Issue Position: Energy and Environment
Issue Position
Burdened by some of the highest energy costs in the U.S., Connecticut businesses are leaving-hitting our workers when they are already down. Over 1,000 good jobs are set to leave if Pratt & Whitney and Marlin Firearms close facilities, and they would be just the latest in a long line. GE in Bridgeport, Winchester in New Haven-now just boarded up factories, high costs a chief culprit.
Energy costs grab hold of our pocketbooks too. Connecticut families pay 19 cents per kilowatt-hour for electricity-that is nearly double the national average, and an extra $60/month out of our wallets. Energy costs hit us nearly everywhere-when we pay the electric bill, fill up the car, shop at the store. They are squeezing our families and driving away jobs.
As governor, I will confront energy costs head on and put us on the cutting edge in green business. I will also save our New England landscapes and seascapes. For too long, Hartford has passed ambitious environmental laws but failed to provide executive leadership to implement them.
I will negotiate long-term contracts with power generators, which could save the average Connecticut family over $160/year on its electric bills.
I will encourage families to weatherize their homes-sealing windows, replacing insulation, and consuming less energy as a result. The average family can save over $300/year, on top of the $160 from long-term contracts.
I will allow towns to offer property assessed clean energy (PACE) loans to home and business owners, enabling them to pay for clean energy improvements only as fast as the savings come in-you will be able to go green without cracking open your wallet each month.
I will encourage people to choose time of day (TOD) pricing, where you pay the price of electricity at each point in the day, rather than a fixed rate throughout. Electricity costs much more at peak times than in the middle of the night. By opting into TOD prices, families and businesses can save by running energy-guzzling devices, like dishwashers, when electricity is cheaper.
I will provide incentives for installing fuel cells in new schools, reducing their electric bills and giving our fuel cell manufacturers the guaranteed sales necessary to build another facility, add another shift, and create good jobs.
I will team with trade unions, vo-tech schools, and community colleges to expand green job training and apprenticeship programs, making sure Connecticut workers get the skills they need to power our green economy.
I will make it easier for entrepreneurs to start or grow a green business, providing funding for promising early-stage companies and establishing a 24-hour, 1-800 line with an advocate who can help them start, fund, locate, staff, or expand.
I will clean up Long Island Sound by expanding our successful system for trading water quality permits. We will cap the amount of pollutants allowed into our waterways and make it pay for polluters to go clean: efficient operators will be able to sell their credits to less efficient ones at a profit.
I will preserve our farmlands by providing incentives, such as those in the Community Investment Act, for families to keep their land as farms, rather than sell it to developers.
I will offer more incentives for conserving forests and help people manage their forests more effectively. We can harvest more forest products, create more jobs, and keep our forests safe from storms like the one that struck Southwest Connecticut earlier this year, bringing down scores of trees and cutting power to over 160,000.
Ned's Plan to Reduce Energy Costs and Create Jobs
Introduction
Burdened by some of the highest energy costs in the U.S., Connecticut businesses are leaving-hitting our workers when they are already down. Over 1,000 good jobs are set to leave if Pratt & Whitney and Marlin Firearms close facilities,1 and they would be just the latest in a long line. GE in Bridgeport, Winchester in New Haven-now just boarded up factories, high costs a chief culprit.
Energy costs grab hold of our pocketbooks too. Connecticut families pay 19 cents per kilowatt-hour for electricity-that is nearly double the national average,2 and an extra $60/month out of our wallets.3 Energy costs hit us nearly everywhere-when we pay the electric bill, fill up the car, shop at the store. They are squeezing our families and driving away jobs.
Connecticut needs a leader who will make bold changes to how we get our energy. As governor, I will confront energy costs head on and put us on the cutting edge in green business. With a little Yankee ingenuity, we will lower electric bills by negotiating long-term contracts with power generators, help families and businesses go green, develop clean, cost-effective energy sources here at home, and prepare a new generation of green entrepreneurs. We can save the average family nearly $500/year on its energy bills, and create jobs at the same time.
I will also save our New England landscapes and seascapes. For too long, Hartford has passed ambitious environmental laws but failed to provide executive leadership to implement them. They have stripped the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) of its most experienced staff and asked those remaining to do more with less. As a result, businesses face yearlong delays receiving permits-costing us jobs-and important conservation tasks go undone.
I will transform government into an effective environmental leader, promoting anti-sprawl "smart growth" policies and revitalizing DEP. With a steady hand at the wheel, we will clean up Long Island Sound, preserve historic farmland, and save our beautiful forests.
Bring Down Electric Bills with Long-Term Elecricity Contracts
As governor, I will lower electric bills by taking advantage of the state's purchasing power. Electricity generators like a sure thing as much as you or I; with long-term contracts, they could offer significant discounts. Right now, though, our utilities have contracts lasting at most a few years-it doesn't make economic sense for an individual company to sign longer contracts.
However, it does make sense for the whole state, which can look beyond short-term profit and loss statements to long-term energy cost reduction. Vermont has electricity 20% cheaper than ours, and a major reason is long-term contracts.4 If we could close just half of the gap, we'd save the average family over $160/year.5 Without strong executive leadership, past attempts to lower costs have failed; if my vigorous efforts do not bring down costs in short order, I will take even stronger measures.
* I will negotiate long-term contracts with power generators, saving Connecticut families and businesses on their electric bills.
