Posted on July 29, 2020
HARTFORD – House Republicans joined their Democratic colleagues in a bi-partisan call for Eversource to suspend its recently enacted electricity rate hikes. House Republican Leader Themis Klarides, Deputy Leader Vincent Candelora, and Rep. Charles Ferraro, the highest-ranking Republican on the Energy & Technology Committee, helped author the letter.
The letter, which can be viewed by clicking here, requests that the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) suspend the increase to the components of the Eversource delivery rate that increased on July 1, including the transmission charge (TAC), the electric System Improvements (ESI) tracker charge, and the non-bypassable federally mandated congestion charge (NBFMCC). The public health emergency, coupled with the extreme heat experienced in Connecticut this summer, has likely affected the 2020 electricity consumption forecasts for both of our state’s electric utilities. Because so many of the bill components are linked to a customer’s energy usage, it is important that PURA thoroughly vet both utilities’ proposed rate increases to ensure that neither utility is over-recovering.
By suspending the rate increases and returning to the rates that were in effect with the June billing cycle, it will allow PURA to conduct a thorough review of Eversource’s request and to explore alternative cost recovery options, if that is more appropriate.
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