The Public Utilities Regulatory Authority on Wednesday said it is considering raising the $365 million awarded to Berlin electric utility Connecticut Light & Power to recover its storm costs from 2011 and 2012.
CL&P originally asked for $414 million from ratepayers to cover its expenses preparing for and responding to the outages caused by Tropical Storm Irene, the October 2011 nor’easter, Superstorm Sandy, and two other smaller storms. PURA ruled on March 13 that CL&P could recover only $365 million of that money on ratepayer bills, spread out over six years starting no earlier than Dec. 1.
CL&P asked PURA to reconsider that decision, and on Wednesday regulators voted to reopen the case.
PURA’s decision did not address whether CL&P should be assessed a penalty of up to $143 million for its response to Tropical Storm Irene and the October nor’easter in 2011. Any possible penalty would come as part of CL&P’s next regular rate case, expected to be filed sometime this year.
