🔒Fairfield County towns appeal judge’s Aquarion ruling to state Appellate Court

Four Fairfield County towns and two regional planning groups filed an appeal on Wednesday with the state’s Appellate Court, challenging a Superior Court judge’s decision to remand Eversource Energy’s proposed $2.4 billion sale of Aquarion Water Co. back to state regulators. The towns of Westport, Fairfield, New Canaan and Ridgefield, along with the Western Connecticut Council of Governments and Connecticut Metropolitan Council of Governments, filed the joint appeal seeking to overturn New Britain Superior Court Judge Matthew Budzik’s Jan. 15 ruling. Budzik sustained Eversource’s appeal of the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority’s November denial of the sale, but stopped short of ordering PURA to approve the deal. Publicly owned Eversource is seeking to sell its water subsidiary to Aquarion Water Authority (AWA), a newly created nonprofit quasi-public entity that would share resources with the South Central Connecticut Regional Water Authority (RWA) in New Haven. Eversource, along with AWA and RWA, filed a motion to dismiss the Appellate Court appeal on Thursday. They argue the appeal should be rejected because Budzik’s remand order is not a final judgment and therefore cannot be appealed under Connecticut law. “The remand order expressly contemplated further administrative proceedings before this matter concluded,” the utilities wrote in their motion. In his decision, Budzik sided with the utilities, finding that PURA illegally denied Eversource’s change-of-control application based on governance structures mandated by Public Act No. 24-1, which the legislature passed in June 2024 to authorize the deal. The judge directed the agency to exercise its regulatory discretion “within the parameters established by Connecticut law.” The utilities argue that distinction makes Budzik’s ruling an interlocutory order requiring further agency action, not an appealable final judgment. The intervening municipalities also opposed the sale before PURA, arguing the proposed governance structure would shift control away from local communities in Aquarion’s service area to municipalities in RWA’s territory. PURA unanimously denied the application Nov. 19, 2025, citing concerns about the 11-member board structure creating conflicting fiduciary duties, weighted voting rules that would give 30 municipalities zero voting power, and an Office of Consumer Affairs lacking sufficient independence. The utilities have asked the Appellate Court to expedite consideration of their motion to dismiss, noting PURA is scheduled to issue a decision by March 25. They argue the municipal appeal was filed “in a continued effort to delay the transaction.” Bridgeport-based Cohen and Wolf represents the intervening municipalities, while Harris Beach Murtha Cullina represents AWA and RWA. Cowdery, Murphy & Healy represents Eversource. Aquarion is Connecticut’s largest water utility serving about 695,000 customers in 57 municipalities.