VERNON, CT — The historically testy relationship between the town and of Vernon and the state's largest electric utility has sparked a war of words once again.
Things began unraveling Wednesday, when Mayor Dan Champagne and Vernon town council members not only signed a petition opposing a rate increase request, but offered it up to the entire state. Eversource notified regulators that it plans to file a rate increase request next month. If approved, the increase would take effect in July 2027. The town said Eversource has indicated the request would be a 13 percent increase for residential users and an 11 percent increase overall.
Eversource officials countered by saying the Vernon delegation's arguments had a few holes in them.
Vernon the took to social media and posted this on its Facebook page Thursday:
"A quick reminder for Eversource CT. The CEO of the Town of Vernon makes $32,939 a year. The CEO of Eversource makes nearly $37,000 a day. Both are paid by the public. Visit www.vernon-ct.gov to sign our petition opposing Eversource's 13 percent residential rate increase request."
The petition can be found at:
"Here we go again," Champagne said. "One of the most profitable utilities in the nation is asking its customers to pay more and more for electricity. It’s outrageous and we can’t afford it. I hope the people who will be forced to pay these rates will join us in telling Eversource 'no way.'"
The bill period increases would be roughly $25 for the average household using 750 kilowatt hours of power each month.
Not so fast, Eversource officials said, and released the following statement:
"Vernon’s town leaders are once again looking for headlines instead of solutions that are actually focused on addressing the pressing energy issues facing our state. The truth is, like other municipalities across Connecticut, the town of Vernon has directly benefitted from the strategic investments we’ve made in the electric system over the last decade – which are exactly the costs that our rate review is centered on.
"Thanks to our year-round efforts to replace aging infrastructure and our comprehensive vegetation management program, Vernon’s overall electric reliability score is higher than the state average, with the average customer experiencing an outage only once every 27 months.
"These investments also generate significant property tax revenue for the town, upwards of one million dollars annually for Vernon from our electric infrastructure alone, which supports residents and important town services they rely on. Municipal leaders, including those in Vernon, also recognize how economic conditions have led to increased costs across the board in recent years.
"For example, Vernon’s town budget has seen a more than 17 percent increase in the last seven fiscal years. In his budget request just this year, Vernon's mayor attributed the increase he was asking for to needed town investments and rising costs of goods and services. Just as they’ve experienced higher operating costs and have had to raise more revenue from taxpayers to cover those costs, we are not immune to those same inflationary pressures that have driven up the costs of every pole, wire, and piece of equipment we operate across the state, and it’s been nearly a decade since we last requested a rate review. We are always eager and willing to meet with town leaders to discuss the impact of the critical work we do every day to support electric reliability and the investments we make on behalf of customers."
Here is Eversource's executive salary schedule:
Comparing salaries isn't "apples to apples" a utility spokeswoman said, reasoning that execs are not public employees in Connecticut, but company employees that serve other states as well.
Verbal sparring between the two towns has been a common thing for about 15 years.
Back in 2011, when the Snowtober blizzard reared its ugly head, then mayor Jason McCoy went off about the response time to get Vernon with power again — which was about two weeks.
In 2020, after Storm Isaias, Vernon officials sent a letter to Eversource demanding reimbursement for "costs incurred due to Eversource's failed response to Tropical Storm Isaias."
The letter cited $84,000 out of a total municipal storm bill of $140,000.
Again, Vernon officials cited response times. Power was eventually restored and connections for a tricky and troublesome neighborhood in town were finally rectified after nine years of headaches.
Vernon officials even staged a news conference to express their anger.
The notorious Eversource and Vernon bridge argument took place two years later when extensive delays during the Dart Hill Road Bridge replacement boiled over.
The town erected a sign that told resident to blame Eversource, citing a natural gas pipeline issue.
Added Eversource on the latest, "It's important to mention that there are no CEO, CFO or company president salaries or other pay that will be included in our rate request, and the vast majority of the headline compensation that politicians continue to sensationalize is not in customer rates at all.
"Even if our CEO and other executives worked for free, customer bills would be the same and energy affordability would still be a prevalent conversation in New England as energy supply constraints continue to drive the largest and most volatile part of customer electric bills."
Eversource officials also pointed to the utiliuty's latest reliability report.
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