Help Families and Businesses Go Green
Families and businesses can take money-saving steps as well. We can weatherize our homes, offices, and factories-sealing windows, replacing insulation, and consuming less energy as a result. The average family can save over $300/year, on top of the $160+ we save with long-term contracts.6 We can also change when we run power-draining appliances, reducing consumption at the peak times (like noon in August) that drive prices through the roof.
These steps reduce energy demand and as a result, lower prices. That means they bring down bills for people who don't lift a finger-everyone wins because everyone's rates go down. The question is how to make it feasible for families and businesses to pay the upfront costs now to get savings in the future.
* I will preserve and-as soon as possible-restore full funding to the Connecticut Clean Energy and Energy Efficiency Funds, which help homeowners and businesses install green energy sources like solar panels and make efficiency improvements like compact fluorescent bulbs.
* I will allow towns to offer property assessed clean energy (PACE) loans to home and business owners, enabling them to pay for clean energy improvements only as fast as the savings come in-you will be able to go green without cracking open your wallet each month.
* I will require all new televisions to meet Energy Star standards, driving energy-gobbling models from the market and saving families on their electric bills.
* I will aggressively pursue federal funding for efficiency and renewable energy investments-President Obama is helping spark a green revolution, and I will make sure Connecticut leads the way.
* I will encourage people to choose time of day (TOD) pricing, where you pay the price of electricity at each point in the day, rather than a fixed rate throughout. Electricity costs much more at peak times than in the middle of the night. By opting into TOD prices, families and businesses can save by running energy-guzzling devices, like dishwashers, when electricity is cheaper.
Invest in Local Clean Energy Sources
As governor, I will help Connecticut generate our own clean energy. We have sources of solar and wind, and homegrown Fuel Cell Energy and UTC Power lead the world in fuel cell technology. With energy prices as high as they are, we must pursue every option.
* I will lead by example. We will install solar panels on government buildings across Connecticut and help businesses and homeowners do the same, supporting thousands of well-paying jobs in our solar industry.
* I will provide incentives for installing fuel cells in new schools, reducing their electric bills and giving our fuel cell manufacturers the guaranteed sales necessary to build another facility, add another shift, and create good jobs.
* I will investigate wind resources in Long Island Sound, as New York, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts are doing.7 While Connecticut has few suitable sites for wind on land, the Sound may have prime locations offshore.
Prepare the Next Generation of Energy Entrepreneurs
To carry out the green revolution, we will need a whole generation of energy entrepreneurs to audit and weatherize homes, site and install solar panels, build and repair windmills, and design and manufacture fuel cells. That will mean thousands of well-paying green jobs, from weatherization crews in New London to windmill assembly line workers in Torrington.
* I will team with trade unions, vo-tech schools, and community colleges to expand green job training and apprenticeship programs, making sure Connecticut workers get the skills they need to power our green economy.
* I will provide full loan repayment for students at state colleges and universities who study green technology and stay in Connecticut after graduation.
* I will make it easier for entrepreneurs to start or grow a green business, providing funding for promising early-stage companies and establishing a 24-hour, 1-800 line with an advocate who can help them start, fund, locate, staff, or expand.
Make State Government a True Environmental Leader
Connecticut's iconic New England scenery is giving way to strip malls. We lose nearly 2,000 acres of agricultural fields every year,8 and our forests have nosedived over the last two generations-not long ago, forest covered 70% of the state.9 Even in 2010, we still dump pollution from sewers into our rivers.
I will transform our government into a real environmental leader, one that can clean up our rivers, save the Sound, preserve historic farms, and manage our forests effectively. My first priority as governor will be to put Connecticut back on track, getting us growing again and creating good jobs, but I will make sure we do so sustainably.
* I will coordinate transportation, land use, energy, and environmental policy and execute a master plan for a cleaner, greener Connecticut, where our young people can settle near transit in walkable, bikeable downtowns and sprawl stops its steady spread across our countryside.
* I will bring in world-class leadership to revamp DEP and provide the funds needed to get the job done. We'll cut permitting times while doing a better job of enforcing environmental regulations.
Save Our Traditional Land and Seascapes
As governor, I will focus particular attention on protecting our most precious land and seascapes, from the rolling farmlands of Lebanon and Franklin to the pristine shores of Madison and Old Lyme. They aren't just pretty places; they are valuable natural resources, economic assets we must be sure to pass onto our children.
* I will clean up the Sound by expanding our successful system for trading water quality permits. We will cap the amount of pollutants allowed into our waterways and make it pay for polluters to go clean: efficient operators will be able to sell their credits to less efficient ones at a profit. Cleaner water will benefit tourism and restore our fisheries.
* I will preserve our farmlands by providing incentives, such as those in the Community Investment Act, for families to keep their land as farms, rather than sell it to developers.
* I will fight for full federal funding of the Land and Water Conservation Fund, so we can use satellite technology to identify and preserve treasured landscapes throughout the state.
* I will offer more incentives for conserving forests and help people manage their forests more effectively. We can simultaneously harvest more forest products, create more jobs, and keep our forests healthy and safe from storms like the one that struck Southwest Connecticut earlier this year, bringing down scores of trees and cutting power to over 160,000.10
Conclusion
We aren't faced with a choice between going green and growing our economy-going green is how we will grow in the 21st century. It will put money back in our pockets, provide relief to hard-pressed businesses, create thousands of good jobs, clean our waterways, and save our treasured landscapes. All that has been lacking is leadership. Connecticut needs a governor who will move the ball down the court and back up his words with actions. I will be that governor.
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