The state of Connecticut’s Environment Committee held testimony March 6 to discuss freezing the tipping fees proposed by the Connecticut Resource Recovery Authority.
According to local press reports the CRRA has been looking to hike its fees by 31 percent due to a failed deal with Enron. The increase is slated to go into effect July 1.
However, a public meeting held March 6 by the Environment Committee resulted in the group raising a bill that it hopes will halt the implementation of the hike. House Bill 5607 aims to prohibit the Connecticut Resources Recovery Authority from implementing an increase in tipping fees that was approved after January 1, 2002, for a period of six months, to require a hearing prior to such implementation, and to require the CRRA to hold a hearing prior to changing its tipping fees. A source with the Environment Committee said that there is further talk about extending that time period for one year.
CRRA lost $220 million, one of the largest losses of public money in the state's history, when a complex deal it had with Enron collapsed after the company declared bankruptcy in December.
CRRA contends that the transaction was an energy deal, but state Attorney General Richard Blumenthal says that it was really an illegal loan disguised as an electricity contract.
Ann Baldwin, a spokeswoman for the CRRA, said that the 31 percent hike is "a worse case scenario."
Between now and when the budgets kick in the CRRA is looking at a host of options to reduce the tipping fees. Some possibilities, Baldwin noted, include refinancing the debt; reselling the power; and filing a lawsuit against Enron, as well as other parties, including Arthur Andersen, Enron's accounting firm.
"We are willing to try anything to bring that number (31 percent tipping fee hike) down," Baldwin added.
The house bill needs to be officially introduced into the Environment Committee by March 18.