Connecticut attorney general urges rejection of $25 million water rate hike: calls increase of over 18% and profit demand excessive
Connecticut Attorney General William Tong filed a brief with the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) on October 22 urging rejection of the Connecticut Water Company's proposed $25 million rate increase, calling it unjustified and unaffordable.
The Attorney General's office said the increase, if approved, would raise rates by more than 18 percent, or about $156 per year for the average customer. Connecticut Water serves about 108,000 water customers in 60 communities across the state, plus about 3,000 wastewater customers in Southbury.
Tong's office said it combed through every page of the company's application and identified $19 million in cuts, citing bloated profits, an uneconomical capital structure, and multiple instances of shareholder costs being inappropriately shifted onto ratepayers. The company is seeking a 10 percent return on equity, the highest profit margin of any principal regulated utility in Connecticut, and is also asking ratepayers to fund board of directors fees, liability insurance and lobbying costs that should principally be borne by shareholders.
"Connecticut families pay far too much for their utilities as it is, and we cannot afford unjustified double-digit increases," Tong said. "We combed through every page of CT Water's application, and we found $19 million in bloated profits." Assistant Attorneys General Caroline McCormack and John Wright and Michael Wertheimer, chief of the Consumer Protection Section, assisted in the matter.
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 位于 Hartford 的康涅狄格州议会大厦。摄影：jglazer75，CC BY 2.0，来源：Wikimedia Commons
