Electric bill

Electric reform passed through the General Assembly. It's a bill with a lot of pieces and for that reason, few legislators seemed to be happy with it in its entirety. Nonetheless, a compromise was crafted... crafted between Speaker Amann and Senate Majority Leader Williams.

Why wasn't the compromise crafted by the Energy Committee? Mainly because Senate Chair Fonfara and House Chair Fontana (along with House Vice Chair Nardello) couldn't agree on the approach. In the end though, Fonfara (who I believe was one of very few who opposed deregulation 10 years ago) won and Fontana/Nardello lost... and the bill passed with overwhelming support in both chambers.

I do feel there is one very important issue being addressed in the bill... reducing our dependence on fossil fuels. Although it's probably not too widely known, I think 40% of CTs electric generation is derived from fossil fuels (33% natural, 5-10% oil). And this bill takes action on the creation of distributed generation with alternative power sources (photovoltaics, windmills, etc.).

Of course, that will cost money... probably bonded money. But hey... I think it makes more sense to spend $1,000,000 on a windmill than on turf or the linear trail.

Tim White