AG Tong asks PURA to reject United Illuminating’s proposed rate hike

Connecticut Attorney General William Tong called on the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) to turn down a $130.7 million rate hike sought by the Avangrid (NYSE:AGR) utility division United Illuminating, calling the request a “bloated, unsupported” bid.

“On Sept. 9, 2022 ”“ at a time when its customers were struggling to afford their skyrocketing electric bills ”“ UI filed a bloated, unsupported proposal to increase its electric distribution rates by $136.5 million over the next three years,” said Tong in a brief filed with PURA. “During the next seven months of administrative litigation before PURA, the company failed to meet its burden to justify its exorbitant rate increase proposals, despite answering over 1,800 interrogatories from stakeholders, testifying over the course of 15 total evidentiary hearings, and answering 145 Late-Filed Exhibits.”

Tong added United Illuminating “failed to demonstrate, as it must, that its proposed distribution rate hike up to 8% in the first rate year is necessary to provide safe, adequate, and reliable electric service.”

Tong also asked PURA to impose a $2 million annual penalty for the company”™s “ongoing failure to remediate the former English Station power plant in New Haven.” English Station operated as a coal and oil-fired power plant for United Illuminating from 1929 until it was deactivated in 1992, and Tong accused the company of “leaving behind a site extensively contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), a known carcinogen, heavy metals, and other contaminants.”

United Illuminating did not publicly comment on Tong”™s actions.