Politics & Government
Connecticut needs more kilowatts
State Senate Republican Leader Harding says greater supply would reduce costs
By Scott Benjamin
BROOKFIELD – When Stephen Harding was in college – less than a generation ago - the threat to energy security was largely dependent on gasoline prices of more than $4 a gallon.
Hybrid car sales soared. Orders took up to six months to arrive at the local dealerships.
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However, Wall Street Journal Economics Commentator Greg Ip wrote a recent column under this headline: “Economic Growth Now Depends on Electricity, Not Oil.”
Commented Harding, who is 37 years old, “Absolutely. There is a larger portfolio now of energy resources.”
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Ip stated that,” Power demand, stagnant for decades, is now growing rapidly, for data centers to run artificial intelligence and other digital services and, in time, transportation and buildings.”
Harding (R-30) of Brookfield, the Republican State Senate Republican Leader, remarked, “The biggest concern among my constituents are the electricity costs. We’re losing folks who are on fixed incomes.”
“We should be addressing it now,” he added in an interview with Patch.com “[The Democrats have had] “multiple years to fix the problem.”
As far back as last August, CT News Junkie’s Doug Hardy reported that the Republican legislators wanted a special session to, among other things, take out the public benefits charge from consumers electric bills and place those charges in the state budget. Part of that charge is due to bills that weren’t paid by low-income users during the pandemic.
Very recently, state Sen. John Fonfara (D-1) of Hartford introduced a bipartisan plan.
But Harding expressed reservations about bonding for the public benefits charge.
“I would rather see it in the confines of the state budget” where decisions would be made to reduce other line items to offset those charges, he commented.
Harding lamented that Connecticut is not in a prime spot in the energy delivery chain.
“Connecticut is in a unique dynamic and an unfortunate dynamic,” he explained. “It puts us at a disadvantage.”
“The answer is about increasing supply,” he explained. “That is one of the biggest things we can do to reduce our rates in Connecticut. That is more something at the federal level.”
Gov. Ned Lamont (D-Greenwich) has called for the federal government to suspend the Jones Act.
Harding said he supports that position.
Earlier this year, Bryce Chinault and Andrew Fowler wrote in The Wall Street Journal that, “Officially known as the Merchant Marine Act of 1920, the Jones Act blocks foreign-flagged ships from transporting goods between U.S. ports. . . Lamont and other New England governors argued in 2022 that it “ ‘effectively precludes’ the delivery of U.S.-exported liquefied natural gas to New England.”
Chinault and Fowler stated that the Jones Act has powerful supporters, including the AFL-CIO.
Harding said he also supports expansion of nuclear, which “is carbon free and much more affordable than wind, solar.”
Lamont also has discussed increasing the state’s natural gas supply even though he once “kind of abandoned” the development of a natural gas plant in Killingly, near the Rhode Island border.
Harding related, “I understand his skepticism.”
Harding has opposed the proposed expansion of the Iroquois natural gas compressor station near High Meadow Road in Brookfield, citing that plan as a safety hazard.
Brookfield First Selectman Steve Dunn, a Democrat, said if the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approves the expansion it would be “challenging” and expensive for the town to overturn that decision. He has told Patch.com it would probably result in the town having legal representation in both Connecticut and Washington.
Harding said that public safety is at risk and an appeal would still be “worth it.”
Wasn’t Connecticut supposed to become the Silicon Valley of fuel cell technology? When Lamont was running for the U.S. Senate in 2006 incumbent Democrat Joe Lieberman said he was confident with UTC Power in South Windsor – the granddaddy of fuel cell research – that by 2031, 25 years hence, more people would be employed in that industry than any other sector of Connecticut’s economy.
“That has more to do with the sector itself,” Harding explained, apparently referring to the sale more than a decade ago of UTC Power.
Harding said that even 10 years ago – when he was first in the General Assembly, there was thought that it would produce “significant” employment in Connecticut.
“I still have hope,” he said.
Hartford Courant columnist Kevin Rennie has stated there is little that state government can do to lower costs since the state entered into the 2017 agreement with Dominion.
Harding voted against the agreement with Dominion eight years ago when he was a state representative.
He said it would be “difficult” to renegotiate that contract before the 2029 expiration date.
Recently, Harding protested the confirmation of Marissa Gillet for another term on the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) by walking out of the state Senate chamber with his Republican colleagues.
John Moritz CT Mirror reported that, “In February, as Gillett was facing a pivotal hearing before the legislature’s Executive and Legislative Nominations Committee, Gov. Ned Lamont’s office announced a deal to appoint one of the committee’s members, Fonfara, to one of two open seats on PURA in order to clear the way for her nomination to proceed. Fonfara, who had previously expressed reservations about Gillett’s tenure, ultimately voted to advance her nomination out of the committee.”
Mortiz wrote that Harding called the deal “a ‘blatant quid pro quo’ and went as far as to suggest it violated the state’s bribery laws.”
When you take such a step as walking out of the chamber doesn’t it make it harder to have productive dialogue in the future?
“I’m always willing to work with the governor,” said Harding. “I think he knows that.”
In addition to his criticism of the deal, Harding said that under Gillet “our rates have skyrocketed. A vote for her would be for the status quo.”
Would former state Rep. David Arconti, who represented the 109th District in Danbury for 10 years and was co-chairman of the Energy & Technology Committee, make a better chairman?
Replied Harding, “We need to go in a different direction.”
The state Senate Republicans also have called for having the state Office of Inspector General’s responsibilities broadened to include forensic audits of state agencies.
Harding noted that former state Senate Republican Leader John McKinney (R-28) of Fairfield had endorsed such a plan more than a decade ago.
He said those subpoena powers are needed because there have been “a lot of aspects of corruption and fraud during this governor’s tenure. There hasn’t been the proper investigation.”
However, state Rep. Bob Godfrey (D-110) of Danbury, the deputy speaker pro tempore told Patch.com last December that he believes that step is not needed.
“We have had the Office of State Auditors doing this job since colonial times,” he commented. ”This bi-partisan office has been the General Assembly's most effective tool for delving into the workings of state agencies. The auditors have uncovered tons of information on the operation and effectiveness of agencies throughout state government. They have a recurring schedule for investigating agencies, and the reports they publish get both legislative and media attention. It is a watchdog agency that works.
Godfrey noted at that time that the General Assembly had just established a new committee overseeing government operations that would be better able to focus our attention on the discoveries the auditors make.”
Regarding issues in the district, New Milford Mayor Pete Bass has praised Harding for his efforts to get the state Department of Transportation to make traffic safety improvements along Route 7, where there have been numerous accidents over the recent years. Harding said the additional traffic lights recommended from the study should be installed in the near future, including one near the Willow Springs housing complex, where residents encounter hazards entering and exiting the parking lot.
In Brookfield, Harding said he is pleased that the municipal government has placed a temporary moratorium on new construction in the 198-acre Brookfield Town Center central business district. He and other officials have said that the expansion in housing in that area has been too much, too fast.
“It doesn’t seem consistent with a lot of the planning and zoning regulations,” Harding exclaimed.
He recommended that the moratorium be extended to the whole town. Residents have expressed concerns about the increase in rental housing, which has accelerated over the last five years.
On another state issue, Harding said he has received little feedback from constituents on the income tax reduction that was approved in 2023, which reduced rates for both middle income and lower income residents.
It was the first major reduction on the income tax in 28 years.
Remarked Harding, “I don’t think that it has had the impact that we wanted it to have.”
Resources:
Interview with Stephen Harding, Patch.com, on Friday, April 18, 2025.
