NEW BRITAIN – A Superior Court judge ruled Thursday that the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) acted “illegally” in denying the change in control application submitted by Aquarion Water Authority, South Central Connecticut Regional Water Authority (RWA) and Eversource Energy and has remanded the application back to PURA.
Eversource was seeking the change in control following its $2.4 billion purchase of Aquarion Water in a deal that came about after the state legislature approved the creation of the nonprofit Aquarion Water Authority last year.
“… the court remands this matter back to PURA for any proceedings consistent with this memorandum of decision,” Superior Court Judge Matthew Budzik wrote in his decision. “For clarity, the court does not order that PURA must approve the application. While the court agrees with the plaintiffs that PURA has no authority to overrule the decisions made by the legislature and set forth expressly in statute, not all of PURA’s reasons for denying the application contravene Connecticut law.”
However, the judge rejected the plaintiffs’ argument that General Statutes § 16-47(d)’s (the law that formed the Aquarion Water Authority) requirement that PURA shall make a “determination” as soon as practicable and not more than 230 days after the filing of the application, means that PURA must issue a “lawful order” within that time period or the application is deemed approved.”
Under the deal, Aquarion, which provides public water service to 57 Connecticut municipalities and is regulated by PURA, would no longer be subject to regulatory oversight since it would be a nonprofit.
Eversource appealed the Nov. 19 PURA decision on Dec. 2 stating: the decision “is wrong as a matter of law and must be reversed and remanded with instructions to approve the transaction.”
Aquarion Water Co. and Aquarion Water Authority believes the court’s decision will allow for a resolution that will allow the deal to go through.
“Today’s clear decision from the court provides a path forward which we believe should be focused on collaboration and reaching a practical resolution that supports long-term infrastructure investment, protects customers, and ensures safe, reliable water service across Connecticut,” according to a joint statement from the two entities. “We appreciate the Court’s direction and will continue engaging with PURA and all stakeholders as this matter moves forward.”
While Fairfield First Selectperson Christine Vitale said she and other municipalities will not give up the fight against the Aquarion change in control, she saw a silver lining in the court’s decision to remand the application back to PURA.
“While the towns believe that PURA acted properly as a matter of law, we understand that Judge Budzik disagreed on two of the three grounds for PURA’s denial,” Vitale said. “However, he properly concluded that PURA had the power to conclude that the inadequate budget, staffing and independence of the proposed Office of Consumer Affairs was not in the public interest.
“We appreciate that the Court refused to order PURA to approve the application, and instead remanded the case to PURA for further proceedings. “We will continue to fight against this unacceptable transaction – which will guarantee unregulated increases in water rates – and we look forward to continuing to advance our arguments to PURA that this transaction is unacceptable to the town and clearly not in the public interest.”
State Republican leadership also disagreed with Judge Budzik’s decision rejection of the state regulator’s denial of the Aquarion Water merger.
“We respectfully urge the Office of the Attorney General to appeal this decision,” said Sens. Stephen Harding, Ryan Fazio, Heather Somers, Tony Hwang and Eric Berthel. “In November, we thanked PURA for voting down this atrocious deal, which will cause a tsunami of unending water rate spikes in cities and towns across Connecticut.”
