Dear Editor,
Eversource wants more money. It wants to hide the receipts.
This week Eversource asked PURA, the state regulator, to raise its rates, roughly 11% for a typical household and as much as 18% once storm costs are added in. For families already stretched by the cost of groceries, housing and everything else, that hits hard.
I oppose this increase and the reason goes beyond the rate hike. Eversource just asked PURA to keep roughly 300,000 pages of its own filing confidential. These are the records that would show whether the increase is justified. To its credit, PURA rejected that request and ruled that “sheer volume is not a sufficient basis” for hiding documents from the public.
Eversource has done this before. In a recent case over storm costs, the company kept about 152,000 pages secret, and Attorney General Tong has shown it filed dozens of motions just to delay answering basic questions. If a company wants hundreds of millions of dollars more from Connecticut households, it needs to be willing to show why.
So before PURA decides on anything, I am asking it to do two things. First, force Eversource to put the full filing where the public can see it and keep redactions to a minimum. Second, hold a public hearing here in the 36th district. If the company’s case is really as strong as they say it is, their executives can explain it to us in person.
And you have a say in this. PURA accepts comments from residents by email at PURA.ExecutiveSecretary@ct.gov. Put Docket No. 26-05-10 in the subject line and tell them what this increase would mean for your family or business. Every comment that’s sent in becomes part of the public record, which the regulators will weigh.
Jill Oberlander
Candidate for Connecticut State Senate,
36th District
