Gov. Ned Lamont has announced the state”™s utilities, Eversource (NYSE:ES) and the Avangrid (NYSE:AGR) subsidiary United Illuminating (UI), will collaborate with his administration on an interim plan to buffer the financial tumult created by the unprecedented electric rate hikes slated for January. However, Attorney General William Tong questioned whether the utilities were serious about helping their customers.
In a statement issued by the governor”™s office, a new “Customer Relief Plan” involves the utilities”™ filing a motion with the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) for the establishment of bill credits to fast-track the return of long-term power contract earnings to all customers starting Jan. 1, 2023. This proposal will provide Eversource customers with a monthly bill credit of around $10 per month ”“ approximately 12.5% of the average customer increase this winter ”“ for the peak winter months; the savings for UI customers was not immediately announced.
The utilities will also seek approval for a discount for low-income hardship customers to accelerate the 2021 Take Back Our Grid Act provision enabling a low-income discount rate by providing a flat-rate credit to financial hardship customers starting in January until the new PURA-approved low-income discount rate goes into effect in 2024. The utilities would also contribute to the Operation Fuel program designed to provide energy assistance to financially struggling customers.
However, neither utility backed down from their respective rate hikes, even though both have generated multi-billion-dollar year-over-year profits.
“As an energy delivery company, we can”™t control the cost of electricity on the supply side of our customer bills, but it is critically important to us to uncover any and all options to provide relief for our customers,” said Steve Sullivan, president of Eversource Connecticut.
“While we don”™t have the ability to control the cost of the energy generation supply, we are here to help our customers above all,” Frank Reynolds, president and CEO of United Illuminating. “As we enter the winter months, we remain committed to coming to the table with all parties to find additional solutions for hard working families across Connecticut.”
While Lamont avoided criticizing the utilities, Tong was more direct in questioning whether they were serious about helping consumers.
“I have asked Eversource and United Illuminating to do more,” said the attorney general in a statement. “Specifically, I have asked them to contribute a percentage of shareholder earnings commensurate with the percentage increase their customers will pay this winter to keep their lights and heat on. To date, they have refused. Absent that, we are left with solutions that provide only modest relief, and are paid for by and large by the very same taxpayers and ratepayers already crushed by this crisis. That is both frustrating and unacceptable.”
Tong added that Connecticut residents “pay far too much for our energy” and warned that the state needs “to take a hard look at who is profiting and who is harmed as we search for long term reform.”
