TL;DR: Experts and state leaders say it could take up to a decade or more to solve the state’s high electricity prices.

Why are CT costs higher than the national average?

Even before the proposed Eversource and UI rate hikes, CT’s electricity costs put it in the top five most expensive states, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Much of the reason for those costs has to do with the region’s reliance on natural gas to fuel its power plants, along with a limited supply of cheaper, renewable alternatives such as hydroelectric or solar power.

Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine has also led to higher natural gas prices in particular.

Short-term solutions

We’re mostly out of luck. State officials have already said they have little authority to oppose the price increases, which will last from January until June.

Some households may be eligible for the Connecticut Energy Assistance Program, where you can receive $200 to $600 depending on income level and household size.

https://portal.ct.gov/dss/Economic-Security/Winter-Heating-Assistance/Energy-Assistance---Winter-Heating

Some energy officials have proposed waiving the Jones Act, a federal law requiring that cargo transported between U.S. ports be carried on American ships.

In an October letter to President Joe Biden, Eversource CEO Joseph Nolan said that such a waiver would allow foreign-flagged vessels carrying liquid natural gas to stop at multiple U.S. ports, including import facilities in Everett, Massachusetts. Nolan also proposed using the Defense Production Act to boost domestic energy supplies.

Long-term solutions

A longer-term solution to increasing the supply of natural gas to New England would likely require adding additional transmission pipelines beyond the three that currently serve Connecticut, officials said, though doing so would be a costly initiative that could take years and would likely meet fierce opposition from environmental groups.

The pipeline infrastructure that transports gas has not been updated to meet the region’s demand, particularly in wintertime.

The CEO of Avangrid Networks, the utility division of United Illuminating's parent company, pointed to the decommissioning of four nuclear power plants in New England in recent decades as another cause of the reliance on natural gas.

“If we had more pipelines into the region, which is something we may need to consider someday, that would I think help to stabilize prices,” said Frank Reynolds, the president and CEO of United Illuminating.

Several of the state’s top officials, including Gov. Ned Lamont and his commissioner of the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, Katie Dykes, have instead pointed to the state’s efforts to transition away from fossil fuels entirely by 2040 as a vital component to reducing energy costs.

The earliest estimates for the completion of grid-scale renewable energy projects — such as a wind farm slated to be built off the coast of Rhode Island — are measured in years, however, and even then they are likely to account for only a fraction of the region’s energy needs.

- Casey