Eversource Energy executives on Friday morning detailed a significant increase in second-quarter profits, hours before protestors were expected to descend upon its Berlin offices to decry recent electric bill hikes.
Eversource’s profits for the quarter ended June 30 totaled $252 million, or 75 cents per diluted share, up significantly from $31.5 million, or 10 cents per share, in the same quarter a year ago.
The main reason for the steep improvement is that Eversource booked a nearly $205 million after-tax impairment charge in the year-ago quarter after it lost a legal case that doomed its planned massive Northern Pass transmission project.
Eversource’s second-quarter earnings release coincided with recent public outcry over higher electric bills in July. The company released a statement ahead of its earnings call Friday highlighting its COVID-19 repayment program and saying it would expand eligibility for another relief program for customers with overdue balances.
Eversource said it’s fielded thousands of calls from customers this week. An online petition to cancel recent rate hikes has been signed by more than 93,000 people as of Friday morning.
“We share the concerns of our customers and know that this is an unexpected cause of distress during an already challenging time,” Chief Customer Officer Penni Conner said in the statement. “We’re committed to working one-on-one with customers to help reduce their energy bills and to provide flexible payment solutions.”
For the time being, residential customers are protected from service shut-offs for the duration of the public health and civil preparedness emergencies that began in March and are set to expire in September, barring further action by state leaders.
The complaints from consumers spurred a bipartisan group of state legislators, including leaders of the Democratic majority, to call on the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) this week to suspend rate increases that took effect on July 1, and to conduct a review.
PURA has said it will open an investigation of the matter, WNPR reported Thursday.
State Attorney General William Tong has already filed a series of questions with PURA regarding the increases that he wants Eversource to answer.
Several stock analysts asked Eversource about the situation on Friday’s earnings call.
Philip Lembo, chief financial officer, said that “85% or more” of the increases can be explained by the fact that residential customers are simply using more energy. Electricity usage by those customers increased 26% in June compared to a year prior, said Lembo, who attributed the increase to teleworking during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as to a recent run of hot weather.
“The bill is the rate times the usage, and the usage is up dramatically,” Lembo said. “The rate in the calculation is up 3.5%.”
That 3.5% includes any impacts from the Millstone contract, as well as other factors, such as an increased grid-reliability fee and recovery of transmission system investments that were previously under-collected.
Lembo hopes the pending PURA investigation will help customers and politicians better understand the factors driving the increase, as well as help highlight energy efficiency programs that can reduce monthly costs.
“We take it seriously to keep our costs down,” he said. “People are hurting, we want to help be a part of the solution here. Usage is a driver.”
