Tong to PURA: Order interim rate cuts
Connecticut Attorney General William Tong is calling on state utility regulators to approve an interim decrease in electricity rates for customers of Eversource Energy.
The state’s Public Utilities Regulatory Authority is reviewing the company’s rates and evaluating whether an interim rate reduction is appropriate. The review was called for when Connecticut lawmakers passed the Take Back Our Grid Act in October 2020.
“Connecticut families and consumers cannot afford to pay any more for their utilities,” Tong said in a statement Tuesday. “Electricity costs in our state are already the highest in the continental United States and as families continue to work and attend school from home because of the COVID-19 pandemic, they need a break from these oppressive costs,”
In a brief Tong’s office filed with PURA, the attorney general said Eversource’s costs have decreased since its last rate case in 2018, but those cost reductions are not reflected in the utility’s current rates.
A $100 million rate reduction would cut Eversource’s distribution rates by 4.54 percent, which would translate into a 2.6 percent total bill decrease for ratepayers. That would reduce the average Eversource customer’s bill by about $5 per month, according to Elizabeth Benton, a spokeswoman for Tong.
Mitch Gross, an Eversource spokesman, said the utility is “committed to helping customers control their energy costs and have presented PURA with options to reduce rate impacts and help people better manage utility bills.”
The company did not respond directly to Tong’s statement about Eversource’s costs decreasing but consumer rates not.
“We understand the pandemic is still challenging for some customers and remind everyone we have a variety of payment plans and programs available to help including the COVID-19 Payment Plan,” Gross said. “All Eversource customers – regardless of financial need, residential and non-residential – are eligible to signup for this which enables them to pay a past-due balance over a period of up to 24 months with no interest charges and no down payment. Enrollment is open through September 30.”
Eversource customers having difficulty paying their bill can 800-286-2828 or visit the company’s website to sign up for one of the utility’s repayment programs.