House Republican Leaders Call for Eversource Rate Hike Hearing

HARTFORD – House Republican Leaders Themis Klarides and Vincent Candelora today called for a public hearing for Eversource to answer questions about the recent spike in monthly utility bills and why costs go up regardless of weather conditions or other factors. Many consumers have seen a jump in their bills in the last month and are mad, the lawmakers said. "Connecticut utility costs were already at the highest point in the country and on July 1 the rates went higher. We had a mild winter, people used less energy to heat their homes and the costs still increased," the Republicans said. "Now we are headed for the third hottest July on record and the company blames that for the higher monthly bills. The public deserves some better answers, we need a public hearing." The Republican lawmakers said the supply portion of the typical monthly bill actually should have decreased but that was offset by a much higher delivery cost. They also noted that Eversource said that due to the healthcare crisis, many more people are working from home and are using more energy during the day. The Public Utility Regulatory Authority, PURA, approved the rate hike on June 26. "Our regulators have to take into account the consumers and their ability to pay for higher rates in times of crisis," Klarides and Candelora said. They called upon the chairs of the Energy and Technology Committee to convene the public hearing.