CT's Largest Water Utility Seeking $88 Million Rate Hike: Here's What It Means For You

Eversource Energy has filed a letter of intent for an $88 million rate hike for its Aquarion Water Company subsidiary, a request that could bump up customer bills by 42 percent.

According to the Aquarion filing, it serves approximately 688,000 customers, or 209,000 customer meters, across Connecticut. That's the largest utility customer base in the state.

The Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority will review the request. If approved, the rates could be in effect by the end of 2026.

In the letter of intent, Aquarion said of its service base, "Meeting this goal requires the company to make continuing, substantial investments in water-delivery infrastructure, thereby driving the need for timely and adequate cost recovery to sustain the investment cycle."

In its rate amendment application, Aquarion will request that PURA approve a change in base rates to address an operating revenue deficiency of approximately $72 million for the 12-month Rate Year beginning Nov. 1, 2026.

In addition, the company plans to request additional revenues of $16 million over the course of the Rate Year and beyond to address the cost of actual plant additions placed in service in the rate year. Together, these proposals would increase "Rate Year revenues" by the aforementioned $88 million, representing an average increase of approximately 42 percent over currently authorized overall revenues for all customers and rate classes combined.

Aquarion’s base delivery rates were last increased in 2013, according to the filing.

In 2022, Aquarion asked PURA for approval to increase base rates by approximately $35.3 million
and, instead, PURA ordered a rate decrease of approximately $4 million, according to the filing.

Nevertheless, The request did not sit well with Connecticut Attorney General William Tong.

"After running off their chief regulator, the utilities are rushing in with new demands for millions upon millions of dollars in rate hikes," Tong said.

Last month, PURA rejected a proposed sale of the water company by Eversource to the South Central Connecticut Regional Water Authority in a process involving two sets of PURA commissioners.

The sale proposal was clear that a rate hike request would follow a rejection of the sale.

Tong continued, "Eversource filed an excessive and unwarranted rate hike request back in 2022, and when they failed to support their bloated claims, they were stunned when PURA instead decreased their rates. They appealed all the way to the Supreme Court and lost. So then they concocted a new plan to offload Aquarion onto a new nonprofit that would have doubled rates. PURA was right to reject that bad idea as well. Now they are back seeking an even bigger rate hike for Aquarion. We're going to do what we always do — comb through every line and every page of their filings to ensure Connecticut families aren't paying a penny more than they need to."

In Connecticut, Aquarion serves:

• Ansonia
• Beacon Falls
• Bethel
• Bridgeport
• Brookfield
• Burlington
• Canaan
• Cornwall
• Danbury
• Darien
• East Derby
• East Granby
• East Hampton
• Easton
• Fairfield
• Farmington
• Goshen
• Granby
• Greenwich
• Groton
• Harwinton
• Kent
• Lebanon
• Litchfield
• Mansfield
• Marlborough
• Middlebury
• Monroe
• New Canaan
• New Fairfield
• New Hartford
• New Milford
• Newtown
• Norfolk
• North Canaan
• Norwalk
• Norwich
• Oxford
• Plainville
• Redding
• Ridgefield
• Salisbury
• Seymour
• Shelton
• Sherman
• Simsbury
• Southbury
• Southington
• Stamford
• Stonington
• Stratford
• Suffield
• Torrington
• Trumbull
• Washington
• Weston
• Westport
• Wilton
• Wolcott
• Woodbury