Proposed Connecticut Bill Could Give Utilities and Government Unprecedented Control Over Homes Power Usage and Electric Vehicles

Your EV. Your Power. Their Control! 
Page 50 of S.B. 1560 allows utilities to seize power from electric vehicle batteries and control your home’s electricity usage.

PAGE 50 OF S.B. 1560

Hartford, CT: A new proposal unveiled by the Finance, Revenue, and Bonding Committee is raising alarms among consumer advocates and energy watchdogs, including CEMA members. Senate Bill 1560, introduced under the banner of reducing energy costs and restructuring utility rates, could come with far-reaching consequences for Connecticut residents.

While the bill promises to remove the contentious “public benefits charge” from electric bills, it proposes bonding that cost over the next 30 years. This would be like unnecessarily financing a fast-food meal over three decades instead of just cutting out the meal in the first place. By rolling these costs into bonding, residents would be paying interest on top of interest and then some.  

But financial implications are only part of the story.

Section 35 of the bill grants utilities and the state sweeping new powers to manage household energy consumption and electric vehicle (EV) charging. This includes:

• The ability to withdraw electricity from EV batteries that homeowners have already paid to charge, redistributing it to the grid during peak demand.

• The authority to override thermostat settings, potentially raising temperatures during summer heatwaves or lowering them during winter cold snaps—all in the name of energy conservation.

• Greater leverage over homes outfitted with heat pumps and smart devices, many of which were subsidized with state incentives, only to later become tools for remote energy control.

“This legislation is a slippery slope toward centralized, government control of private energy use,” said Christ Herb, CEO and President of Connecticut Energy Marketers Association.  “It erodes personal choice, home comfort, and the basic right to control appliances and vehicles you paid for with your own money. When does it end?” 

“Connecticut utilities are already under fire and losing public trust and some in Hartford want to give them more power and more control over our lives? This is mind-boggling to me. It makes no sense,” Herb added. 

CEMA is urging lawmakers to reject the bill and is calling on members and consumers to contact their state representatives to oppose it.