CT Legislators Propose Food Reimbursement For Outages

CONNECTICUT — A group of legislators has proposed new legislation that would significantly overhaul the state’s oversight of electric utilities. The bipartisan proposal comes from the legislative energy and technology committee leaders. Around one million customers lost power during Tropical Storm Isaias with thousands going without power for several days.

Eversource in particular has been criticized for its response to the storm and its refusal to reimburse customers for the cost of spoiled food and medicine; nearby utility companies PSEG Long Island and Con Edison in New York agreed to reimburse customers.

Regulatory documents showed the company’s predictions were far off the mark when it came to the number of outages and overall storm damage.

The legislative bill would mandate electric companies compensate consumers for spoiled food caused by long power outages.

The proposal “Take Back Our Grid Act” would also mandate that Eversource and United Illuminating had a minimum in-state staffing requirement to deal with power outages, increase the penalty authority of the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority and freeze electric rates. It would make customers eligible for up to $500 of reimbursement for spoiled food and medicine if a power outage goes longer than two days. It would also reimburse customers with critical needs $100 for every day without power.

Some of the proposal could be considered in a potential fall special session, but the larger issues need to be considered in the regular 2021 session, said state Sen. Paul Formica (R-East Lyme).

Part of the bill would mandate the burying of power lines where feasible to reduce the likelihood of power outages.

The bill would also tie rate increases to corporate profits.

“Our electric utilities have left us powerless, literally and figuratively,” said state Sen. Norm Needleman, (D-Clinton) who heads the legislative energy and technology committee. “Our electric utilities have left us in the dark literally and figuratively, this must end.”

There is great concern about the state of Connecticut’s power grid and its ability to withstand a category 2 or 3 hurricanes after Tropical Storm Isaias knocked out power to around one million customers, Needleman said during a news conference.

The technology and energy committee has scheduled a hearing for Aug. 27. Eversource CEO James Judge plans to attend, said State Rep. David Arconti (D-Danbury).

Arconti called on Eversource and UI to reimburse customers for food and medication that spoiled due to long power outages. Many people in Connecticut are struggling and out of work due to the pandemic and they have now lost a week’s worth of food.

“Losing a week of food is completely unacceptable during this time period,” he said.

Connecticut ratepayers are tired of paying a premium price for poor service, and they have no option to select a different utility to transmit electricity, Needleman added.

“If I ran my business the way electric utilities ran theirs I wouldn’t be showing record profits, I would be out of business today,” he said.

Eversource’s total shareholder return has significantly outperformed the S&P 500 with a total 10-year return of more than 356 percent compared to the S&P’s 256 percent return, according to a presentation made during a company investor call. Eversource’s shareholder return has bested the S&P 500 in 2019, the 3-year and the 5-year timelines as well.

Connecticut should consider turning the clock back 20 years to more strongly regulate utility companies. It’s rare for anyone to say that Connecticut ratepayers are better off today than they were 20 years ago, Needleman said.

“I have not met one person who says yes it’s been great unless you are in the energy business,” he said.

The calls for reform also come after thousands of Eversource customers complained about large spikes in bills. PURA temporarily halted and will review a recent rate increase.

Everource Executive Vice President Philip Lembo said in an investor call that about 85 percent of customer’s large increase in their June bills was due to residential customers spending more time at home and the very hot weather. Residential kilowatt hours were 26 percent higher in June 2020 than June 2019. Usage was also up 36 percent in June compared to May, he said.

The actual rate increase is around 3.5 percent for customers, mainly due to the state’s Millstone nuclear power agreement that directs Eversource and United Illuminating to buy some power from the plant. Without the Millstone agreement customers would’ve seen around a $5 decrease in monthly bills.