Dominion handout will increase electric rates in Connecticut

In his letter to the editor yesterday, “NRG power company takes anti-consumer stance,” Kevin Hennessy (director of state policy for Dominion) claims Dominion is not asking for any subsidies from Connecticut ratepayers. This is simply not the case.

The legislation introduced in the final days of the last session would raise energy prices for all Connecticut consumers, not lower them. Similar legislation is back in 2017. The legislation creates a process that guarantees a higher price for the electricity Dominion currently sells on the New England wholesale competitive market. Those added costs will be passed along to Connecticut ratepayers only.

Dominion does not need a special deal from the state; the company can currently sell electricity to the electric distribution companies (Eversource and United Illuminating) directly. AARP would support those contracts if they were on a cost-ofservice basis. Dominion could be paid expenses and a reasonable rate of return determined by regulators. Dominion, however, wants special treatment without having to disclose the losses it claims to be experiencing to the ratepayers or regulators.

The new process that Dominion has requested would treat it as a renewable fuel — such as wind and solar energy — and let them “compete” for standard offer service. Currently, Connecticut requires that the standard service offer be composed of a certain percentage of renewable fuels, which are knowingly more costly. The state policy goal was to increase the growth of newer, cleaner technologies and eventually lower their costs. Nuclear meets neither of these criteria.

Millstone represents about 50 percent of the fuel generated in Connecticut. It will inevitably offer the lowest price in any “competition” with the smaller and more costly renewable generators. This will raise the overall cost of fuel generated at Millstone.

While it is true that this process will be overseen by multiple state regulators, it will still be an increase in costs for consumers. Those regulators will determine, based on the costs of more expensive renewable fuels, that the nuclear option would benefit ratepayers. If those same regulators had to base it on the existing competitive market for all fuel types, where nuclear fuel is one of the cheapest forms of generation, the outcome would be much different.

It’s not hard to see that someone will have to pay the difference if Dominion gets paid more. This difference is a subsidy on the backs of all ratepayers in Connecticut. — John Erlingheuser, advocacy director, AARP CT, Hartford