Dems opposed to green-job cuts

Hartford (WTNH) - Democrats in the General Assembly are rejecting the Governor's proposal to cut green-jobs to save some green.

They say using money in the state's Energy Efficiency Fund, for any other purpose, will cost jobs. And, those involved in the business say they're right.

A worker from a company called Con Serv, Inc. is working to retro-fit the old Allied Printing Company plant in Manchester so that a company called Mustangs Unlimited, a specialty auto parts company, can move in. The retro-fit is all about saving energy and saving money.

Randy Simonoff runs Con Serv. "Prior to our retro-fit here, there were metal halite light fixtures that put out 400 watts per fixture and based on this retro-fit, along with the controls that we put in, this project is offering them a less than three year payback," said Simonoff. "It's going to save them approximately 125,000 kilowatts of electricity per year."

Davis: "Because they use so much less?"
Simonoff: "Because they use so much less."

That comes to about $23,000 a year -- about the amount of the payments on the interest free loan the state gave for the project. So the project pays for itself and the building uses less energy for as long as it is in use.

It is estimated that the fund has directly created 1,000 jobs like this one. And, perhaps as many as 3,000-4,000 more indirectly.

It's paid for by a small fee on you're electric bill. The average is about $2.50 a month.

"Twice in the last six months the General Assembly received proposals by the Governor to take these funds and put them in the General Fund," said Speaker of the House Chris Donovan. "And, twice the General Assembly refused."

"It would shut my company down, put all of our employees out of business along with many other state jobs that are involved in energy conservation," said Simonoff.

The Governor's office issued a statement. It said, "So far, the Democrats have held numerous press conferences about all the spending cuts they oppose. But, have yet to put even one spending cut on the table."

The Governor has suggested face-to-face budget negotiations begin later this month. But they are not expected to really begin until after the April 15th income tax filing deadline when the real deficit will be known.