HARTFORD, Conn. — The Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) approved to reject Aquarion Water Company's proposed rate increase over the years and instead opted to reduce the current rates for customers immediately on Wednesday.
The PURA commissioners voted 2-1 to approve the decision.
Rates will decrease the average residential customer’s total bill by around $67 per year. PURA approved an annual revenue requirement for Aquarion in the amount of $195,561,690 in base rates for the rate year beginning on March 15, 2023, and a return on equity (ROE) of 8.70%.
The revenue amount represents a decrease of almost $2 million, paired with the Water Infrastructure Conservation Adjustment (WICA) surcharge being reset to $0. This would result in an 11% decrease in Aquarion customers' rates. On the other hand, Aquarion requested an approximately $37 million increase in distribution revenues and a 10.35% ROE.
A new three three-tier pricing structure for Aquarion residential single-family customers, which sends pricing signals to higher-volume customers.
The consumption rate tier will apply to the first 900 cubic feet of usage per month and will capture 76% of customer bills based on a historic usage analysis. Another approved rate design includes Low-Income Rate Assistance Program, which will provide a 15% credit to qualifying residential customers on their total monthly bill.
PURA’s ruling reduced the company’s requested revenue requirement by over $10.7 million for operations and maintenance expenses, which Aquarion failed to demonstrate would benefit ratepayers. All of which include costs associated with Aquarion's share costs linked to its 2017 merger with Eversource.
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