Press Releases
05/15/2018
Gov. Malloy Statement on Energy Sweep Lawsuit
(HARTFORD, CT) – Governor Dannel P. Malloy today released the following statement regarding the news that a coalition of environmental organizations will file a lawsuit contesting the legality of the damaging energy sweeps contained in the bipartisan budget deal of October 2017:
“This should come as a surprise to no one. I have long maintained that these shortsighted sweeps would increase energy costs for consumers and businesses and cause untold harm to our green energy economy. While the administration in Washington attacks environmental protections and investments in clean energy, we should be cementing our role as a national leader in our efforts to combat climate change and protect our communities. The energy sweeps pushed by legislative Republicans represented a massive step backwards, and I continue to strongly oppose them.”
From Governor Malloy’s October 2017 bill signing statement:
The budget proposes sweeps from the Green Bank ($28 million), the Energy Efficiency Fund ($127 million) and the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative ($20 million). These sweeps all require the state to take and deplete ratepayer funds intended to lower energy costs overall through investments in efficiency and conservation, and instead, use them to fill the General Fund coffers.
It is my firm belief that these sweeps will increase Connecticut residents’ and businesses’ energy costs, will curtail hundreds of millions of dollars of private investment in Connecticut, will hamstring a growing alternative energy and energy efficiency industry that employs thousands of Connecticut residents, and will eliminate a crucial set of tools for helping businesses in the state with cost-saving energy investments.
I strongly oppose these energy sweeps and renew my call on the legislature to find recurring cuts in state expenditures to replace these short-sighted, one-time revenues.
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