The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Aquarion wanted to raise state rates by 27 percent
Regulators have tentatively rejected that plan
A tentative ruling issued Thursday by state utility regulators completely rejects a 27 percent rate increase over three years proposed by the Aquarion Water Co. and instead calls for a small reduction in existing customer rates.
Taren O’Connor, a spokeswoman for the Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority, said the draft decision “rejects in full the company’s three-year rate plan and would instead reduce current customer rates.” The tentative ruling comes after months of hearings conducted by PURA commissioners. If the ruling is approved when the final decision in the case is issued on March 15, the average Aquarion customer would see their water bill decrease by 0.2 percent, according to calculations done by officials with the office of Connecticut Attorney General William Tong. The actual dollar amount that customers bill would decrease under the draft decision ranges from 77 cents to $1 per year, depending upon what part of Aquarion’s service territory a customer lives.
Peter Fazekas, an Aquarion spokesman, said PURA’s draft decision doesn’t adequately take into account the more than $740 million in investments in new infrastructure and services the company has since in the last rate case in 2013.
“These investments are the critical infrastructure that approximately 725,000 customers rely on for clean water supply,” Fazekas said. “This draft decision raises significant questions and uncertainty as to our ability to continue these investments into the future. While we understand the drive to affordability, it can not come at the cost of lost investment that will ultimately harm customer interests.”
Ever since officials at Bridgeport-based Aquarion announced its intent last summer
to seek a rate increase, the plan drew the ire of a number public officials. Tong, who urged PURA in January to reject the request, calling the proposed increase “excessive and unwarranted” at the time.
Tong said Thursday that Connecticut consumers have borne the burden of rate increases for years now and called PURA’s ruling “a massive victory for Connecticut ratepayers.”
“When Aquarion first issued its plan, I knew Connecticut consumers – especially those on fixed or limited incomes – simply couldn’t be asked to shoulder yet another costly hit to their finances,” he said. “I thank PURA for rejecting Aquarion’s proposed hike and for protecting Connecticut families and consumers.”
Connecticut’s Consumer Counsel Claire Coleman called PURA draft decision “a major win for consumers.” Coleman’s office represents the interests of utility customers in rate cases.
“Aquarion’s rate increase request was excessive and rightly should not have been imposed on its customers,” she said. “It is rare to see a rate decrease in the utility sector, and we appreciate the Authority’s efforts to seek a historic outcome – one that understands that residents are still coping with post-pandemic uncertainty and an economy that is increasing the cost of consumer goods.”
Aquarion is owned by Eversource Energy, which acquired the company in 2017. Eversource Energy also operates the state’s largest electric distribution company and a natural gas utility.
The increase Aquarion requested is the first fullfledged rate case filed by the company since Eversource purchased the utility.
Aquarion serves customers in 56 Connecticut towns, primarily in Fairfield and Litchfield counties. The utility also has customers in five Massachusetts communities and seven in New Hampshire.