State legislators are enraged that consumers have discovered the consequences of a deal the legislature enacted. Panic over the public’s reaction to July Eversource bills grew so intense Wednesday that PURA, the state public utility regulator, announced it would investigate rate increases it approved. This circle of evasions from its own actions will be remarkable to behold.

PURA will not be investigating the effect of executive compensation on consumer rates, though the rate increase has awoken public interest in the cost, set forth here and here.

PURA made its historic announcement Wednesday afternoon:

**MEDIA ADVISORY** PURA to Investigate Eversource Delivery Fee Increases

(New Britain, CT – July 29, 2020) – Connecticut’s Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) announced today that it is in receipt of a letter from the leadership of the General Assembly’s Energy and Technology Committee and the Legislative leadership as a whole in which the signatories request that PURA suspend the rate increases associated with the Eversource delivery charge that went into effect on July 1, 2020.

PURA has accepted the letter as a formal motion for reconsideration in the associated docketed proceeding, Docket Number 20-01-01, and expects to expeditiously rule on the motion after considering comments received by other stakeholders and members of the public.

PURA continues to be mindful of the public health emergency and urges Connecticut customers to contact their utility company if they need assistance with their electric bills by inquiring whether they are eligible for a financial hardship protection program or to enroll in a COVID-19 Payment Program offered by their utility company. More information on COVID-19 efforts can be found on PURA’sCOVID Actions webpage.

Customers may also contact PURA’s consumer services representatives with any inquiries or complaints related to this matter, which will be accounted for as part of the open investigation. PURA’s Education and Outreach Unit receives such correspondence by phone, toll-free in Connecticut at 1-800-382-4586 or by email atpura.information@ct.gov.

A July 27th message from Dominion to legislators about the Eversource electricity rate increase that has roiled Connecticut customers:

Good afternoon,

I hope this email finds you well.  My name is Weezie Nuara; I am Dominion Energy’s state policy director for New England.  As you know, Dominion Energy is owner and operator of Millstone Nuclear Power Station in Waterford, Connecticut.  I look forward to meeting you in person and working together on Connecticut’s clean energy future.

You may have seen reports today that state-approved power purchase agreements with Millstone Station are to blame for recent increases in Eversource’s retail electricity rates.  We do not believe this captures the full story, so I wanted to provide some additional information on the Millstone agreements, which are a great deal for Connecticut consumers.  The power is being sold at a flat rate of 4.999 cents/kWh, the lowest price for a carbon-free resource in Connecticut published to date.  And, the contract is for 10 years, so that ensures consumers lock in low-price, zero-carbon electricity for a long time.  

As Eversource explains in its June 19, 2020 letter to the Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA), July 1 retail rate changes will result in an overall increase of $5.58 (or 3.5%) for a typical residential customer using 700 kWh per month.  The overall increase comes from an increase in the transmission service rate charge and an increase in the nonbypassable federally mandated congestion cost (NBFMCC) charge.  They are offset in large part by a decrease in the power supply charge (Eversource’s standard service rate) which typically drops during the second half of the year.  On July 1, Eversource’s standard service rate for power supply dropped from 9.414 cents/kWh to 7.375 cents/kWh.  [As I noted above, the contract price for Millstone’s carbon-free energy is 4.999 cents/kWh.]

The costs associated with Millstone’s power purchase agreements have been incorporated into the NBFMCC charge. The NBFMCC charge seeks recovery for 23 different services and programs approved by state and federal regulators.  The state’s contracts with Millstone are just one of those line items.

Finally, Millstone’s contracts went into effect in October 2019 after a competitive solicitation for zero-carbon resources and approval by state regulators.  With Millstone, the state can make great strides toward meeting its 100% zero-carbon electric sector goal by 2040, as directed by Governor Lamont’s Executive Order No. 3.  Dominion Energy is proud to partner with the state in achieving its ambitious carbon-reduction goals and appreciates the state’s efforts to ensure that Millstone Station continues to deliver round-the-clock, carbon-free electricity to Connecticut homes and businesses for years to come.

Thank you for your time, and please do not hesitate to reach out with any questions.

Respectfully,

Weezie

Message from Anna Posniak, President of the Connecticut Town Clerks Association:

Good Evening,

COVID-19 Updates 7-27-2020

ELECTIONS

Absentee Ballots – Delivery of Ballots
The first batch of absentee ballots were mailed by the mail house today (Monday, July 27th). I did not receive an explanation as to what caused the delay.

