It is no secret that the White House is using, with alarming frequency, czars, boards, and executive orders to implement policies that have been met by “inconvenient” obstacles- like the American people and their representatives in Congress.
Following in President Obama’s authoritarian footsteps is the ruling Democratic class of the small state of Connecticut, where Obama-clone Governor Dannel Malloy has recruited, from Yale University, nationally known environmental expert, Daniel Esty, to be the state’s commissioner of the newly combined Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP). Of his new recruit, Governor Malloy said, “His experience advising private companies and the president of the United States, coupled with his knowledge of environmental law and policy is second-to-none, and I know this new department will be on the cutting edge of environmental and energy policy with Dan at the helm.”
In 2007 and 2008, Mr. Esty served first as Presidential candidate Barack Obama’s campaign adviser on energy and the environment, and later on as a member of the presidential transition team. So, little wonder Mr. Obama and Commissioner Esty are of the same ilk when it comes to “green” energy and its imposition into the lives of the American people- whether they want it or not.
Mr. Esty sparked considerable controversy recently in the Constitution state through his unprecedented intervention in the matter of Connecticut’s Public Utilities Regulatory Authority’s (PURA) management of a multimillion-dollar application by Connecticut Light & Power Co. (CL&P), which provides electric utility service to most of the state. The application, which involves the rapid installation of 1.2 million “Smart Meters” at residences and businesses over the next four years, was challenged by the state’s Attorney General, George Jepsen, the Office of Consumer Counsel, and an association of industrial energy users. Several weeks ago, Commissioner Esty wrote PURA, upon its draft decision to reject CL&P’s application, asking it to suspend its decision for a few months until his department can “establish the state’s smart meter policy.”
For background purposes, “Smart Meters” replace traditional electric meters and provide much more detailed information about the usage of electricity in a home or business. For example, the devices can track electricity usage by individual appliances in your home, so that if you use your dishwasher or washing machine more than the utility company “recommends” in order to be “greener than thou,” your errant behavior will be tracked and “reported.” The implication is that billing can be adjusted based upon usage that is inconsistent with “recommended” usage. Government officials who promote the use of “Smart Meters” can then use data from utility companies to identify those citizens who are using “too much” electricity, and penalize them.
According to John W. Betkoski III, one of the state’s PURA directors who originally opposed the application of “Smart Meters,” these devices can record customers’ consumption of electricity in time spans of less than an hour, and transmit that information, at least once a day, to the utility company for monitoring and billing purposes.
Yet, Mr. Betkoski, and the other PURA directors, immediately agreed to Mr. Esty’s request to halt the rejection process. State House Republican Leader Lawrence F. Cafero Jr. expressed concern regarding Commissioner Esty’s “undermining a supposed independent utility regulatory process” by intervening in PURA’s handling of the CL&P application. “Our utility regulators have historically acted independently in deciding cases to ensure public confidence in the process. Now, because of Commissioner Esty’s actions … the process has been called into question, and rightly so,” Mr. Cafero said.
Courant.com suggests that the potential motivating factor for the PURA directors’ hasty agreement to Commissioner Esty’s request to halt the rejection of the “Smart Meter” application, is the fact that they are only temporarily serving in their lucrative positions until their new status within Mr. Esty’s department is confirmed by Governor Malloy and the Democratic legislature early in 2012. The fact that they are dependent upon Commissioner Esty, the governor’s appointee, is clearly a conflict of interest.
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In its application, CL&P asserted that “Smart Meters” would enable its customers to see how much electricity they are using on a hourly basis, saving nearly $600 million to the utility and its customers. But Attorney General Jepsen and the Office of Consumer Counsel stated, in February, that CL&P was exaggerating the benefits of the new devices. Mr. Jepsen said, “CL&P’s proposal would force the company’s ratepayers to spend at least $500 million on new meters that are likely to provide few benefits in return.”
Indeed, it is difficult to see any real savings in the near future when customers will begin to pay for the new meters immediately through higher rates. PURA’s assessment indicated a “best case scenario” of a whopping five cents per month in savings for customers. Interestingly, the other utility that provides electric service to the state has also evaluated the “Smart Meter” technology and concluded that more research needs to be done before spending hundreds of millions of dollars on the devices.
Similarly, Consumer Counsel Mary Healey noted, “There are some serious concerns we have about customers’ privacy and how quickly new technology becomes obsolete.” Ms. Healey, who is considering a request for a formal opinion from Attorney General Jepsen, explained:
“The [Office of the Consumer Counsel] has concerns about the way the docket [that is, the CL&P request] was handled, and we’re considering … asking the attorney general to review this and render an opinion.”
“It was a draft decision that we thought was a reasonable one, and very thoughtfully developed…to simply have granted the [Esty] motion to halt the docket raises more questions than it answers. …”
“The new legislation and organization has created ambiguities. … As with any major reorganization [this has] blurred the lines. … We need lines redrawn and clarified.”
Though it appears there is sufficient concern to reject CL&P’s application for “Smart Meter” distribution, Commissioner Esty seems intent on making sure this technology is advanced. Like the current occupant of the White House, his ideology is clear, and has been articulated in other contexts.
In April earlier this year, the New York Times published an editorial, co-written by Commissioner Esty, the focus of which is penalizing fossil-fuel producers and consumers. One wonders if he was salivating as he wrote:
“Our proposal would apply to all greenhouse gas emissions, so that everybody, and every fossil-fuel-dependent form of energy, would be included. Coal-burning power plants would pay based on the emissions measured at their smokestacks. Oil companies would pay for every gallon of gas or oil delivered. Yes, these costs would be passed on to consumers, but this is what motivates changes in behavior and technological investments.”
As if that were not enough, the following month Mr. Esty spoke to a group of high school students in New Haven about the fact that he advocated for the establishment of a carbon emissions charge that would lead to higher gas prices for Americans. He said the purpose of the emissions charge is relatively simple: It would motivate people to stop reliance on fossil fuels.
“Let’s make people pay for the harm they cause,” he said to the students.
Spoken like a true Obama disciple.
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