection with three bureaus: Energy, Environmental Protection and Public Utility Control.

AARP Connecticut supports language in the bill that would create a procurement manager position under the Public Utility Control bureau. That person would ensure that electricity is acquired for customers of Connecticut Light & Power Co. and The United Illuminating Co. "at the lowest reasonable cost."

Seventy-seven percent of survey respondents said they support putting that into law, and 53 percent said they would back a candidate who supports such legislation.

David Thomas, AARP's lead advocacy volunteer for energy and utilities, said staff members and volunteers have heard anecdotal stories about customers having surprising jumps in their rates, companies rolling over contracts when they expire into a more expensive plan without notice to customers, and cancellations without notice.

Erlingheuser said the General Assembly should pass stronger consumer protections requiring greater transparency.

"Our laws should ensure that a consumer is fully informed when choosing a new electrical supplier," Thomas said.

Dominion Energy, the operator of the Millstone Nuclear Power Plant in Waterford, opposes one of the pieces of legislation.

The Virginia company said Senate Bill 1176, An Act Concerning Electric Rate Relief, unfairly targets Dominion Energy with a generation tax that would result in increased electric rates for Connecticut consumers or force the utility to close the power plant.

And the Retail Energy Supply Association, a group of companies that sells electricity to Connecticut consumers, said Senate Bill 1 could scuttle the competitive marketplace in the state. That, said Jay Kooper, a spokesman for the group, would remove "the consumer's best hopes for lower electric rates."

"We think energy competition should be preserved because it puts downward pressure on prices," Kooper said. "We have some concerns that S.B. 1 will impede customer choice at a time when customers need all the choice they can get."

Kooper said AARP's claims that Connecticut has some of the highest electric rates in the country is misleading.

"If you take the actual commodity prices, that claim is not true," he said. "What drives the prices into higher territory are charges and other assessments that are added on to customers' bills.

Senate Bill 1 has been passed by the Energy and Technology Committee and the Planning and Development Committee.

"It has a few other committees to visit," said state Rep. Vickie Nardello, D-Prospect, co-chairwoman of Energy and Technology.

Lawmakers are trying to reduce costs while implementing policies that increase efficiency, such as purchasing renewable energy sources, she said.

Erlingheuser said the AARP is "happy" with the language in S.B. 1, but if that changes, "we'll shift gears if we have to. We're out to protect the ratepayer. We believe this bill does that."

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