Tag: PURA

Southern CT Gas Proposed Rate Increase

The Southern Connecticut Gas Company wants to raise its rates. The average monthly residential bill will be approximately $10 to $13.50 more per month.

Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) has scheduled Public Comment Hearings for this application (Docket 23-11-02) on Wednesday, January 17, at the West Haven Library, 300 Elm St., West Haven, at 5:30 p.m. Testify in person about what this rate hike will mean to you! You can also write to PURA at 10 Franklin Square, New Britain, CT 06051, or send an email to [email protected].

There will also be a Zoom hearing on Friday, Feb. 16 at noon. The schedule for the docket is available on PURA’s website portal.ct.gov/pura. For additional public hearings on the proposed rate hike, call 800-382-4586 or email [email protected].

For questions about the proposed rates, the public hearing, or how to submit comments on the application, contact PURA at 800-382-4586 or [email protected].

Outrageously High GAS RATE HIKES Proposed by CNG and SCG

by Kathleen Fay, Neighborhood Housing Services

Please see the email below from Thomas Wiehl. Then,

  • Respond directly to Tom if you would like to be part of the discussion.
  • Share widely to members of your task forces and other networks including other municipal staff.
  • Consider drafting letters for your group to sign onto and submit to the media and/or to Office of Consumer Council or Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA). Or individual letters.
  • If you or your organization wish to be interveners in the PURA docket, please note the deadline for filing is Nov. 15.

For additional details or support: Kathleen Fay, Director of Community Sustainability, Neighborhood Housing Services, 203-562-0598, Ext. 225, www.nhsofnewhaven.org, 333 Sherman Ave, New Haven.

Hello all,

 

CT Natural Gas and Southern CT Gas have filed their notices of intent in their pending rate cases, seeking ten percent and TWENTY PERCENT increases to delivery revenues, respectively. You can see the notices here: www.dpuc.state.ct.us/dockcurr.nsf/8e6fc37a54110e3e852576190052b64d/f65a98e3aa41173585258a390072492d?OpenDocument

OCC will be directly engaging in this proceedings and would certainly welcome collaborative discussions with anyone with an interest in critically analyzing these upcom-ing rate applications. Contact: Thomas Wiehl, Director of Utility Oversight & Regulatory Reform, State of CT, Office of Consumer Counsel, 860-827-2906, [email protected], www.ct.gov/occ.

PURA Establishes Low-Income Utility Rate

Julie Martin Banks, CT News Junkie, Oct. 19, 2022

The Public Utilities Regulatory Authority today established a two-tiered discount rate to help provide relief for low-income Connecticut residents who have trouble affording electricity. PURA Vice Chairman Jack Betkoski said the decision was a momentous one that will help ease the pain for Connecticut families who are currently facing a variety of rising costs.

“I think this is a step toward assisting those individuals that are having difficulty quite frankly putting food on the table,” Betkoski said. The final decision unanimously adopted by the three-member commission requires Eversource and United Illuminating to each implement a discount rate with an overall eligibility cap at 60% of the state median income (Tier 1), and eligibility for Tier 2 aligned with existing state benefit programs (up to 160% federal poverty guidelines).

PURA has determined that those who qualify for Tier 1 will receive a 10% discount applied to their monthly bill, while those who fall into Tier 2 will receive a 50% discount to their total monthly bill, according to the decision.

Those who qualify will be able to participate in existing energy assistance, arrearage forgiveness, renewable energy, and energy efficiency programs, the decision states.

The companies will start accepting applications by August 2023 and will be required to create a communications plan to notify and educate eligible residential customers. PURA will re-evaluate the discounted rates every two years as part of its annual energy affordability review process. The first review of the discounted rates will be conducted in 2025.

PURA Chairwoman Marissa P. Gillett […] said the decision is a reflection of PURA digging into the topic of affordability and its recognition of the societal impacts of losing electricity.

