Eversource’s meter plan to cost customers $5 a month
Connecticut Attorney General William Tong wants state utility regulators to carefully scrutinize a request by Eversource Energy to charge its customers $620 million to install new smart electric meters.
Tong shared his concerns with members of the Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority in a letter to the regulatory agency on Monday. The attorney general said he is not opposed to Eversource moving to smart meter technology, but is concerned how the transition will be implemented and that it will cost customers $5 each month for years.
“Eversource’s plan for smart meters appears to be needlessly wasteful and expensive,” Tong said in his letter to PURA. “United Illuminating has been able to invest in smart meters without nickel-and-diming Connecticut families. Eversource needs to modernize their energy infrastructure without ignoring consumer needs.”
United Illuminating has been strategically phasing in smart meter technology since 2010 with no material impact on rates, according to Tong.
Of UI’s 341,000 customers, 84 percent now have smart meters, said Gage Frank, a spokesperson for the Orange-based electric utility, which serves 17 Connecticut communities in the Bridgeport and New Haven areas. UI officials expect to replace the remaining meters by 2024, Frank said.
“Over this time period, UI has taken great care to replace meters gradually in order to maximize the useful life of its existing meter population and deploy smart meter assets in a thoughtful manner to meet customers’ expectations with this technology,” he said.
Smart meter technology can be beneficial to electric utility customers by aiding in storm recovery and help monitor and manage energy consumption, Tong said. But Eversource’s plan is to replace nearly 1 million meters, regardless of whether they are still within their 20-year usable life, he said.
Mitch Gross, an Eversource spokesperson, said Tong’s comparison of the company’s proposed smart meter rollout and how it was handled by UI is flawed.
“The use of smart meter technology is unique to each utility system,” Gross said. “There are differences between the timing, scope and functionality of the smart metering technology installed by UI and the technology that Eversource intends to install. As part of its advanced metering docket, PURA has challenged us to come up with creative ways to minimize bill impact on customers and we have taken up that challenge and plan to work with stakeholders and PURA to find a good result that works for all of our customers and realizes the quantifiable benefits that today’s metering technology will unlock for our customers.”
Tong said the proposed timing of Eversource’s rollout of smart meters and the associated charges will come at a potentially critical
time for ratepayers.
“Eversource will likely apply for a base distribution rate increase in 2023, which if PURA grants any portion thereof, could increase customer bills significantly in 2024,” he said in his letter to the regulatory agency.
“In addition, Eversource has not sought cost-recovery for nearly $700 million in storm costs, including Tropical Storm Isaias. It is not difficult to imagine these costs approaching $2
billion in requested revenue requirements; simply put, Eversource customers can not afford any more rate increases.”
Any Eversource rate increases would come at a time “when consumers will likely still be struggling to manage high gas, food and other commodity prices due to inflation and geopolitical factors,” Tong said in his letter.