Energy Bill Signed

WTNH is reporting that the Energy & Efficiency Bill has been signed into law...well, most of it. Rell vetoed two sections of the bill which she said put us over our spending cap. Interesting, because it's not really clear that she has the power to use a line item veto.

The sections she struck out are unfortunate. One was supposed to replenish the Conservation & Load Management Fund and Clean Energy Fund, which had been raided to pay for other costs (like electric bills for state buildings, etc). The Conservation fund is especially important because it supports efficiency improvements that might not be otherwise affordable in the short term and often pay back within a few years. Maybe even more importantly, the C&LM fund helped reduce peak loading significantly (almost 100 MW in 2002 alone). As we know, providing power in peak summer hours is particularly scary this year as transmission congestion may very well lead to blackouts. We all pitched in to these funds but then the money was diverted for other purposes. It seems right that they should be replenished.