It’s also a move to reduce uncollectibles – collecting outstanding amounts from delinquent accounts. “The goal of minimizing uncollectibles is one that helps us all,” she said.

[Read the entire article at ctnewsjunkie.com/2022/10/19/pura-decision-establishes-low-income-rate]

CT Green Energy News

Study: Business lobbying a major barrier to clean energy legislation in Connecticut
Energy News Network. Dec. 17, 2021

“Brown University researchers found that utility and business interests outspend environmental organizations on lobbying 8-to-1, though an industry group says the study overstates its spending and influence on energy…’Environmental groups and ordinary citizens will never have the money or resources to match what Ever-source and the CBIA spend to influence lawmakers. But broad majorities of Americans see climate change as a serious problem and are demanding action from their elected leaders. So the real power is at the polls.'”

TEDxHartford

In this 17 minute video, Connecticut’s own Leticia Colon de Mejias talks about her journey from unawareness to alarm about the dangers of climate change. Her overall message is one of hope and a call to action: climate change is solvable.

3 of 5 ex-utility officials guilty of theft in lavish trips

AP News. “Five former utility officials were found not guilty Friday on a charge of conspiracy, while the same federal jury found three guilty of theft stemming from lavish trips they took to the Kentucky Derby and a luxury golf resort. The junkets had been arranged by the Connecticut Municipal Electric Energy Cooperative for dozens of top staff, board members, family members and others from 2013 to 2016.”

Public Utilities Regulatory Authority 101
Tuesday, January 18, 2022 12:30 p.m.

Who oversees public utilities? How are rates determined? How are decisions about energy sources made? The Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) has regulatory oversight of public utilities in Connecticut, including electric, natural gas, and water. Join the discussion about utility regulation with PURA Chair Marissa Gillett. Look for this article online at par-newhaven.org for the link to register for this webinar.

CT Green Energy News is brought to you by People’s Action for Clean Energy (PACE) and Eastern CT Green Action. It features news and events for advocates of clean energy, energy efficiency, and climate action at the state and local levels. To subscribe, email [email protected].

Public Utilities Regulatory Authority 101 Zoom call — Jan. 18, 2022

Tuesday, January 18, 2022 12:30 PM

Beyond paying our monthly utility bill, many of us don’t pay much attention to who oversees public  utilities, how rates are determined, or how decisions about energy sources are made. Navigating the world of public utilities can feel technical and confusing — but it doesn’t have to!

The Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) has regulatory oversight of public utilities in Connecticut, including electric, natural gas, and water.

Join PURA Chair Marissa Gillett as we pull back the curtain on utility regulation and empower you with knowledge to engage. Register here or visit https://tinyurl.com/pura101.

CT Green Energy News

Brought to you by People’s Action for Clean Energy (PACE) and Eastern CT Green Action (ECGA).

At PURA hearing, customers got their turn to criticize Eversource and UI over outages caused by Isaias; power companies face fines. “Melvin Garelick of Trumbull said in written comments that he and his wife, who are both 75 and have chronic medical conditions, discarded food valued at $500 and were “living on bread, peanuts, peanut butter and cereal” during the outage that lasted more than three days.” Hartford Courant.

Regulators Issue Fines To Eversource And UI Over Shared Solar Program | WSHU

The opaque world of energy policy continues to roil the surface of state government as regulators again have chastised the state’s two biggest utilities: Eversource and United Illuminating. This time, the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority fined both companies, alleging an “insufficient” rollout of a program called shared solar.

Shared solar lets customers who can’t put panels on their roof subscribe to a nearby solar array and get a credit on their bill. In 2018, the legislature passed a statewide shared solar program, which requires utilities to identify eligible customers and automatically enroll them.

Read more here: Regulators Issue Fines To Eversource And UI Over Shared Solar Program | WSHU

Latest Articles from CT Green Energy News

News and events for advocates of clean energy, energy efficiency, and climate action at the state and local levels, focusing on Connecticut. Brought to you by People’s Action for Clean Energy (PACE) and Eastern CT Green Action.