I understand that voters are frustrated and they have every right to be frustrated. My office is also inundated with the same phone calls that you are receiving regarding the status of the ballot. To say the least, it’s been a long day. The only advice I can offer at this time is to update your website with the status of ballots and/or send out social media messages.

Last Friday, I notified you that the absentee ballots sent by the mail house would not have an outer serial number envelope. The outer envelope will be a generic window envelope. Additionally, I provided an overview of how we would process the voted ballots upon receipt. You must NOT open any of the outer envelopes until you receive an official procedure from the Secretary as to how you should process the voted ballots from the mail house. As you may know, the absentee envelopes from the mail house are not in compliance with state statute. Furthermore, TCs do not have the statutory authority to open the outer envelope.

To repeat, do NOT open any of the outer absentee ballot envelopes issued by the mail house that you may receive by mail, drop box or in-person until you receive legal guidance from SOTS. Please date stamp the outer envelope. I will continue to badger Ted [Bromley of the SOTS office] for the procedures.

Former Sprague employee Robert Gentes has launched a stunning federal civil lawsuit against state Senator Cathy Osten, claiming Osten tried to blame Gentes for her own failures. Osten was defeated for re-election as distressed Sprague’s first selectman. Osten claimed the town’s $835,000 deficit had nothing to do with her. Voters disagreed.

Gentes’s introduction to his 57-page complaint summarizes the basis of his action for damages against Sprague and Osten personally:
Aware that Plaintiff had already begun to speak out regarding her failure which resulted in the need to request a tax increase or make other arrangements to borrow money to pay for the $835,000 deficit, and fearful that he would speak out further and damage her prospects for re-election, Defendant Osten engaged in a calculated campaign to destroy Plaintiff in any way that she could, and through any means that she could. She tried to get Plaintiff fired from his job on two occasions from a municipality which depended upon appropriations from the Senate committee that she chaired; she made false statements in public meetings wrongly accusing Plaintiff of possible criminal activity and charging that Plaintiff was responsible for the Town of Sprague’s fiscal problems; she caused other public officials (such as Superintendent David Erwin and Board of Education Chair Megin Sechen) to agree with her false accusations against Plaintiff in order to give credibility to her lies – – even when they knew she was lying; she selectively caused the Town of Sprague to file a frivolous lawsuit against Plaintiff (and then made sure that the lawsuit was reported to the public, to the media, and to Plaintiff’s employer); she contacted the Federal Bureau of Investigation to report, falsely, that Plaintiff was responsible for the over-spending by the BOE, and publicly reported that she had done so to enhance her political standing; and, when the Federal Bureau of Investigation would not investigate, she used her doomed First Selectman re-election campaign to send written material to every household and registered voter in the Town of Sprague falsely portraying the lawsuit the Town of Sprague brought against Plaintiff as a legitimate effort to hold him accountable and falsely labeling Plaintiff as someone who engaged in “illegal” activity which caused the Town of Sprague’s fiscal problems. In each instance, Defendant Osten abused her position of power and authority for improper and illegal purposes, in order to punish and injure Plaintiff, transform Plaintiff into a pariah and a criminal in the minds of every resident and voter in the Town of Sprague so that nobody would believe anything he said, nor associate with him, in order to intimidate Plaintiff (and others) from speaking out against her in the future, prevent voters from learning the truth regarding her responsibility for the Town’s fiscal problems, and to retain her political power and authority through re-election. Defendant Osten’s actions were intentional, malicious, corrupt, and unconstitutional. This lawsuit is being brought to hold Catherine Osten accountable for her illegal acts.

Gentes alleges that Osten, who is known to have a brusque manner at times, engaged in harassment, defamation, invasion of privacy, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and civil rights violations, calling Osten’s campaign against Gentes “extreme and outrageous.”

Gentes’s lawyer, Jacque Parenteau, of New London, cites numerous public meetings broadcast on Facebook (and presumably preserved as evidence) that may cause Osten, a retired state corrections officer, considerable distress in reconciling her claims and allegations with her substantive actions in addressing Sprague’s deficit. Osten’s accusatory 2019 re-election campaign mailings to voters may also require some explaining.

The plaintiff seeks unspecified monetary damage, punitive damages, costs, interest, attorneys’ fees, and other appropriate relief.

It’s never enough–even as taxpayers will pour millions into political campaigns–for legislative leadership campaign committees. The House Democrats are summoning lobbyists and their clients to a three-committee event on Monday, August 3rd.

