Eversource Files Electric Rate Increase Request. ( Connecticut )

Eversource has asked the state Public Utilities Regulatory Authority to approve an increase that the company said could increase the electric bill for an average customer by nearly 50 percent, or $85 per month, on the supply portion of the bill.

Eversource said, if approved, the increased rates would be in effect from Jan. 1, 2023, through June 30, 2023.

Eversource is looking to increase the Standard Service Rate for residential customers who receive their energy supply from Eversource from 12.1 cents per kilowatt-hour to 24.2 cents per kWh, compared to 11.5 cents per kWh last winter, Eversource said.

The company said, on average, an Eversource residential electric customer who uses 700-kilowatt hours of power each month could see an increase of approximately 48% over their current monthly bill – or $85 per month – on the supply portion of the bill.

Eversource said the reasons include energy costs that continue to rise globally and regional electric supply prices reaching all-time highs this year due to increased global demand for and the high cost of natural gas, world events, extreme weather, and other issues.

In a statement, Gov. Ned Lamont said he'll be calling the General Assembly into a special session to adopt legislation focused on helping residents. This includes ensuring the state's energy assistance program has enough funding to guarantee support is available for electricity and heating oil costs.

“I am disappointed electric distribution utilities are enjoying historic profits at the same time electric generation rates are increasing and customers are experiencing economic hardships, and I call on UI and Eversource to come to the table with solutions that recognize their investors and executives can and should support customers while we work together towards long-term solutions that untether us from the volatility of global fossil fuel markets," Lamont said.

Attorney General William Tong released a statement, saying the increase would be unaffordable for many families and businesses.

“This is a massive increase that will be unaffordable for many Connecticut families and businesses. We pay far too much for our energy in Connecticut as it is, and these winter rates are nothing short of punishing. My office has intervened on behalf of consumers at each and every rate case before the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission because we know how much the cost of energy impacts family budgets," Tong said in a statement.

"We have next to no ability to challenge these supply rates, which is frustrating. Our supply rates always fluctuate between winter and summer, but this is not normal. We are seeing a huge global spike in gas costs due to the war in Ukraine and Russian manipulation of gas supplies. Both as a country and a state, we need to take a hard look at our energy sources and reduce our reliance on sources like natural gas that produce these wild, unaffordable surges in rates,” Tong added.

“As Connecticut families struggle with rising costs of living, these alarmingly high rate hikes are deeply troubling and must be aggressively scrutinized by state authorities. Every possible action must be taken to reduce these increases and minimize their impact on consumers. Connecticut families simply can’t pay any more for utilities,” U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal said in a statement.

The Office of the Consumer Counsel said United Illuminating is also looking to increase its rates.

UI wants to increase rates from $0.1062 to $0.2249 per kilowatt hour, which would impact the average United Illuminating residential customer using 700 kWh per month by increasing a monthly bill by approximately $83.09, according to the Office of the Consumer Counsel.

Quotes from Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eversource_Energy

"Eversource disclosed on its website politically related organization expenditures of $110,000 to the Democratic Governors Association in 2016, and payments made to trade associations that were used for lobbying or other political activities in excess of $135,000.^[35]"

"In 2017, an environmental group accused Eversource and Avangrid of driving up electric, gas rates over several winters^[40] by buying up shipment capacity on a major pipeline that they ultimately did not use. The Environmental Defense Fund said both utilities routinely reserved big deliveries of natural gas on the Algonquin pipeline system for frigid days, but then sharply reduced those orders too late in the day for others to use that capacity. Those orders had the effect of driving up wholesale prices for natural gas during peak winter heating periods and in turn increasing the costs of electricity generated by gas-fired power plants. The two utilities “engaged in behavior that would tend to have the largest impact on prices,” said N. Jonathan Peress, a senior director at the New York-based environmental group. “That implies they knew their efforts would have some sort of pricing impact that would provide them with some commercial benefit.” Representatives for both utilities denied they did anything improper."

"U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to open an investigation on the matter, and both the Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority and the Massachusetts Public Utilities Department are launching inquiries of their own.

On Feb. 27, 2018, FERC announced their investigation “revealed no evidence of anticompetitive withholding of natural gas pipeline capacity on Algonquin Gas Transmission by New England shippers.” It said that following an extensive review Commission staff “determined that EDF’s study was flawed and led to incorrect conclusions about the alleged withholding.”^[42]

A class-action lawsuit^[43] filed on November 14, 2017 against Avangrid, Inc. and Eversource Energy claims the two companies caused electricity consumers to incur overcharges of $3.6 billion in a years-long scheme that impacted six states and affected 14.7 million people. The lawsuit states that 7.1 million retail electricity customers and an overall population of 14.7 million people have been affected by Eversource and Avangrid's “unique monopoly” spanning at least from 2013 to 2016. On June 10, 2019, the case was thrown out of court as the judge stated natural gas prices are federally regulated and could not be interfered with by the court.^[44]

On December 11, 2017, the utility sent a cease-and-desist letter to the Environmental Defense Fund, demanding the group remove a report from its website that accused Eversource of driving up electricity prices with its contracting practices for natural gas.^[45]

“””Eversource is looking to increase the Standard Service Rate for residential customers who receive their energy supply from Eversource from 12.1 cents per kilowatt-hour to 24.2 cents per kWh, compared to 11.5 cents per kWh last winter,”””

Connecticut is getting close to paying as much as Europe for electricity.

On the otherhand, here is a list of the charges on my monthly Florida electric bill:

First 1000 kwh usage is 10.86 cents per kwh
Over 1000 kwh usage is 12.86 cents per kwh

Then the following charges and fees are added that push the total cost to 14.7 cents per kwh

1. Base charge
2. Gross receipts tax
3. Regulatory fee
4. Franchise charge
5. Utility tax
6. Surge shield program
7. Sales Tax
8. Discretionary sales tax surcharge

When you add in the miscellaneous charges, Connecticut households will be paying close to 40 cents per KWH.

I am expecting our all-in charges will be about 18 cents per KWH beginning in Jan 2023.

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