By Mark Pazinokas and Jacqueline Rabe

Gov. M. Jodi Rell today vetoed sweeping energy legislation passed on the final day of the 2010 session after a late-night debate, attacking the path the bill followed to passage as vehemently as she did the measure's content.

The bill's Democratic sponsors, Sen. John Fonfara of Hartford and Rep. Vicki O. Nardello of Prospect, presented the bill to colleagues in the session's final week, setting off a massive lobbying effort. Utilities tried to kill it, while environmentalists and consumer programs pushed for passage.

The bill would have subsidized solar power, encouraged energy efficiency and exerted influence over a deregulated electric industry that has given Connecticut the nation's second-highest electric rates.

Rell said she could not overcome her dismay with what she called the lack of transparency.
Rell's comments angered Fonfara, calling them "totally untrue and inaccurate. It's misleading for the governor to say that. Every portion of this bill has had a public hearing."
Nardello said the governor's Office of Policy and Management responded to the handful of bills that were eventually rolled into this omnibus energy bill.

“If she didn’t really like the bill she should have just said so," she said. "This bill was brought forth like any other bill."

Rell also took issue with the House taking up the bill at 3 a.m. on the last day, giving final passage at 6 a.m. House leaders said they had no choice, noting that Republicans had filibustered an education-reform bill for 7 hours, pushing the energy bill debate into the early morning hours.

Rell dismissed claims from the bill's supporters that it would lower rates. She said it was rhetoric and "eerily reminiscent" of claims by supporters of deregulation in 1998.
Charles Rothenberger, an attorney with Connecticut Fund for the Environment, said Rell's claims that the process was not transparent are unfounded.

"It did have the full benefit of legislative public hearings," he said. "Unfortunately, opponents of the bill were able to get ahead on that message. ... We pay the highest rates in the continental U.S. and this [veto] ensures we will continue down that path."

The bill also would have reorganized and renamed the Public Utilities Control Authority as the Connecticut Energy and Technology Authority, which would have the added responsibility of promoting new technologies and renewable energy sources, such as solar, wind and hydro-power.

The bill also would have adopted Energy Star standards for all televisions sold in the state, forcing energy-gobbling models from the market. And it called for low-interest financing for homeowners to invest in energy-efficient boilers and other improvements.