Businesses–which would include lobbying businesses–are invited to purchase ads in each of the three ad books being created for the event. Public financing was intended to eliminate these events.

Members of the next legislature, having accepted millions in public funds to pay for their campaigns as well as contributions from the lobbyist-centric events, will wrestle with billions in state budget deficits they contributed to with the state’s generous public campaign finance scheme.

Absentee ballots sent to primary voters by Secretary of the State Denise Merrill’s will be different that those traditionally provided by town clerks. The upending of the local procedures due to the global pandemic has town clerks wondering how much Merrill knows about absentee ballot procedures.

Merrill, acting under an emergency declaration from Governor Ned Lamont, took over much of the absentee ballot process for the August 11th party primaries. Applications and ballots are printed and sent to voters by Merrill’s office. They are returned to town clerks where voters live.

One town clerk explained the unusual configuration of the Merrill return envelopes and ballots to local registrars of voters and ballot counters:

The return envelope for the ballots doesn’t have the voter’s name address or serial number like it is supposed to.  It is a blank envelope.  So the Town Clerks have to open the envelopes to identify the voters.  What you will be getting on primary day is the inner envelope only. 

Lamont, at Merrill’s urging, used his declaration to make absentee ballots more widely available than the state’s constitution permits. A 2014 statewide ballot question on an amendment to extend the use of absentee ballots was defeated with 52% of the vote.

The Connecticut Supreme Court will hear an appeal of a challenge to the Governor Ned Lamont’s emergency declaration expanding the use of absentee ballots in the state’s August 11th party primaries. The action was brought by four Republican congressional hopefuls who are candidates in primaries in the state’s 1st and 2nd congressional districts.

The challenge was rejected after a hearing in Superior Court. Chief Justice Richard Robinson on Thursday granted an expedited appeal. Oral arguments will be heard August 6th via Microsoft Teams.

University of Maine System Chancellor Dannel P. Malloy was stopped by a Connecticut State Trooper on I-395 Sunday afternoon. The surly, unpopular former Connecticut governor received a ticket for traveling at 85 miles per hour by Trooper Robert Desjardins. One mile above the magic 85 mph would have put Malloy at risk for a reckless driving charge, a crime in Connecticut. Not a good example to set for those impressionable minds paying tuition in Maine.

Word of a former governor issued a citation for speeding will get around. All credit to James C. Rovella, Commissioner of the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection (DESPP), who when he learned of the Malloy encounter with law enforcement, Daily Ructions can report, declared it should be handled like any other ticket issued to a motor vehicle operator accused of driving far too fast.

Governor Ned Lamont should be pleased with Rovella. His tenure of 18 months leading the state police has brought new, honorable leadership to the critical department.

Malloy appointed Dora Schrirro as commissioner of DESPP in 2014. Read about her “outrageous behavior” here.

The fractious state police union is currently conducting a no-confidence ballot on Rovella. Some members have urged their colleagues to support Rovella and give the vote meaning by marking on their ballots no confidence in the union’s leadership.

Five-term incumbent state Representative Chris Davis (R-Ellington) announced Sunday he is abandoning his campaign for a sixth term. Davis has represented the 57th House District since scoring an upset win in 2010.

The 33 year old serves as the House ranking member on the legislature’s finance committee. Davis cited spending more time with his young family during the global pandemic as the reason for his surprise Sunday announcement.

Davis is a real estate agent and an Adjunct Professor of Political Science at the University of Bridgeport.

Governor Ned Lamont would signal he has given up on economic development and affordable housing in Connecticut by appointing Mary Glassman to a new, top position in his office. Glassman’s eight terms as Simsbury’s first selectman were marked most notably by the departure of The Harford from the affluent community.

The Hartford was Simsbury’s largest employer and taxpayer when its 2015 announcement that it would be closing its campus caught the detached incumbent by surprise. The previously undeveloped northern portion of The Hartford site is now home to apartments, an assisted living facility, and 11,000 square feet of commercial space. The site of the demolished buildings remains vacant.

Glassman, who contributed $500 to former Republican John Rowland’s 2002 re-election campaign, served as the head of the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities (CCM). Executive Director Joseph DeLong this week confessed, “Our organization for years has really focused on local control, making sure that one size did not fit all, and things that, frankly, were probably a hindrance to some of these efforts.” 

A 2019 survey found 4.74% of Simsbury’s housing units were deemed affordable.

Glassman recently deregistered as a lobbyist.