Logic at the Legislature: Energy Bill Invites Competition in Energy Efficiency Programs.

This makes sense. The energy bill the legislature is expected to consider at this month’s special session invites competition into the state’s energy efficiency programs. Not everyone is pleased, but changes in monopolies always cause some resistance.

The bill, according to Energy News Network, “would potentially make utilities compete for control of the energy efficiency programs they’ve operated for more than 20 years.” It has always seemed counterintuitive to put the distributors of power in charge of efficiency programs. Innovation has never been a characteristic of monopolies. The proposal would invite independent entities to promote and test their ideas to reduce energy consumption. That seems like a sensible policy to adopt.

The distribution of energy does not lend itself to the benefits of competition, as Connecticut residents are reminded at unhappy intervals. Generation and conservation do–as long as regulators restrain the instincts of monopolists.