IN MY OPINION , WHY IT IS TIME FOR CHANGE

At the July meeting of the Maple Avenue NRZ, Senator John Fonfara, co-chair of the Legislature's Energy Committee, gave a presentation about the Energy Bill he introduced in the last session. He spoke about the wonderful benefits of the bill and made it a point to tell everyone how much they would save on their energy bills under his legislation. He went on and on, accompanied by his co-chair on the Energy Committee, Representative Nardello.

I would imagine many in the room were already counting their savings under the "Fonfara Plan". Many of the people in the room are senior citizens living on a fixed income or young people trying to raise a family where every penny counts.

The only problem with Fonfara's bill is that it failed. It was vetoed by Governor Rell and Fonfara didn't have the clout to force an override of the veto with his fellow legislators. As it stands now, Fonfara's plan will not see the light of day and will not save anyone one single penny.

When it came time for questions, I asked Fonfara why he would waste the time talking about all the wonderful benefits of a bill that failed and we would never see any effect from it. We went back and forth a bit and when I stated that there was no incentive for legislators to pass energy legislation because lobbyists and energy company executives funded their campaigns.

Fonfara quickly fired back that what I was saying was untrue and lobbyists couldn't donate to his campaign. I'll admit when I'm wrong, and due to changes in campaign laws, lobbyists can't donate to campaigns. That may change again if a recent Appeals Court ruling stands, but right now they can't donate.

Fonfara didn't say anything about energy company executives funding his campaigns, and now I see why. After reviewing his donations received from by his campaign it appears that a large portion are energy company executives. Is it any wonder why legislation to curb the utilities and energy providers goes nowhere?

And just to give Senator Fonfara the benefit of the doubt, I didn't include donors in the list below that actually live in his district. If you would like to see his complete list of donors, the entire report is below.


HERE IS THE LIST OF ENERGY AND UTILITY EXECUTIVES DONATING TO FONFARA 2010:











Juan Rodriguez, VP,Public Power , $100.00
William Bucksee,VP,Public Power, 50.00
Robert Zappone,Supplier, Starion Energy , 100.00
Robert Wesson, Owner, Wesson Energy Inc., 100.00
Donald Mitchell, Petroleum Distributor, N.E.Mitchell Inc., 100.00
Alexanger Martinez, Manager, Starion Energy, 50.00
Rachel Schmidt , Admin Asst, Starion Energy, 20.00
Ruzdhi Dauti, President, Starion Energy, 100.00
Steven Haigh , IT Energy Consultant, 100.00
Kevin Zupkis , Executive, AT&T , 100.00
Ben Kaplan , CFO , Solar US Inc., 100.00
Raymond Necci , Consultant , 100.00
Erik Bartone , Owner, DBS Energy Inc., 100.00
Tina Bartone , DBS Energy Inc., 100.00
Brian Forshaw , Dir of Power, CMEEC, 100.00
Tracy Gionfriddo, Envir.Spec., Northeast Utilities , 30.00
Robert Smith , Director , Northeast Utilities, 100.00
Melissa Lauderdale, Gov Affairs, Integrys Energy Svcs, 100.00
Peter Podurgiel, Competitive Power Ventures , 100.00
Douglas Egan, Developer, Competitive Power Ventures, 100.00
Julie Egan, Competitive Power Ventures, 100.00
Robert Burke , Atty. , Competitive Power Ventures, 100.00
Gary Lambert, Competitive Power Ventures, 100.00
Sherman Knight, Competitive Power Ventures, 100.00
David Magil, Competitive Power Ventures, 100.00
John Foster, Competitive Power Ventures , 100.00
Paul Buckovich, Competitive Power Ventures, 100.00
Sean Finnerty , Competitive Power Ventures, 100.00
Joseph Wood , State of CT, DPUC , 100.00
Trevor Herbst, VP, Public Power Utility , 20.00
Sharon Bloomer, Apple Oil Co , 75.00
Juan Gantomasso , Analyst, United Illuminating , 100.00
Bonnie Heckert , Tech Supp., United Illuminating , 100.00
Fred Shaffer , Dir.Gvt.Rel.,Kimberly-Clark, Wisconsin , 100.00
Fitor Mamudi , Supplier, Starion Energy, 100.00
Deborah-Anne Verbil, Attorney , AT&T , 100.00
Jason Calabrese , Public Power,LLC , 50.00
Michael Cassella , Director , CT Muni. Elec.Energy Corp , 100.00

***NOTE: Raymond P. Necci, listed above as a "Consultant" is the former president and chief operating officer of The. Connecticut Light and Power Company (CL&P), Connecticut's largest electric utility.

The maximum donation allowed is $100.00 per individual,

One of the big complaints against Senator Fonfara is his lack of attention to his constituents. People routinely complain that he doesn't return phone calls. Do you think he returns calls when Competitive Power Ventures is on the line?

Fonfara Citizen Election Program Filing