Our House Chair of the Energy Committee, Rep. David Arconti of Danbury, says the time is now to invest in our power grid to improve resiliency and reliability.

In a recent op-ed Arconti co-authored, he says "using federal dollars to make upgrades to our power grid to improve resiliency and reliability is a smart move. Doing so will not only make Connecticut more attractive to businesses but will also save ratepayers long term because the federal dollars would not be subject to cost recovery from the utilities."

Arconti recommends that the state Public Utility Regulatory Authority be given discretion on awarding these dollars to protect ratepayers.

"This is an important component because utility companies will not be properly motivated to spend the money wisely, since it will impact their rate base and potential profits. And as our utilities have shown us, they tend to be only motivated by profits," Arconti wrote.

You can read the entire op-ed which appeared in the CT Examiner here.