Posted on July 28, 2020
Bolinsky: Eversource Needs to Explain Rate Hikes on Residents During COVID
NEWTOWN – State Representative Mitch Bolinsky (R-Newtown) joined House Republican and House Democrat leadership today in calling for a public hearing for Eversource to answer questions about the recent spike in monthly utility bills and why costs have been rigged to go up regardless of weather conditions or other factors.
Bolinsky has been fielding emails, phone calls, texts and posts for the last two days from many Newtown Eversource customers who have seen dramatic jumps in their electricity bills over the last month and are irate.
Newtown’s Representative said: “Talk about bad timing! We are in the middle of a COVID-19 pandemic and stressed by the isolation of having to be at home more than we ever imagined, at a time of near-record June heat and, now, an endless July heatwave. Electric consumption is up but, who expects a 50% increase when they open their Eversource bill? At a time when so many Connecticut residents are also facing the financial pressures and uncertainties of reduced or no regular income, this outrageous rate increase and the lack of proper advance notice is unacceptable.”
He continued: “That said, the important thing at this moment is mitigating this shocking increase in delivery charges but, until we do, I call for a ‘pause’ in the Eversource increase immediately, until the entire legislature can agree on the best course of action to address this problem.”
Bolinsky noted that this is not a partisan issue. He, along with other Republican and Democrat lawmakers have observed that the supply portion of the typical monthly bill actually decreased as decreased but, was offset by a much higher increase in delivery cost than was expected. Lawmakers are calling on the Chairs of the Energy and Technology Committee to convene a public hearing and, if needed, call a Special Session to address this ill-timed issue. Rep. Bolinsky concluded: “Eversource has some explain to do!”