Connecticut”™s attorney general said he would fight a 2.4 percent increase in water rates approved for Monroe-based Aquarion Water Co., which the company had requested to maintain infrastructure.
In a draft decision, the Connecticut Department of Public Utility Control approved the increase, nine months after a one-third increase for many Fairfield County customers after years of flat rates.
“This draft decision will severely harm consumers, pushing their financial levees to the brink when they are more vulnerable than ever before,” said Richard Blumenthal, attorney general of Connecticut. “It”™s time for Aquarion and other utilities to enjoy the same belt tightening that all citizens are forced to face.”
As of December 2007, the typical Aquarion household customer in Fairfield County had a $320 annual bill, according to DPUC.
In separate Aquarion news, the company shut down a well last month in Millbury, Mass., after a test found elevated levels of perchlorate, a substance used in explosives that can interfere with the function of the thyroid gland. Subsequent tests did not find similar levels, but the company kept the well closed for further testing.
