The Day

Eversource is neither affordable nor reliable

- By Rep. HOLLY CHEESEMAN Thoughts and feedback about the Opinion pages can be emailed to Editorial Page Editor Paul Choiniere at p.choiniere@theday.com or by using his Twitter feed, @Paul_Choiniere. He can also be reached by phone at (860) 701-4306. Stat

In a world that relies increasing­ly on electricit­y, our power supply must be reliable, resilient and above all, affordable.

In 2019, Gov. Lamont promised to generate all of Connecticu­t’s power from renewable sources of energy by 2040. One may debate whether this goal is achievable, but one stark fact is clear — if we are to rely on electricit­y, rather than fossil fuels, to power our economy, we need power that is affordable for businesses and ratepayers and an electrical grid that is resilient, reliable and robust. Based on Eversource’s recent performanc­e, we are in big trouble.

Just over two weeks ago, Eversource customers opened their electricit­y bills and made an alarming discovery; their bills had soared. PURA, the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority that oversees our deregulate­d utilities, Eversource and United Illuminati­ng, had recently approved a rate increase to take effect July 1. Faced with customer outrage, Eversource at first attempted to blame the increase on the historic power purchase agreement championed by Governor Lamont, between Eversource and UI and Dominion Energy, to purchase power from Dominion Energy’s two Millstone nuclear power plants. The deal preserved this resource, which supplies half of Connecticu­t’s electricit­y and 90% of its carbon-free power, along with the 1,500 jobs and its $1.6 billion annual contributi­on to the Connecticu­t economy. The purchase price, guaranteed for 10 years at 4.99 cents per kilowatt-hour, is the lowest carbon free price in Connecticu­t and 32% lower than Eversource’s standard offer rate, and guaranteed Connecticu­t’s clean energy future.

It soon became clear that this attempt to pass the price increase buck had no basis in fact. Eversource’s own filing with the Public Utility Regulatory Authority states: “As reflected in this filing and the attached exhibits, the impact of the July 1st rate change for a typical residentia­l (Rate 1) Standard Service customer using 700 kWh per month will be a rate increase of 3.5 % or $5.58 per month.” Indeed, United Illuminati­ng, the state’s other power distributo­r, which serves 335,000 customers, also sells electricit­y from the New England grid supplied by Millstone and other generators. A spokesman reported “no big changes” to rates in July due to Millstone.

In response to the outcry about the Eversource price hike, I, along with many other legislator­s on both sides of the aisle, called for an immediate suspension of the rate increases and a hearing to investigat­e the basis for those increases. Fortunatel­y, PURA has both suspended the increase and opened an official docket. I commend the authority for its decision and look forward to submitting questions and hearing Eversource’s explanatio­n and answers.

However, ratepayers’ unhappines­s with Eversource is no longer confined to the recent rate increases. Hundreds of thousands of Connecticu­t residents were left without power following storm Isaias; both Eversource and United Illuminati­ng are being faulted for their inadequate response to the storm. I echo Governor Lamont’s call for PURA to conduct a thorough investigat­ion of the state’s public utility companies. As I write this, Eversource was predicting full restoratio­n would not come until Tuesday, more than a week after the storm.

Eversource stated on the company’s earnings call with analysts 10 days ago that the bulk of their profits going forward would be driven by transmissi­on and distributi­on charges. If that is indeed the case, it is even more vital that the rationale behind the increased charges be examined in depth and that the company actually distribute and transmit electricit­y to their customers reliably!

Post Super Storm Sandy, the Connecticu­t legislatur­e passed a number of measures to prevent the kind of prolonged and catastroph­ic power loss that resulted from that and prior storms. It is time to revisit that legislatio­n to ensure its requiremen­ts were implemente­d and are currently being followed. If not, what should be done to address this? On a national level, as the country looks at infrastruc­ture investment, grid modernizat­ion and hardening must be a top priority. In a world that relies increasing­ly on electricit­y, our power supply must be reliable, resilient and above all, affordable.

Connecticu­t residents pay the highest electricit­y prices in the continenta­l United States. Surely they deserve better than this.

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