United Illuminating (UI) customers, lawmakers and others have filed nearly 40 written comments opposing the electric utility’s proposed rate increase that would take effect in January.
UI, which now uses the name Avangrid following its acquisition by Iberdrola late last year, said in June that it would seek a three-year hike in its distribution rates to recover costs totaling more than $100 million.
The company told the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) that it needs the increase primarily to recover its past and future capital investments to maintain the reliability and increase the resiliency of its system, and meet its public service obligations.
Should the increase be approved, the Office of Consumer Counsel estimated that the average UI customer’s bill will increase by $9.34 per month in 2017, $9.50 per month in 2018 and $11 per month in 2019. Unsurprisingly, the application has drawn opposition.
OCC has called the proposal “an enormous jump” and has urged PURA to slash the increase to $27 million.
Republican lawmakers, including Sen. Tony Hwang, and Reps. Laura Devlin and Brenda Kupchick all submitted comments to PURA arguing that the increase would hurt seniors and vulnerable residents in a state where electricity prices are already among the nation’s highest.
The Connecticut Fund for the Environment wrote that the case presents an opportunity for regulators to consider lowering the state’s fixed charge, which advocates says lengthens the payback on investments in energy efficiency and renewables and is regressive.
PURA, which is expected to rule on the application before year’s end, presided over public hearings this month in Bridgeport and New Haven — two of UI’s key territories.
UI last filed for a distribution rate adjustment in early 2013.
