Settlement Reached On Eversource’s Large Rate Hike Request

State and Eversource officials have come to a settlement on the energy company’s rate hike request that is set to go into effect on May 1. Eversource had originally requested a hike that would’ve resulted in a 6.57 percent increase to bills, but that was reduced to a 2.47 percent increase.

“While no increase is welcome news, we believe that we have limited the requested rate increase as much as possible,” said Consumer Counsel Elin Swanson Katz.

The exact impact on individual customer bills will be determined by the public Utilities Regulatory Authority.
The agreement is still subject to review and approval by PURA. Katz’s office reduced Eversource’s first year rate hike by 60 percent.

Eversource spokesman Mitch Gross released the following statement:

We reached an agreement with the Office of Consumer Counsel and PURA’s Prosecutorial Staff to settle our rate review. While we made several concessions, we believe this is a fair settlement that reduces the increase for customers while allowing us to expand our investments in the electric system to provide safe and reliable service. It’s important to note that this settlement reflects savings from the recent change to the federal tax law that we’re pleased to pass along to customers. We filed the settlement with PURA yesterday and it will now undergo a full review process, which will include public comment hearings where customers and community leaders have the opportunity to express their views.

Eversource recently invested about $700 million to improve the reliability of the electric distribution system, which required some kind of increase, according to a release from the Consumer Counsel’s office..
Next year Eversource’s rate would increase by .81 percent and the year after that by .61 percent under the agreement.

Eversource serves about 1.2 million electric customers in 149 cities and towns in Connecticut. Customers can voice their opinions on the request rate hike at a series of meetings between Jan. 29 and Feb. 9 at PURA headquarters in New Britain. Letters can also be mailed to PURA at 10 Franklin Square New Britain, Conn., 06051 or by email at at pura.executivesecretary@ct.gov, referencing Docket No. 17-10-46.

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