Press Releases

Attorney General William Tong

03/15/2023

Attorney General Tong Praises PURA Final Decision Rejecting Aquarion's Requested $36 Million Rate Hike

(Hartford, CT) -- Attorney General William Tong released the following statement praising a final decision by the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) rejecting Eversource-owned Aquarion’s $36 million rate hike.

The requested rate hike would have increased water rates by more than 30 percent over three years for 207,000 Aquarion customers across 56 cities and towns in Connecticut. A draft decision by PURA issued in February instead ordered a rate decrease of 0.192 percent ($379,365) for Connecticut customers. Today’s final decision went a step further, decreasing rates by nearly $2 million, or about $67 per year for the average customer.

“This is an aggressive pro-consumer decision by PURA. Connecticut families pay far too much for their utilities. This relief is well-timed and sorely needed,” said Attorney General Tong. “My office opposed this hike from day one. I thank the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority and particularly Chairman Gillett for her leadership on behalf of Connecticut consumers.”

In a brief filed in January, Attorney General Tong urged PURA to reject the rate increase. Read the full brief here.

Assistant Attorneys General John Wright and Lauren Bidra, Deputy Chief of the Consumer Protection Section for Energy, and Michael Wertheimer, Deputy Associate Attorney General & Chief of the Consumer Protection Section assisted the Attorney General in this matter.
Twitter: @AGWilliamTong
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Media Contact:

Elizabeth Benton
elizabeth.benton@ct.gov

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