A core provision of Connecticut’s 2023 energy reform statute is now being used as a template by states across the country that are seeking to save utility customers money by sparing ratepayers the costs of utility lobbying and marketing efforts.
In 2023, Senate Bill 7 included a law to prevent utilities from charging customers for lobbying, advertising and other activities influencing the public. According to Yale Climate Connections, Connecticut was one of three states to take that step along with Colorado and Maine.
Since then, those states have already seen hundreds of thousands of dollars saved for ratepayers – something that’s gaining notice in many other states.
In 2024, eight states introduced bills limiting utility cost recovery; in 2025, another five have already filed similar bills, according to Yale.
Sen. Norm Needleman, an Essex Democrat who co-chairs Connecticut’s Energy and Technology Committee, said the 2023 bill was designed to be responsive to the concerns of ratepayers.
“Closing loopholes will stop companies from using ratepayer funds on lobbying, advertising and egregious transportation spending, such as helicopters for CEOs,” Needleman said following passage of the law.
Under the bill, utilities can’t charge customers for their membership in trade associations connected to lobbying, donating to political groups and public relations efforts, as well as limits on consultant or legal fees from rate increase arguments.
Yale found that Connecticut already saw $555,000 in rejected costs from a 2024 rate case, where a utility attempted to charge industry dues, travel expenses for company leaders and the cost of investor relations.
Those savings came as Colorado’s similar bill led to a rejection of more than $775,000 in lobbying fees, among other charges.
PURA has rejected several rate increase requests in recent years, including ones from Aquarion Water Company, Connecticut Natural Gas and Southern Connecticut Gas.
States like Connecticut are working to reform energy policy at a key time, as national household utility debt increased to more than $17 billion across 28 million households in 2024 in an environment where utility shutoffs were projected to increase by more than a quarter-million.
The reforms come as tariffs proposed by the Trump administration against Canadian energy exports could increase New England’s energy costs, causing spikes to heating oil costs and fuel oil that could worsen the cost gulf too many residents face.