  1. New gas pipelines: An expensive risk our ratepayers and environment can’t afford CT Mirror/Viewpoints: “We…need to ask ourselves if we need more gas pipelines at all, and if so, who should pay for them?”
  2. CT wind, fuel cell projects win long-term contracts Hartford Business Journal: “In all, the five projects total 252 megawatts of generating capacity, and are expected to produce 4.6 percent of the state’s annual energy consumption.”
  3. New England Talks Solar, Storage and Public Policy RTO Insider. “The grid modernization proceeding [Case 17-2-03] in Connecticut is a really promising opportunity.”
  4. New London port faces dynamic decade. The Day: “The city’s underutilized port should become a bustling industrial area servicing the explosive growth of green energy technology, a staging area for large wind farms developed offshore and feeding a hungry northeastern grid.”
    5. Regulator trims Eversource gas-rate request Hartford Business Journal: “It also allows for the replacement of leak-prone gas mains and credits customers with 100 percent of the tax savings the company received under the Federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, PURA said.”

Update of Lawsuit about State Seizure of Energy Efficiency Funds; Millstone Tries to Pose Nuclear Energy as ‘Renewable’

by Paula Panzarella, Fight the Hike

This year, a large portion of the efficiency and clean energy funds that we pay through our electric bills was appropriated by the legislature to go into the state’s General Fund. $87.5 million was taken in 2018, and $77.5 million is scheduled to be transferred in 2019.

Many organizations, including Fight the Hike and CT Fund for the Environment (CFE), were involved in a lawsuit against the state to have the money returned. U.S District Judge Janet Hall recently filed her decision against us. The following excerpts are from CFE’s announcement on this:

  • Unfortunately, the judge just ruled that the state’s sweep of ratepayer funds did not break contracts between ratepayers and their electric companies because nobody promised ratepayers that their dollars would not be transferred to the General Fund for unrelated purposes.
  • Silly us for trusting what it says on our energy bill.
  • Now, these funds are just another hidden tax, and you’ll still breathe dirty air.
  • The loss of the lawsuit proves how difficult it is to stop lawmakers from stealing and spending millions of dollars earmarked for specific purposes on anything they want unless there are clear requirements in the law.
  • We won’t forget what happened after the raid. The legislature’s sweep of these funds destroyed more than 3,000 jobs in Connecticut, clean energy businesses have closed their doors, and energy efficiency projects across the state have been canceled.

There are plans to appeal this decision. We must let our legislators know we disagree with Judge Hall’s ruling, and demand that all the efficiency and clean energy funds be restored.

Regarding Millstone: If it weren’t tragic, it would be laughable that anyone could consider nuclear power a clean, renewable source of electricity. This is a deadly mistake. Just the excavation of uranium is enough to render it a filthy, polluting source of energy, let alone its risk of exposing millions of people to radiation.

  • A tentative ruling by state utility regulators may boost efforts by the owner of the Millstone Nuclear Power Plant to have the electricity it produces considered in ‘zero carbon’ auction that the state’s Department of Energy and Environmental Protection conducts to procure power.
  • Commissioners with Connecticut’s Public Utilities Regulatory Authority ruled that the Waterford-based power plant “is at risk of retirement.” Dominion Energy, the Virginia-based company that owns Millstone, has claimed for several years that economic conditions in the nation’s energy markets are making it difficult for the utility to keep operating the plant if it not be allowed to compete for lucrative long-term contracts that are awarded to the winners of the zero-carbon auction.
  • Joel Gordes, a West Hartford-based energy industry consultant, said PURA’s commissioners erred in their draft ruling.
  • “To treat nuclear power as if it were a renewable resource is completely inappropriate,” Gordes said. “Real renewable resources don’t produce a deadly byproduct that has to be guarded for an eternity.”

