Here's Why You'll Likely Be Paying A Lot More For Water Over The Next 3 Years

CONNECTICUT — Aquarion Water is seeking to raise its rates by a cumulative 27 percent over three years. The company filed paperwork with the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority.

The utility, which is owned by Eversource, is seeking to raise rates by 13.9 percent in year one, 6.9 percent in year two and 4.2 percent in year three. Aquarion serves 56 towns in Connecticut. A PURA hearing is scheduled for Thursday.

"Aquarion’s rate application will demonstrate that the rate amendment is necessary to meet the
requirements of a modern, reliable water infrastructure system, consistent with ever-increasing health and environmental regulatory standards," Aquarion President Donald Morrissey wrote in a notice to PURA.

The company started an infrastructure investment plan in 2013 and will spend $740 million by August 2022, Morrissey said. Upgrades include: water mains, storage tanks, treatment plant upgrades and dam improvements.

The exact rate changes are yet to be determined, but the company will aim to mitigate impacts for low and mid-level users and encourage higher volume residential customers to conserve.

Aquarion serves about 207,000 Connecticut connections and a population of about 685,000 people, according to a filing.

The company has also imposed a series of water infrastructure and conservation adjustment surcharges, which now total a cumulative 10.3 percent.

State Attorney General William Tong said his office will closely scrutinize the rate request.

"The last thing Connecticut families and small businesses need right now is a double-digit water bill hike, on top of steadily mounting surcharges," he said in a statement. "I fully support modernizing our aging water infrastructure, but we need to make sure we are doing it in a way that respects the financial pressures Connecticut families and small businesses are facing right now."

Aquarion serves the following Connecticut towns:

• Beacon Falls
• Bethel
• Bridgeport
• Brookfield
• Canaan
• Cornwall
• Danbury
• Darien
• East Derby
• East Granby
• East Hampton
• Easton
• Fairfield
• Farmington
• Goshen
• Granby
• Greenwich
• Groton
• Kent
• Lebanon
• Litchfield
• Mansfield
• Marlborough
• Middlebury
• Monroe
• New Canaan
• New Fairfield
• New Milford
• Newtown
• Norfolk
• North Canaan
• Norwalk
• Norwich
• Oxford
• Plainville
• Redding
• Ridgefield
• Salisbury
• Seymour
• Shelton
• Sherman
• Simsbury
• Southbury
• Southington
• Stamford
• Stonington
• Stratford
• Suffield
• Torrington
• Trumbull
• Washington
• Weston
• Westport
• Wilton
• Wolcott
• Woodbury

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