Connecticut AG Filed Brief Urging Public Utilities Regulatory Authority to Reject Utility Company’s Rate Hike Request

APRIL 27, 2023

In April 2023, Connecticut Attorney General William Tong filed a brief urging the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) to reject a request by United Illuminating, a regional electric distribution company, to raise electricity rates considerably, resulting in a $130.7 million increase in the company’s revenue. According to the brief, the company failed to support or justify its request, despite seven months of administrative litigation. AG Tong also urged PURA to impose a $2 million penalty on the company for failing to remediate a coal and oil-fired power plant that has been deactivated since 1992—and which is extensively contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls—well beyond the three-year window within which remediation is required.

In July 2023, following PURA’s decision to to reject United Illuminating’s request for a $130.7 rate hike—approving instead only a $2 million increase—and to impose the $2 million penalty, AG Tong released the following statement: “This strong decision sends a clear message to Connecticut’s regulated utilities—failure to meet basic obligations to ratepayers will not be rewarded. United Illuminating has utterly refused to meet its commitments to remediate English Station, which remains a contaminated blight on the residents of New Haven who were promised better. This failure will now come at a significant cost to United Illuminating’s shareholders. Perhaps now United Illuminating will finally get serious about meeting their clear obligations under the law. I will continue to do everything in my power to ensure UI meets those obligations to remediate the English Station site. United Illuminating sought a bloated, unsupported $130.7 million rate hike, padded with exorbitant guaranteed profits. It was always on UI to justify this rate hike, and they failed to meet that standard. I thank the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority and Chairman Gillett for this comprehensive, pro-consumer decision.”

In August 2023, AG Tong released another statement after PURA issued the final decision: “This has been a thorough, tough, and fair process since day one, now producing a strong, pro-ratepayer final decision. PURA was right to see through the company’s attempts to distract from the sound reasoning of the decision and to rely on the clear record in this proceeding—United Illuminating sought a bloated, unsupported $130.7 million rate hike, padded with exorbitant guaranteed profits. UI never proved their case. United Illuminating has utterly refused to meet its commitments to remediate English Station. United Illuminating can stop this annual penalty at any time by getting serious about their clear obligations under the law. And if a $2 million annual penalty isn’t enough to convince United Illuminating of their legal obligations, I will continue to do everything in my power to compel the company to clean-up English Station and honor their commitments to the New Haven community and the state of Connecticut.”