EDITORIAL: CL&P customers burned by state
Connecticut should refund tax collected to close deficit that doesn't exist.
Since January, customers of Connecticut Light & Power Co. have been paying an "economic transition charge" as part of their electricity bill. For the average customer, that charge amounts to $2.65 a month.
It has nothing to do with the generation or delivery of electricity. It is a hidden tax passed by the legislature last year to finance $646 million in borrowing needed to cover a projected deficit in the state government's budget for the fiscal year that ends June 30.
So far, CL&P customers have paid $40 million toward this bad policy -- borrowing to pay operating costs, driving up already sky-high energy costs and increasing the state's debt.
The state's economy has rescued the lawmakers from their bad choice on how to balance the budget. Instead of a deficit of $646 million, the state now expects to end this budget year with a surplus of $680 million.
The CL&P customers should get their money back. They won't, even though the governor and state comptroller think that, in theory, that would be a good idea.
The governor's budget chief has said there will be no refund because the $40 million already is being spent on something else in next year's budget. The legislature agreed.
There is nothing fair about the state burning CL&P customers because of its spending itch.
With no need to borrow to balance this year's budget, the charge will be dropped on CL&P bills and will never appear, as planned, on United Illuminated bills.
This respite for electricity customers may be brief. The state has a new tax: 0.0025 cents per kilowatt hour imposed directly on power generators; it is expected to raise $72 million a year. That cost will inevitably find its way onto the monthly electricity bill.