New Tax Likely on Electric Generators

It’s likely that there will be a new tax on electric-generating companies in Connecticut in the new fiscal year, even as some lawmakers this week abandoned a plan for a controversial $342 million tax on certain generators.

Proponents of the $342 million tax (contained in SB 1176) acknowledged that they did not have enough support to win its passage. The tax would have fallen primarily on one generator in Connecticut and was opposed by businesses, a bipartisan group of lawmakers, labor unions and other organizations.

While that tax is apparently dead, the Finance Committee last week included Gov. Malloy’s proposed flat tax on generators as part of the negotiated state budget package.

The committee increased the tax from 0.0020 cents per kwh to 0.0025 cents per kwh, a change projected to produce $72 million in revenue, $14 million more than the governor’s original proposal.

Final details on the tax package are being negotiated, with votes expected soon. CBIA continues to urge lawmakers to make further cuts to state spending in order to reduce the need for tax increases that could harm our economy and prospects for job creation.

For more information, contact CBIA’s Eric Brown at 860.244.1926 or eric.brown@cbia.com.