🔒Eversource’s bid to seal 300,000 rate-case pages draws pushback from regulators, advocates

State regulators and consumer advocates on Tuesday challenged Eversource Energy’s plan to file most of the supporting records in its upcoming electric rate case under seal, raising concerns about public access and compliance with Connecticut’s Freedom of Information Act. The dispute comes as the Hartford-based utility seeks its first electric distribution rate increase in nearly a decade. Eversource has proposed raising average electric bills by about 11% beginning in July 2027. The company wants to file an estimated 300,000 pages under seal, arguing state law exempts the records from public disclosure entirely — and that redacting them, at an estimated cost of $800,000, would be impractical. But because Eversource is a private company and PURA is subject to the state’s FOI law, regulators questioned how the agency would respond if someone requested access to records it was holding under seal. “It is us, not Eversource, that’s answerable to our adherence and compliance with the laws,” PURA Chairman Thomas Wiehl said. He added that he was uncomfortable relying on company-provided redactions if the agency had to defend them before the Freedom of Information Commission. “They would nonetheless be our redactions in the eyes of the commission,” Wiehl said. Connecticut’s FOI law exempts certain categories of records from public disclosure — including information that could pose a safety risk to utility infrastructure or compromise the security of an IT system — though the parties disagree over whether those exemptions apply here and whether they relieve a company of any obligation to provide redacted versions. Eversource Assistant General Counsel Vincent Pace argued that state law supports the company’s position. If a document qualifies for a FOI exemption, he said, an agency is not required to release a redacted version. “If we demonstrate that the information is protected, the entire document is exempt,” Pace said. Consumer Counsel Claire Coleman said the volume and cost of redactions do not justify withholding records from the public. Utilities spend months or years preparing rate cases, and handling large filings is “a cost of appearing in authority proceedings,” her office has argued. She also questioned why the issue surfaced only weeks before the filing. “Why is it now, less than a month before they’re seeking to file, that these issues are being worked out with vendors and the feasibility of redactions is being raised?” Coleman said. Pace rejected the suggestion that Eversource was relying solely on the burden of redactions. “This is not just a matter of us saying it’s burdensome or difficult — we actually have the law supporting us,” he said. Coleman also argued that as a quasi-judicial body, PURA operates more like a court than a standard agency — and court filings are presumptively public. “When you go to court, briefs and evidence are filed publicly,” she said. “We think there should continue to be a presumption that documents are filed with PURA in a publicly accessible format, just like with courts.” Tom Lopez, director of PURA’s Office of Education, Outreach and Enforcement, disputed the notion that all 300,000 pages contain sensitive information. “Most of the material on any given page is not confidential,” Lopez said, citing storm invoices that include employee hours, travel time and standby time. He added that Eversource’s offer to help PURA respond to FOI requests missed the larger issue because the records “should be available to the public anyway.” Eversource’s Pace also raised national security concerns, arguing that nine years of capital project records could potentially be used to map parts of the electric system. No ruling was issued following Tuesday’s procedural conference at PURA’s New Britain offices. Wiehl said the agency will provide guidance and indicated he expects Eversource’s forthcoming motion for protective treatment to more clearly identify which records should remain confidential and why. “I wonder if it might help everyone if the motions themselves were more descriptive,” he said. Eversource has pointed to prior PURA decisions, including a recent storm-cost proceeding in which regulators allowed about 152,000 pages of invoices to be filed under seal.