Never Enough: Another Rate Hike from Connecticut's Eversource

Just when Connecticut residents thought they could breathe a sigh of relief, the electric bill whiplash is back.

Yesterday, Eversource dropped a bombshell announcement: it is formally seeking a $503 million rate hike. For the average residential customer, that translates to an estimated $25 more per month—roughly an 11% to 13% increase in the total bill, driven by a staggering 35% spike in the distribution portion of the statement. Keep in mind, Connecticut already suffers from some of the highest electricity costs in the nation.

The timing is incredibly frustrating to local ratepayers. Just last month, state regulators approved a temporary 15% rate cut by turning the controversial "public benefits charge" into a credit, saving residents about $30 a month. But before that relief even takes full effect for the summer heat, Eversource is already moving to lock in a massive, permanent increase to your distribution charges starting next year.

The announcement triggered an immediate response from Governor Ned Lamont, who is in campaign mode, sounding more like a populist. He didn't just stop at a basic press release; he issued an extended message to CT families slamming Eversource for using "a convenient, creative form of math."

"Our families already pay some of the highest electricity bills in the country and cannot be asked to subsidize shareholder returns even more. I hope PURA will look at this request carefully and protect our working and middle class."

"Eversource seems to be claiming they're losing money on Connecticut. Maybe their numbers are real, but when they simultaneously post $1.69 billion in profit and pay their CEO $13.5 million last year, it makes you wonder if they're relying on a convenient, creative form of math.""

"One of the most profitable utility companies in America, whose CEO earns 94 times the average worker and walks away with $60 million if the company is sold, is asking Connecticut families to dig deeper to help out their bottom line... The people being asked to fund that safety net are the same families who don't have one."

While the PURA board is technically an independent watchdog, the members are hand-picked and appointed by the Governor. After the tough former PURA chair, Marissa Gillett, was effectively run out of town following relentless utility lobbying, a brand new slate of commissioners took the reins. They include Chairman Thomas Wiehl (a former attorney in the Office of Consumer Counsel), former Republican state Rep. Holly Cheeseman, energy policy professor Janice Beecher, and Greenwich investor Everett Smith. They join Vice Chair David Arconti, a former state lawmaker and a former lobbyist for United Illuminating.

Between the Lines: With his own hand-picked regulatory body, If the CT Governor can't protect working-class wallets from these constant hikes, who can?

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