(excerpts from the on-line New Haven Register of Nov. 17, 2018, “Connecticut Utility Regulators Say Millstone Nuclear Power Plant ‘At Risk’ of Closing” by Luther Turmelle)

Tell DEEP and PURA that we will not stand for Dominion trying to redefine “clean, renewable resources.” Contact: Public Utilities Regulatory Authority, (860) 827-1553, (800) 382-4586, [email protected]. Katie Dykes, Chair of PURA, (860) 827-2805, [email protected].

Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, (860) 424-3000, [email protected]. Rob Klee, Commissioner of DEEP, (860) 424-3571, [email protected].

New Haven To UI: Not One More Dime | New Haven Independent

by Markeshia Ricks, Sep 13, 2016 ©2016 New Haven Independent

New Haveners concerned about a proposed rate increase said that they want United Illuminating to have the infrastructure to withstand superstorms, but that they’ve already paid for it.

The electric company is asking the state Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) to grant a more than $100 million distribution rate increase over a three year period. The increase would generate $65.6 million next year, $27.1 million the following year and another $13.4 million in 2019. This would raise individual customer bills by an average of about $30 a month over that three-year period, according to the Office of Consumer Counsel.

The counsel’s office opposes the rate increase. It also came out for reducing by almost $10, to $7.63, a residential fixed charge that UI levies.

UI said it needs the increase to replace poles and wires and make other investments to avoid power outages during major storms.

More than 35 residents from New Haven and other parts of the state attended a PURA hearing Monday in the Hall of Records at 200 Orange St. to oppose the rate increase. They said some people already can’t afford their bills. And they argued that the rate increase de-incentivizes energy-efficiency efforts.
Several people also argued that UI is primarily seeking to line the pockets of its new parent company, Spain-based Iberdrola.

Frank Panzarella said that stats already showed during the last rate increase request that Connecticut residents are having trouble paying their bills. He asked what made UI think that customers can afford to pay more. [….]

For the complete article, visit: New Haven To UI: Not One More Dime | New Haven Independent.

Shocking Electric News from Fight the Hike

Paula Panzarella, Fight the Hike

On Monday, Nov. 17, the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) approved excessive rate hikes for UI and CL&P customers who are on the standard offer. The generation rate increase was requested eleven days prior to PURA’s approval and did not require public testimony. It is estimated the average UI customer with the standard offer will have an increase of $35 a month starting January 1, 2015.

CL&P customers who have the standard offer will, on average, have an increase of $18 a month.
This is blatantly disregarding and disrespecting the residents and businesses of Connecticut by foisting such huge increases without any warning. Can you imagine if it were known that the companies wanted this raise prior to the election? Electricity and energy rates would have been a major issue in the debates, forcing candidates to take positions and discuss ways to nullify or at least forestall these increases.

We urge people to contact PURA and CT Attorney General George Jepsen and let them know your thoughts about this.

  • PURA: phone: (860) 827-1553 and toll free (800) 382-4586, fax: (860) 827-2822 e-mail: [email protected] Ten Franklin Square, New Britain, CT 06051
  • CT Attorney General George Jepsen phone: (860) 808-5318 fax: (860) 808-5387 e-mail: [email protected] 55 Elm Street, Hartford, CT 06106

People might also want to contact their state senators and representatives. Shouldn’t we have legislation to prevent such an increase going into effect without a public hearing?

In other news, the CT Roundtable on Climate and Jobs met on Nov. 17 in East Hartford for a discussion concerning CL&P’s proposed 60% increase in the monthly fixed charge for residential delivery of electricity. PURA is scheduled to issue its draft decision on this raise Dec. 1. A petition is being circulated via the internet at http://bit.ly/RTstatement11-14. To get more information about CT Roundtable on Climate and Jobs, please contact John Humphries, (860)216-7972, [email protected].