Connecticut Sued for Using Energy Funds to Pay General Expenses

Connecticut broke the law by taking $155 million from state energy efficiency and clean energy programs and using it for general budgetary expenses, a group of environmental businesses and advocates allege in a lawsuit.

About $240 million is raised annually from a small charge on electricity and natural gas bills that ratepayers of commercial utilities pay in return for specific services, according to the complaint filed May 15 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut. Commercial utilities in Connecticut include Eversource Energy LLC and Avangrid’s United Illuminating Co.

But an October 2017 state ...