Sharon Lewis has fans from Costco scattered all around her house in Bloomfield to stay cool in the summer. She lines her windows and doors with plastic and cardboard to better insulate her home.
Lewis has air conditioning, but rarely turns it on. Utility bills take a huge bite out of her monthly budget, so on sweltering summer days, the fans are a godsend.
“I pay what I can afford,” she said. “The utility bills are one thing that I just can't budget for, because every month it's a different amount.”
Residential customers in Connecticut face some of the highest electricity rates in the country. Energy assistance and medical need programs are available for people struggling with their bills. But Lewis says the paperwork can be tough to navigate.
Last year, the power company turned off the electricity at her home after she fell behind on her payments. It was a difficult time for Lewis, who relies on electricity to refrigerate her insulin and power a medical device that helps her breathe while she sleeps.
“Power is oxygen to me,” she said.
Feedback from people like Lewis can be invaluable as state regulators weigh utility cases and craft assistance programs. But officials say it’s a perspective they don’t hear often enough in the complicated hearings where decisions affecting everyday people are made.
Testimony presented to the Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) shapes how public utility companies operate, and who is eligible for initiatives such as payment assistance and energy efficiency programs.
But to participate, groups typically need time, money and expertise to support their positions during the proceedings. As a result, the most common voices at the table are the utilities themselves and the Office of Consumer Counsel — an independent state agency that represents all ratepayers, but can't articulate the individual experiences of people like Lewis.
If she could communicate directly with state regulators, Lewis said she would tell them to imagine the hardships people in her community face.
"I would like for them to spend one night here during the winter, one night here during the summer, so that they can understand what people go through," she said.
Stakeholder program falling short
Connecticut is working to get more utility customers with diverse perspectives involved in the regulatory process.
A new initiative, the Stakeholder Group Compensation Program, provides funding for groups that represent low-income customers and residents of environmental justice communities to engage in utility cases. Small business owners can also participate.
But nearly two years after it was adopted, the program is struggling to meet its goals.
A review by Connecticut Public found only a handful of groups have accessed funding. As of July, the program had paid out less than $200,000, just a fraction of the $1.2 million per year made available by lawmakers when they created the initiative.
To raise awareness, PURA has invited groups to participate and distributed informational flyers at a variety of events.
Nevertheless, a spokesperson acknowledged participation has been limited. Communications Director Taren O'Connor said the agency hopes to see more effective participation by a broader range of stakeholder groups in the future.
She noted that PURA has approved funding for several groups in proceedings that are still ongoing. Those organizations will be eligible for compensation in the future.
Still, others worry the state is missing an opportunity to solicit important feedback.
With energy costs soaring across New England, the program could be an important way for ratepayers to weigh in, said Kendall Keelen, an attorney with the Conservation Law Foundation. The environmental nonprofit supported the stakeholder program when it was established.
“It's great having this program set up, but if it's not clear enough for an average person to be able to immediately log on, apply and start organizing, it's falling short of its mission,” she said.
'Nobody knows about the program'
Among those who have participated is a Hartford-based advocacy organization called the Nonprofit Accountability Group (NAG). The group works to address historical environmental harms in the city, such as the prevalence of asthma.
Records show that as of July, the group had received more than $100,000 in advance payments to participate in three different cases, including PURA's annual review of affordability programs, and the agency’s analysis of the energy storage solutions program, which provides residential and commercial customers with incentives to install energy storage.
Utilities provide funding directly to groups approved by the state, and then recoup those costs from customers through monthly bills.
The money allows groups such as NAG to hire lawyers, consultants and experts to present their arguments to the state. NAG used the funding to hire Dr. Mark Mitchell, an emeritus professor at George Mason University who focuses on environmental health equity.
Mitchell said the stakeholder funding enabled him to represent the interests of customers whose perspectives are often missing from the public dialogue.
“There are a number of programs that are supposedly for low-income people, but the low-income people don't have input into them,” Mitchell said.
New Haven-based Aropa Consulting also received stakeholder group funding. The firm was founded in 2022, and provides management support to nonprofits and social impact organizations.
Rosalind Zavras, the head of the group, said the stakeholder program gives the nonprofit community an important voice at the table. However, she said she believes there’s a lack of outreach by the state.
“Nobody knows about the program,” she said. “You know, it's the same three or four stakeholder groups.”
Bonnie Roswig, an attorney with the Center for Children’s Advocacy (CCA), said the program is in its infancy, and time will tell how effective it can be.
CCA is a nonprofit law firm and has also participated in proceedings through the Stakeholder Group Compensation Program. Roswig said it’s helping to level the playing field.
“The stakeholder compensation program is a very new program, so you combine that with the complexity of PURA proceedings and the newness of this program, I think a lot of it is really just launching,” she said.
Bringing new voices into the process
Connecticut isn’t alone in seeing slow uptake for its initiative.
New Hampshire has a similar program in place, but it has never been utilized, according to state officials.
Massachusetts last year established its own $3.5 million intervenor compensation program, which is expected to launch in March 2026.
In Maine, only one group has been paid since the state adopted its stakeholder compensation program, said Phil Bartlett, chair of the Maine Public Utilities Commission.
Driving engagement has been a challenge, Bartlett said.
“Our hope is that partners, advocacy groups, other government agencies, community groups, will recognize this opportunity and help us to get the word out,” Bartlett said.
A comprehensive evaluation of Connecticut's program is due in 2026. In the interim, lawmakers have mixed views on its merits.
State Sen. Ryan Fazio, ranking member of the legislature's Energy and Technology Committee, said he's keeping an open mind, but fears the program will primarily benefit well-resourced advocacy groups and their lawyers.
Fazio, a Republican who is running for governor, said the most effective way to help utility customers is to cut public benefits charges, which are driven by state-mandated programs that support energy efficiency, renewable energy and assistance for low-income customers.
Fazio participated in negotiating the 2023 Senate bill that created the stakeholder compensation program. Fazio said he accepted the measure as part of broader bipartisan energy reform.
"This program is in its infancy, and while I'm skeptical of it, I will obviously be keeping an open mind and trying to watch how it develops, in hopes that it represents a broad swath of the public in Connecticut who are overburdened by high electric rates," Fazio said.
State Sen. Norm Needleman, a Democrat who co-chairs the Energy and Technology Committee, said a major test of the program will come when electricity provider Eversource files its next distribution rate case with PURA, an event that hasn't occurred in several years. The last rate case was completed in 2018.
With Eversource serving the majority of electricity customers in Connecticut, a rate case will provide an opportunity for broad public participation, and more exposure for the stakeholder compensation program, Needleman said.
"It's like a learned behavior," he said. "It's going to take some time."
Connecticut Consumer Counsel Claire E. Coleman said she's keeping an eye out for next year's report. She said stakeholder compensation can supplement the work of her office, which represents all consumers of regulated electric, gas and water companies before PURA.
“What we'll be looking for as the evaluation of the stakeholder program comes to fruition is have we succeeded as a state in bringing in new voices into the process,” she said.
