This story has been updated to correct the title of Rochelle Kowalski and the names of the authors of the letter sent to area towns regarding the Aquarion Water Co. PURA case.
The CFO of South Central Connecticut Regional Water Authority (RWA) and the president of Aquarion Water Co. have reached out to communities served by Aquarion Water Co. to persuade PURA to change its mind and approve a change in control application from RWA and its parent Eversource Energy after a court remanded an earlier October 2025 denial back to the regulator.
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.
On Jan. 22 a Superior Court judge ruled that PURA acted “illegally” in denying the change in control application submitted by Aquarion Water Authority, RWA and Eversource and remanded the application back to the regulator.
The RWA letter sent to municipal government officials in Fairfield, New Canaan, Ridgefield and Westport (intervenors in the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority case) reiterates the water utility’s reasons for PURA to change its earlier decision to deny the change in control application.
“We understand and respect the concerns that have been raised about the transaction framework,” said Lucy Teixeira, Aquarion Water Co. President, and Rochelle Kowalski, CFO of RWA. “A decision of this magnitude warrants scrutiny and thoughtful discussion. At the same time, it is important to evaluate not only the mechanics of the transition, but the concrete protections, oversight and benefits that will accompany it.”
Attorneys for the Aquarion Water Authority, Regional Water Authority and Eversource filed a joint remand brief Tuesday ahead of PURA’s March 25 deadline to issue a final remand decision. Attorneys for the intervenor towns, the state Attorney General’s office and the Office of Consumer Counsel also filed remand briefs on Tuesday.
In the remand brief and RWA community letter, Eversource and its water utility made its case for PURA and the intervenor towns to accept its modified offer of compromise. That includes the following commitments from Aquarion Water Authority:
- Municipal revenue protection: Payments in Lieu of Taxes that will never be less than Aquarion’s current property tax payments at closing, ensuring that no community is financially disadvantaged by the transition.
- Rate stability for customers: a $10 million Rate Stabilization Fund, enforceable by PURA, to help offset future rate impacts and provide an added layer of customer protection.
- Permanent preservation of existing rate credits: the $16.8 million in annual rate credits already embedded in Aquarion rates will remain in place in perpetuity, continuing to benefit customers year after year.
- Structured governance and oversight: a Special Transition Committee to oversee the transition process, followed by bifurcated voting for the AWA and RWA boards with separately defined accountability, once steady state operations are achieved.”
In their own briefs, the intervenors, Attorney General William Tong and the Office of Consumer Counsel stood fast against PURA changing its decision to deny the application.
“The Towns urge PURA to balance all such factors and to deny the Application,” the intervenors brief stated. “The evidence at the hearings before PURA demonstrated that this transaction would not be in the public interest for a multitude of reasons, including:
- The fact that all 26 municipalities participating in this docket are opposed to the transaction, and not one municipality in the Aquarion region is supportive.
- The fact that rates are guaranteed to increase if the transaction is approved
- The fact that applicants intend to pass on to ratepayers as part of the rate base a $500 million acquisition premium, contrary to what PURA has ever permitted.
PURA is due to take up the remand application sometime next month following the March 25 deadline.
