Just one month after Connecticut Democrats approved legislation to reduce utility bills, Republicans in the U.S. Senate passed a sweeping proposal that will raise the cost of electricity by suppressing growth in the energy sector.
In a narrow vote Tuesday, Republicans in the U.S. Senate passed a budget package, which, according to the Associated Press, slashes health care coverage for millions of families and adds trillions to the national debt to pay for tax breaks, largely directed at corporations and the richest Americans.
But the bill is also expected to ratchet up costs on everyday families in a number of other ways, including increasing the price of electricity for households across the nation.
Buried in the bill’s 887 pages is a provision that will phase out incentives to build new energy sources even as demand for electricity continues to increase. Its passage could mean the end for hundreds of projects meant to increase energy supply, bring down costs and bolster the grid.
“[F]amilies will face higher electric bills, factories will shut down, Americans will lose their jobs, and our electric grid will grow weaker,’’ Abigail Ross Hopper, president and CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association, said of the bill, according to the AP.
The proposal, which passed after Republican Vice President JD Vance broke a tie vote in the Senate, now heads to the GOP-controlled U.S. House for approval.
Its advancement represents a setback for energy consumers in Connecticut, who the state’s Democratic-controlled legislature sought help by passing this year’s Ratepayers First Act. The bill, which was signed by the governor Monday, is expected to save utility customers around $300 million a year in both of the next two years.
