HARTFORD — State Sen. Joseph Crisco Jr. (D-17) expressed disappointment in a rate increase approved for Connecticut Light & Power.
The Public Utilities Regulatory Authority, or PURA, recently issued a final ruling approving a nearly $134.08 million increase in revenue for CL&P and preserving almost all of PURA’s findings in its preliminary decision issued Dec. 1. The decision includes allowing the fixed residential monthly charge to increase to $19.25 from $16, a 20 percent jump. CL&P had proposed increasing the monthly service charge to $25.50 to bring the rate closer to its cost, PURA said in a news release.
While PURA did reduce CL&P’s requested rate hikes by hundreds of millions of dollars, the combined effect of the new rates will be difficult for homeowners and businesses to manage, Crisco said in a news release. The total impact of all the approved CL&P changes will add about $25.60 a month — about $307 a year — to the average homeowner’s monthly electric bill, the release stated.
“CL&P should be playing Santa but they’re playing Scrooge instead,” Crisco said in the release. “At a time when many families are still struggling to emerge from the global recession, are looking to pay off holiday credit card bills, and are trying to save money on their electric bills by instituting energy-saving initiatives, all of that has gone out the window with these recent rate hikes. I encourage CL&P customers to shop elsewhere for their power and to hold CL&P’s feet to the fire regarding their promised system improvements.”
