By Luther Turmelle

Gov. M. Jodi Rell vetoed a sweeping energy bill that the General Assembly passed during the waning hours of this year’s legislative session, saying it would create higher energy bills for consumers and expand government bureaucracy.

Supporters of the bill said it would reduce the state’s electric rates by 15 percent, but Rell said the bill was “eerily reminiscent” of the claims made by supporters of the law that deregulated the electric generation business in the state in 1998. Supporters of that legislation, the governor said, promised that it would reduce the state’s energy rates, but they remain the highest in the country.

“In the midst of both this great recession and our well-known state budget challenges, I cannot ask our already over-burdened and over-taxed residents and businesses to bear the additional burden of costs associated with this bill,” Rell said.

Overriding a gubernatorial veto would require a special legislative session and the support of two-thirds of the members of the House and Senate. State Sen. John Fonfara, D-Hartford, a co-author of the energy bill, said that because a veto has occurred, lawmakers are required by state statute to hold a special session to determine whether an override is possible.

Fonfara criticized the governor for claiming there was “a lack of transparency” associated with the creation and crafting of the bill, which was done late in the session.

Charles Rothenberger, staff attorney with Connecticut Fund for the Environment, said the governor’s action shows “that the governor’s stated interest in creating Connecticut jobs in the new clean energy economy is nothing more than empty rhetoric.”

Call Luther Turmelle at 203-789-5706.