U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., has joined the state’s consumer advocate in urging the federal government to reign in the high cost of electricity transmission in New England, saying it’s outpacing increases in the rest of the country.
Blumenthal says electricity transmission costs in Connecticut have increased nearly 600 percent since 2000. He says this is because of 11 costly transmission infrastructure projects in New England with lucrative overruns that have reaped huge profits for companies like Connecticut’s largest utility, Eversource.
“These boondoggles have been way over costs. There have been cost overruns by an average of 79 percent.”
State Consumer Counsel Elin Katz says a typical Connecticut residential electricity consumer pays an average of $20 a month for these projects.
“If you were building a house and you were 79 percent over budget, you’d be yelling and screaming at your contractor. And something as simple as cost control doesn’t seem to exist.’
Blumenthal and Katz say they want federal energy officials who have the authority over these projects to exercise stricter oversight and not allow contractors to reap unwarranted profits.
