Gov. M. Jodi Rell's veto of a sweeping energy bill passed in the final hours of the legislative session was scored by critics as a backward-looking bow to a few old-line energy companies. That position did not hold up to the scrutiny of several of the state's leading daily newspapers, however. Passage of the bill was criticized by the Hartford Courant, Waterbury Republican American and New London Day, among others. While promising a new energy future, the bill's authors, State Sen. John Fonfara, (D-1) and Cheshire State Rep. Vickie O. Nardello (D-89), did little to support their claims that the bill would lower Connecticut's electricity rates, the highest in the continental U.S.
Further, the newspapers and other critics claimed that the far-ranging legislation was rammed through without the generous public scrutiny that any effort to reshape Connecticut's economy should have.
To the contrary, Fonfara and Nardello admitted on the WNPR radio show The State We're In that they had gotten together and wrote the important elements of the bill themselves.
So-called renewable energy and solar energy companies have been decrying the loss of jobs to other states, without the subsidies for solar energy in the bill. What those subsidies actually are is also unclear, however. Nardello claimed on NPR they were a maximum of $20 million, while Rell said in her veto message that the figure was actually$1.4 billion. So much for transparency.
Twenty million or $1.4 billion? Connecticut simply cannot follow the path of nearly bankrupt Spain and California in fashioning a subsidy- and economic fantasy-driven energy policy. No meaningful cost-effective job creation has occurred in Connecticut from any industry-specific subsidies, ever.
It is time for an honest, transparent exploration of the facts of Connecticut's energy future, not a lot of green paint to cover up millions in subsidy to a handful of connected energy players.
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