Over a year ago, Connecticut announced its signing of a first-of-its-kind agreement with Rhode Island and Massachusetts that would allow the three states to work together to bring new offshore wind projects to our region. But when Massachusetts and Rhode Island released their offshore wind selections in September, Connecticut was conspicuously absent. Unlike its neighbors, Connecticut has not yet joined in the multi-state offshore wind proposals, and soon it may be too late.

At first glance, this hesitation may seem understandable, even safe. After all, Connecticut customers are feeling the stress of rising energy expenses. But a closer look reveals that failing to move forward on offshore wind today would likely prolong the pain of high energy prices and could reduce

With just days left before the November 8 deadline to join this procurement, Connecticut policy leaders of all parties have expressed concern about energy costs, which have occurred for a number of reasons. This year we experienced one of the hottest summers on record, causing residents to crank up air conditioners and electric bills to increase. Eversource electric customers are also currently on the hook to collectively pay back $800 million from skipped collections during the COVID-pandemic via higher rates over a 10-month period. This fall, Yankee Gas is proposing a rate hike, as is the electric utility United Illuminating (UI). And an increasing reliance on imported natural gas puts customers in a precarious position as the gas supply

While there is no quick fix or single solution that can remedy the energy cost crunch, a “business-as-usual” approach is not going to bring long-term relief to ratepayers. If Connecticut continues down the current path, its growing overreliance on imported natural gas to supply both heating and electricity will further strain energy infrastructure and expose communities to major price spikes. Instead, we should be employing a diversity of resources. Offshore wind is one key way to take back control of our energy supply and maintain system reliability.

Offshore wind represents a significant reservoir of untapped potential for clean power right here along the East Coast. Offshore wind farms are incredibility efficient and effective at producing electricity due to their high energy capacity.  The projects proposed in the recent three-state process will offer a nearby dependable power source that will keep money in the local economy, meaning hundreds of good jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars would be invested in Connecticut.

To be clear, building offshore wind does require significant upfront capital, but that’s true for any large-scale energy infrastructure. And costs won’t flow to ratepayers until the projects are completed and electricity is generated – several years in the future. Moreover, once constructed, offshore projects have the advantage of utilizing an inexhaustible supply of wind to generate power. Not needing to pay for fuel translates to long-term cost savings and predictability for emission-free power. That’s a win for consumers. Offshore wind is a sensible investment towards energy independence, electric grid resilience, and decarbonization.

The multi-state procurement was initiated to help the three states solicit major project bids that were more favorable than if each state pursued offshore wind individually. Instead of competing, the southern New England states launched a cooperative collaborative approach that had wind developers compete to serve the region’s collective interest. By collaborating and sharing resources, the states could access more cost-savings and leverage efficiencies of the regional grid.

The good news is that there is still time —just barely— for Connecticut to seize this opportunity by making a critical investment in Connecticut’s future; Gov. Ned Lamont can still opt into the regional bids, joining our New England partners before the next steps of the process in early November.  But the clock is ticking, and now is the moment for Connecticut to make a wise investment in its energy future.

Kat Burnham is the Connecticut state-lead at the national business association Advanced Energy United.

Kamala Harris is the projected winner in Connecticut, according to NBC News.

Which Connecticut counties did she get her strongest support from? And where were President-elect Donald Trump’s key counties in Connecticut?

Check out the interactive map below to look at the voting results for president, Senate, and the state’s five congressional districts.

November 05, 2024 6:03 pm
• Last Updated: November 05, 2024 8:34 pm

A Hartford Democrat shared with me a screenshot of a recent Facebook posting by Stonington Republicans, likening the coming presidential election to awaiting a pregnancy test.

“We either get a healthy baby boy or the daughter of Satan,” said the Facebook posting by the Stonington GOP.

Ouch. It’s hard to learn that any political leaders in the town you live in would say such a thing about the presidential candidate of the opposing party, the current vice president of the country.

I know national Republicans have called the vice president all kinds of names and assailed her politics, policies and intelligence. That’s campaign fodder, I suppose, although some of it has surely had a misogynist strain.

But daughter of Satan? Stonington Republicans think she’s evil? I thought maybe I lived in a more civilized, sophisticated town than that.

I kept thinking about that posting all Tuesday, during my usual Election Day tour through eastern Connecticut. I always enjoy using a road trip to clear my head from the turmoil of campaign season, to finally welcome the finality of what used to be voting day, now vote counting day.

It’s always a pleasure to drive through the magnificent scenery of this corner of Connecticut, usually resplendent in late fall. I generally meander up through North Stonington and Preston and end up in Sterling, at the northern reaches of one of our most sprawling state Senate districts, the 18th.

The Satan comment makes me wonder what will become of Connecticut Republicans after this consequential election. As I drove through the countryside, and as I write this before deadline, the final count is not in.

For those in our region who think of Kamala Harris as the daughter of Satan, a Trump loss might be unimaginable. Maybe those Republicans harbor a fantasy of Connecticut voters suddenly embracing in large numbers the tenets of the new national GOP, led by a felon who boasts of “my beautiful white skin,” robs women of reproductive rights and promises to vindictively lock up his enemies.

Good luck to them if they think that’s the future of their party here, even with a Trump win.

I’m quite sure, though, that many other traditional Connecticut Republicans have done their best to duck Trumpism, avoiding it like a passing cloud of radiation from a nuclear bomb.

They can’t admit to their base they are ducking Trump. I wouldn’t be surprised if many of them even voted for Harris, hoping the Trump phenomena might finally pass by.

I actually ran across my own state senator, Heather Somers of the 18th District, when I pulled into the parking lot of the Sterling polling place.

Remembering my editor’s request to staff to snap a picture of any candidates at the polls, I tried for one of Somers, who was standing with a small group alongside the driveway.

My attempt at a simple candidate picture turned into a comical scene, as Somers hid from the phone camera, first turning away and then hiding behind the person she was standing next to. She was eventually escorted, hiding between two people, to the nearby building and someone drove her Cadillac, with its Senate 18th plates, from across the parking lot, so she could slip in at the front door, Lady Di style, without being photographed.

Sterling Republican Chairman Victoria Robinson later called an editor at The Day, saying that I was “very creepy,” following a candidate around and scaring them. Sterling Republicans posted a picture of me on their Facebook page and said I was stalking Somers, following her there from Mystic.

Somers has a history of ducking photographers Election Night, but her behavior Tuesday was incredibly strange, a state senator refusing to have her picture taken in public, outside a polling place on Election Day.

I suppose it could be extreme vanity. I suspect it might have more to do with not being pictured with all the Trump signs adorning the Sterling polling place parking lot, in the heart of Trump country.

She was there to court Trump voters, but not be photographed with them.

Trump may continue to haunt Connecticut Republicans, either from the White House or prison.

And I’m sure an ambitious politician like Somers doesn’t want a picture of herself near a Trump sign that might surface in the future.

Alas, my road trip ended badly when my 20-year-old Mini broke down on Interstate 395. I had a nice chat with the tow truck driver, who told me he never votes because the candidates are merely the puppets of the richest people in the world who manipulate them. The government could cure cancer, but chooses not to because it benefits from the money spent on treatments.

I thought maybe I should put him in touch with the Satan-fearing Republicans of Stonington.

This is the opinion of David Collins

d.collins@theday.com