(Hartford, CT) – Attorney General William Tong issued the following statement regarding a notice of intent filed today with the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority by Aquarion Water seeking to raise rates by 27 percent over three years. Eversource acquired Aquarion in 2017. While this is the first rate case filed by Aquarion since that acquisition, the company has imposed a series of escalating Water Infrastructure and Conservation Adjustment surcharges, now totaling a cumulative 10.3 percent. State statute caps those surcharges at 10 percent. Any hike beyond that requires a new rate case, which is why Aquarion is filing now.

“The Office of the Attorney General will intervene to vigorously review and scrutinize every aspect of this rate request. The last thing Connecticut families and small businesses need right now is a double-digit water bill hike, on top of steadily mounting surcharges. I fully support modernizing our aging water infrastructure, but we need to make sure we are doing it in a way that respects the financial pressures Connecticut families and small businesses are facing right now,” said Attorney General Tong.

Aquarion is seeking to raise rates 13.9 percent in year one, an additional 6.9 percent in year two, and an additional 4.2 percent in year three.