Eversource Energy reported a return to profitability in the third quarter as CEO Joe Nolan highlighted surging electricity demand and a shifting regulatory environment in Connecticut that he said creates new opportunities for the utility giant.
Eversource reported earnings of $367.5 million, or 99 cents per share, for the third quarter of 2025, a significant turnaround from a loss of $118.1 million, or 33 cents per share, in the same period last year, according to the company’s financial results released late Tuesday. Last year’s third-quarter loss was driven by the company’s offshore wind divestiture.
During Wednesday’s earnings call, Nolan struck an optimistic tone about changes to Connecticut’s regulatory environment, noting that Gov. Ned Lamont recently appointed four new commissioners to the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority after a period of regulatory upheaval.
“We’re seeing a constructive shift in Connecticut’s regulatory landscape,” Nolan said. “With this new commission on the way, there is now a genuine opportunity to collaborate with all parties on regulatory initiatives and to achieve more balanced regulatory outcomes.”
He added that “a transparent and predictable regulatory process is going to benefit all stakeholders, including our customers, and we are looking forward to getting back to work on Connecticut’s energy goals.”
However, consumer advocates remain focused on affordability concerns. In a statement released Wednesday, Consumer Counsel Claire Coleman highlighted the economic pressures facing utility customers.
“Yankee Gas proposed a staggering 43% increase in distribution rates at a time when families and businesses across the state are struggling to make ends meet and our most vulnerable residents are bracing for the cold with little certainty federal heating assistance will be available this winter season,” Coleman said.
While PURA reduced the company’s requested increase from $209 million to approximately $82 million, Coleman noted the decision “is more generous than OCC’s recommendations,” though she expressed satisfaction that PURA ordered Yankee Gas to implement a discount rate for vulnerable customers.
Meantime, Eversource Chief Financial Officer John Moreira said credit rating agencies are closely monitoring Connecticut’s regulatory situation and remain in “wait-and-see mode” regarding how the changes will impact the utility’s credit profile.
Nolan noted that electricity demand in Eversource’s service territory is accelerating faster than new generation can keep pace, requiring significant transmission infrastructure investments.
“Load growth in our service territory has started outpacing the impacts of distributed generation,” Nolan said, noting that the company experienced its highest peak in demand this summer since 2013.
The evolving demand landscape, Nolan explained, “presents a need for numerous transmission projects, such as upgrades linking onshore and offshore wind to load centers, interconnections, improving regional reliability and addressing congestion.”
Among the major projects Eversource is pursuing: the Cambridge underground substation, which will be “the largest in the nation,” one of 14 substations the company expects to build in Massachusetts to support future growth.
Also, he noted the company’s acquisition last year of a portion of the Mystic Generating Station site in Everett, Massachusetts, from Constellation Energy, with the goal of transforming it into a multi‑use energy interconnection hub.
Noland said Eversource has responded to requests for proposals from ISO New England, the region’s electric grid operator, “to address longer-term transmission solutions,” including a plan to transmit power from northern Maine to southern New England.
Looking forward, Nolan teased additional growth initiatives, without providing details, telling investors to expect news “on another strategic site that we’re very excited about that will position the company for decades to come.”
Nolan said PURA’s pending decision on the sale of its water subsidiary, Aquarion Water Co., to a quasi-public nonprofit entity, will bring in net cash of $1.6 billion for Eversource. PURA is set to issue a final decision on the sale on Nov. 19, and Nolan said Eversource expects the deal to close by the end of the year.
Eversource operates New England’s largest energy delivery system, serving approximately 4.6 million electric, natural gas and water customers in Connecticut, Massachusetts and New Hampshire.