With electric bills increasing over the hot summer, state officials are calling for greater scrutiny of costs that have been driving up bills for consumers.
There are several factors that go into electricity costs; Officials said they are looking to lower costs of the transmission of electricity to the customers' homes and businesses.
The state office of consumer counsel and the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection said transmission costs have risen and are expected to go even higher in the future.
"Transmission is not the largest component of your bill, but it is one of the fastest-growing components of the bill," said Joe DeNicola, the state's deputy environmental commissioner. "And that is worrisome for many of us who are watching this because the overall level of the bills is already high."
The costs are largely related to repairs and replacement of existing transmission lines, rather than the construction of new lines, DeNicola said. But the costs are "usually under the radar," he said.
Claire Coleman, the state consumer counsel, said transmission covers about 12% to 15% of the average bill, and they are expected to go to about 20% from 2026 to 2030.
"We have made some headway, but there's a lot of work to be done in the area of transmission," Coleman said.
The electric bill for the average customer is broken down into four parts: supply, transmission, local delivery, and public benefits. Supply is the generation cost, which has been unregulated for more than two decades. Local delivery covers costs for Eversource, which serves most of the state, to maintain and repair utility poles and electric meters, among others.
In announcing its second quarter earnings this year, Eversource released the results of various segments of its business.
"Eversource Energy's transmission segment earned $208.0 million in the second quarter of 2025 and $407.5 million in the first half of 2025, compared with earnings of $189.0 million in the second quarter of 2024 and $365.7 million in the first half of 2024," the company said. "Transmission segment results improved in both periods due primarily to continued investment in Eversource's electric transmission system."
U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal called for greater oversight by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, known as FERC, which regulates transmission.
"The transmission projects are largely out of sight for consumers ... but the cost of these projects is very visible on your bills," Blumenthal said. "That's why we need more effective oversight of FERC."
Blumenthal is also seeking an independent review, which would ensure that the transmission upgrades are necessary and that the costs are "reasonable and prudent." Transmission is part of the broader costs, which were about 28.16 cents per kilowatt-hour in December 2024 in Connecticut, compared to the national average of 16.26 cents per kilowatt-hour.
Blumenthal compared the projects to a new roof on a home.
"You can patch it or you can install an entirely new roof," Blumenthal said when asked by The Courant. "They're installing an entirely new and unnecessary roof on your house."
Tricia Taskey Modifica, an Eversource spokeswoman, said the company supports "an independent process for transmission projects" and wants to work with Blumenthal on shared interests.
"Eversource was also supportive of similar measures in Senate Bill 4 that require the use of Grid Enhancing Technologies, or GETS, aimed at optimizing use of the transmission system," she said, referring to the much-debated bill that was passed this year by the state legislature. "Transmission projects are of vital importance for local customers as these projects benefit reliability and increase capacity. Some recent examples in Connecticut include our completion of the undergrounding of transmission infrastructure in Norwalk to support economic development and the potential for faster and more reliable train service on the busiest corridor in the United States, and the work currently underway on the South Naugatuck to Beacon Falls Rebuild Project, which will replace dozens of aging transmission structures throughout the Naugatuck Valley - strengthening system reliability for customers."
She added, "We have shared goals and common ground with Senator Blumenthal, and we look forward to collaborating with him and his staff on how we can work together for the benefit of Connecticut customers."
State Sen. Republican leader Stephen Harding of Brookfield and Sen. Ryan Fazio of Greenwich said that they agree with Blumenthal in principle.
"Sen. Blumenthal is right to highlight how Connecticut energy costs are too damn high," they said. "Senate Republicans have been shouting about it from the rooftops for years. As families continue to get crushed, we would welcome Sen. Blumenthal's voice in our ongoing push at the state Capitol to completely eliminate the hidden public benefits tax on electric bills to make our state affordable for all."
House Republican leader Vincent Candelora of North Branford said he has broader concerns about Democrats as "a party that has approved electric charging stations on trucks and cars and also have approved the burying of underground transmission wires, which is going to increase rates by over $1 billion next year."
He added, "I'm all for looking at transmission costs, project costs, and bringing transparency to this process, both at the state level and the federal level."
Candelora said it is hypocritical for Democrats to be concerned about President Donald Trump's appointees to FERC at the same time that Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont has avoided naming the full slate of five commissioners to the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority. Both state Sen. John Fonfara of Hartford and former Republican Rep. Holly Cheeseman of Niantic have been repeatedly mentioned as possible future PURA commissioners, but they have not been nominated by Lamont.
"This has gone on too long," Candelora said.
In a related matter, consumers are expected to see savings in their bills starting in September after the State Bond Commission voted recently to borrow $155 million instead of having consumers pay for the totals on their monthly bills. Now, taxpayers, rather than ratepayers, will pick up the tab.
While estimates have varied, officials said consumers would save $5 to $10 per month on their electric bills for the average customer. Depending on the amount of electricity needed by the higher users, the savings could go as high as $13 per month, officials said.
Republicans have been complaining about the public benefits charges, which showed up on bills at a higher rate in July 2024 -- at exactly the time that bills spiked from heavy use of air conditioning. That spilled over into the fall political season. House Speaker Matt Ritter of Hartford said that electric prices became the top political issue of the November 2024 elections. Republicans, however, did not gain any seats in the legislature and instead lost seats to give Democrats the current majorities of 25-11 in the Senate and 102-49 in the state House of Representatives.
State Rep. Joe Polletta of Watertown and Sen. Ryan Fazio of Greenwich -- two Republicans on the 10-member bond commission -- both voted in favor of selling bonds to cover the charges. They had both favored Senate Bill 4, a much-debated measure in the legislature that called for the switch to bonding. Lawmakers, though, still want more relief.
The commission voted to borrow $125 million to pay electric utilities for hardship protection programs for customers who could not pay their bills during the coronavirus pandemic and beyond. The second vote was to borrow $30 million to pay utilities to "finance incentives for electric vehicle supply equipment, managed charging incentives, and related administrative costs" that had been paid by the ratepayers, according to the governor's budget office.
With interest over the years, the cost will be even higher than $155 million overall. When asked by The Courant after the bond commission vote for the eventual costs with interest, Lamont said that he did not have the overall total.