Connecticut Attorney General Scoffs At Yankee Gas Rate Hike Proposal

HARTFORD, CT — Attorney General William Tong had a terse response to the formal request by Yankee Gas for a $209 million rate hike filed Tuesday with the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority.

The request would raise revenue for the company by 29 percent, with a "major impact to residential customers," he said.

Tong said residential customers who use gas to heat their homes would see bills rise by 43 percent.

Yankee Gas is owned by Eversource.

"Read the room, Eversource. Connecticut families are fed up with sky high energy costs and can't afford this massive increase," Tong said. "This is yet another tone-deaf slap in the face from our out-of-touch public utilities. You don’t have to be a lawyer to see some basic obvious overreach in this filing. They’re asking for profits that are completely out of whack with other public utilities, including tacking on a non-starter regulatory risk premium to account for the fact that our public utilities don’t like oversight and accountability."

Said Eversource officials, "Regulators are requiring a rate review of our natural gas operations, which is why we filed a distribution rate change application today – our first in six years. The increase is driven by the substantial investments we’ve made - and must continue to make - in the natural gas distribution system to ensure customers have safe, reliable service year-round, and especially during the winter heating months. These vital investments are part of the service customers pay for through rates and are critical to safety and reliability. Recent PURA precedent has led to regulatory outcomes that result in higher costs for customers over shorter periods of time. To avoid that, we’re presenting a proactive approach that directly addresses the costs needed to ensure the safety and reliability of the natural gas system while proposing a new performance based regulatory (PBR) plan that sets rates over multiple years. The PBR plan is designed to transparently measure performance, promote long-term cost control, create bill stability, and prevent continued rate shock for customers by establishing metrics to promote safety and reliability, customer satisfaction and engagement, and reduce emissions."

Added Tong, "I’m going to comb through every page of this application and will be there at every single step of these proceedings to fight for Connecticut families."

Yankee Gas has 222,800 residential customers, 28,000 commercial customers, and 1,500 industrial customers across 85 towns in Connecticut.

"We filed for a rate review of our natural gas operations with PURA today," Eversource spokeswoman Jamie Ratliff said. "It's been six years since we last filed for a rate review. The review process will take place over the course of a year and include public hearings. If approved as proposed, residential natural gas heating customers would see a total annual bill impact of 43 percent, which equals an average monthly bill increase of approximately $46.74 starting November 1, 2025.

"At the same time, we've proposed a supply-related credit, which would reduce that increase to 38 percent. A customer’s bill impact will depend on seasonal usage."

Click here for a link to the filing.