State Attorney General William Tong is calling on energy regulators to reduce Eversource Energy’s rates by as much as $123 million per year, arguing the utility’s prices are “bloated and unaffordable,” especially considering the financial hardships imposed on many Connecticut families by the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a brief submitted to the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority last week, Tong asserted that a decrease in Eversource’s overall costs since 2018 has not been passed on to ratepayers, and charged that customers receive “no direct benefit” for the “excessive” rates they face. He is asking PURA to consider dropping the company’s approved annual distribution revenues by between $65 million and $123 million.
By way of example, Tong noted that a reduction of $100 million would translate into a 4.54% distribution rate decrease, or a 2.6% total bill decrease, until PURA sets rates during Eversource’s next rate case.
“Allowing Eversource rates to remain at their current level… is tantamount to needlessly transferring income from Eversource ratepayers to Eversource shareholders,” the attorney general wrote. “Such a transfer of income from Eversource ratepayers to shareholders during these trying pandemic times, without any discernible direct benefit to ratepayers, is not only not in the public interest, it is simply unconscionable.”
Tong has asked regulators to sign off on an interim rate decrease, with savings passed on to users in the form of a line-item credit on monthly bills.
In a statement, Eversource officials said they have numerous initiatives in place to assist residents who may be struggling to make their electricity payments.
“We’re 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,” said Eversource spokeswoman Tricia Modifica. “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.”
The COVID-19 payment program allows customers 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 Sept. 30, regardless of financial need.
Eversource has faced increased scrutiny over its prices since July 2020, when a delivery fee increase — exacerbated by a heat wave and COVID-19 lockdowns — led to some customers being charged hundreds of dollars more on their bills than the month before. The adjustment provoked an intense backlash from ratepayers and elected officials, and regulators subsequently stepped in and temporarily suspended the increase.
In September that year, the legislature passed the “Take Back Our Grid Act,” which, among other provisions, gives PURA the authority to open proceedings to consider the implementation of an interim rate decrease.
