(Hartford, CT) – Attorney General William Tong released the following statement regarding the decision issued today by the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority further increasing profits for United Illuminating and fully erasing the penalty for the company’s repeated failures to remediate contamination at English Station in New Haven.
United Illuminating had sought a $105 million rate hike. A draft decision issued by PURA in September preliminarily authorized an increase of approximately $29 million. In October, PURA issued a new decision increasing that to $66 million and cut in half a reduction in UI’s return on equity due to the company’s failures at English Station. United Illuminating was still not satisfied and sought reconsideration. Today, PURA gave United Illuminating another $2 million in profits and completely eliminated the English Station penalty.
“What the hell. PURA got this dead wrong. This decision delivers $68 million more in profits and hundreds of thousands of dollars in bonus pay for corporate executives paid out of the pockets of Connecticut families. The October decision was a massive disappointment for Connecticut families, and today’s final decision is even worse. PURA is now turning its back entirely on accountability for UI’s repeated failures to remediate dangerous contamination at English Station in New Haven. After months of drama and relentless legal and political attacks, UI ran off its chief regulator. For those who spent months relishing that gossip, this is what happens when political elites fixate on personalities and forget what really matters. Connecticut families and businesses cannot afford the bills they get now, and they cannot afford this increase. We’re going to keep fighting in court to hold UI accountable for their failures at English Station, and we’re going to keep fighting in every single proceeding before PURA to push back on these runaway costs and to ensure Connecticut families do not pay a penny more than absolutely necessary,” said Attorney General Tong.