NEW BRITAIN, CT – Today, Consumer Counsel Coleman applauded the Connecticut Supreme Court’s decision in Aquarion Water Company of Connecticut v. Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) that upholds a historic rate reduction. Aquarion sought to overturn PURA’s final decision in the 2022 underlying rate case that ordered an over $40 Million reduction to the company’s request, resulting in significant savings for the water utility’s customers upon implementation.
“Today’s ruling by the state’s highest court adopts several arguments made by my office throughout the appeals process. Utilities must meet their burden of proof to show customers are benefiting from the investments that customers pay for on their bills, and in this case Aquarion came up short. The Supreme Court affirmed PURA’s responsibility to conduct a thorough review and to ensure rates are just and reasonable. I’m proud of my team’s effective work defending this pro-consumer decision and securing real savings for Aquarion’s customers," said Consumer Counsel Coleman.
Aquarion’s original rate increase request of $247.43 million over three years with a return on equity (ROE) of 10.35% would have resulted in an increase of roughly 9% or $61 per year to the average residential water customer. PURA’s decision allowed the company only $195.5 million with an ROE of 8.7% – resulting in roughly $67 dollars a year below the company’s request.
To protect this pro-consumer decision challenged by the company in April 2023, OCC intervened in the company’s appeal before the Connecticut Superior Court. On March 26, 2024, the court largely upheld PURA’s original decision citing key arguments OCC raised, including that the regulator can properly consider all relevant statutory standards when evaluating requests for cost recovery.
In today’s decision, the Supreme Court affirmed nearly every aspect of PURA’s original decision. The Court affirmed that PURA’s reduction to the company’s requested profits would not unconstitutionally diminish the company’s financial integrity or deprive it of its ability to attract capital. The decision also remanded a minor technical issue back to PURA for reconsideration – a total of $1.5 million of Aquarion’s nearly $50 million request.
The decision, effective July 15th, will lift the court-ordered stay on these rates for Aquarion customers, who can expect to see bill savings based on original estimates.
More information can be found in OCC’s briefs here and here, and today’s decision can be found here.
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CONTACT:
Brooke Parker
Communications & Legislative Program Manager
brooke.parker@ct.gov
About the Office: The Office of Consumer Counsel (OCC) is an independent state agency that represents the interests of consumers of Connecticut’s electric, natural gas, telecommunications, and private water companies before PURA, federal regulatory agencies, the legislature and courts. OCC’s team of attorneys, accountants, financial and policy analysts appear before PURA to argue for the most reasonable rates while expecting the best utility service possible for all customers.