Connecticut’s Attorney General William Tong has urged the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) to reject Eversource’s sale of Aquarion Company and its Connecticut subsidiaries, Aquarion Water Company of Connecticut and Torrington Water Company to a new nonprofit. Tong suggests that the sale could double household bills and gut public oversight of water utility rates and consumer protections.
The sale would be valued at approximately $2.4 billion.
Aquarion is the largest water company in the state, serving approximately 722,000 people in 62 municipalities across Connecticut. Aquarion is based in Bridgeport.
“This transaction is a costly loser for Connecticut families who simply cannot afford higher water bills right now,” Tong Said. “This is about Eversource wanting to offload Aquarion because they didn’t get the multimillion-dollar rate hike they demanded. Don’t be confused by the complicated legal maneuvers. This is an end run around PURA to double bills, and it should be rejected.”
Tong said that if PURA does move ahead and consider approving the transaction, it should only do so if it prohibits recovery of acquisition premium or transaction costs from ratepayers as a part of debt service or any financing structure. Tong also says PURA should require the creation of a new, fully independent consumer advocate empowered to advocate fully for ratepayers.
Tong emphasizes that as a corporate-owned public utility, Aquarion is regulated by PURA, which has authority to set rates and scrutinize its service. In 2023, PURA rejected Aquarion’s bid to raise rates by nearly 30%. The company appealed and the Connecticut Supreme Court recently largely affirmed PURA’s decision.
The nonprofit that would be created in the proposed sale would be called the Aquarion Water Authority (AWA), which would share resources with the South Central Regional Water Authority (RWA), including a CEO, CFO, board, and board committees.
Tong points out that nonprofit utilities, such as the RWA and the proposed AWA, are governed not by PURA but by their own board, comprised of representatives from the towns they serve. The board, making decisions for both the RWA and AWA in this proposed transaction, must either accept or reject a rate request in its entirety, with no ability for line-item adjustments as when rates are before PURA. He says that not once has RWA’s board ever rejected a rate hike request. While the Office of the Attorney General and Consumer Counsel both aggressively advocate on behalf of ratepayers before PURA, the RWA selects its own consumer advocate and sets the advocate’s pay.
Tong says that Aquarion is not hiding its intentions to raise rates. The application projects annual rate increases between 6.5% and 8.35% through 2035, with even more rate hikes expected every five years after that. Those plans could as much as double water bills for Connecticut families over the next decade, according to Tong.
