As majority Democrats shape the special session, Senate President Pro Tempore Martin M. Looney of New Haven said the top of the agenda would be a so-called take-back-our-grid bill in response to Isaias, the recent tropical storm that knocked out power for hundreds of thousands of residents. Looney and Speaker of the House Joe Aresimowicz of Berlin both said Tuesday that reimbursement for the spoilage of food and medicine is high on the list of provisions, as the bill takes form. Many lawmakers were rankled by the unwillingness of the state’s electric distribution monopolies — especially Eversource Energy and also United Illuminating — to provide paybacks to customers. Sen. Paul Formica, R-East Lyme, ranking Republican member on the Energy & Technology Committee, which oversees utility law, agreed that utilities should face some kind of penalty if they fail to restore power within a reasonable period of time. Electric providers in other states, including New York, have to reimburse consumers for lost food, he noted. Also on tap for the special session would be the annual school-construction legislation; judicial appointments including the state Supreme Court nomination of Judge Christine E. Keller, whose son, Matt Ritter, is House majority leader; and allowing condominiums into the program that assists owners of homes with failing foundations due to a flaw in the minerals used in eastern Connecticut in the 1980s. Under a scenario currently under consideration, the state Senate would convene on Thursday, September 24 to consider bills, followed by the House the week afterwards, possibly on Tuesday the 29th or the day after.
https://www.ctinsider.com/politics/ctpost/article/Lawmakers-move-toward-reimbursements-for-electric-15569515.php?cmpid=gsa-ctpost-result&_ga=2.118669897.132990749.1600079970-1283492455.1546819691