Eversource made its pitch Monday for changes to Connecticut’s regulatory process, saying rate cuts and other actions aren’t the best way to bring down energy prices long-term.
Company executives met with reporters two days before the start of the legislative session. Lawmakers are expected to make energy prices a top priority.
“You're barking up the wrong tree if you’re really trying to solve this problem,” Eversource Electric Operations President Steve Sullivan said.
Sullivan said lawmakers and regulators should instead work with Eversource and other utilities to meet long-term goals in the most cost-effective way.
Get top local stories in Connecticut delivered to you every morning. >Sign up for NBC Connecticut's News Headlines newsletter.
Sen. Norm Needleman (D-Essex) said Eversource’s continued complaint is the result of the company’s unhappiness over being held accountable.
“The utilities are just being greedy,” said Needleman, co-chair of the legislature’s Energy and Technology Committee. “They got used to a lax regulatory environment.”
Eversource invited reporters to its Berlin offices Monday.
Local
Sullivan noted costs from Eversource – delivery and transmission – account for roughly $90 of the average bill of $230.
Public benefits currently account for $62 of that bill after a rate increase on July 1 to fund both a subsidy to the Millstone nuclear plant and to cover unpaid bills during a pandemic moratorium on shutoffs.
The biggest part of the average bill, $78, pays for the supply of electricity, a cost Eversource doesn’t control.
Sullivan said regulators are focused on smaller parts of the bill – the average bill charges $66 for delivery – at the expense of future bills.
Eversource and Avangrid both received recent credit rating downgrades and actions by the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) were sited as a reason.
PURA cut Avangrid’s gas rates late last year.
“I don’t see how you can have a reliable system, make the transition to clean energy, and yet discourage investment in the system,” Sullivan said.
He said Eversource is planning to file for a rate review case later this year.
The company already scaled back investment plans by $500 million and the company warned it could scale projects back even more if regulators continue to cut rates.
Republicans say they want to fix the relationship between PURA and utilities, including pushing for Gov. Ned Lamont to fill all five positions at the agency.
“We see this, they are bumping heads,” Rep. Tracy Marra (R-Darien) said. “The regulators and energy companies and they really do need to be working together.”
Marra also said Republicans will offer proposals they believe will bring down energy rates, including paying the public benefits costs through the state budget and not electricity costs.
Needleman said the utilities are just trying to put pressure on regulators. He noted PURA cut Avangrid’s rates after determining the company was overearning and making investments that weren’t benefitting customers.
Needleman also said New England states have to work together to bring down supply costs.
He defended the state’s purchase of green energy, something Republicans have tried to cap.
“I'm not unhappy that we’re looking to improve the air quality of our electric grid,” he said.
