Eversource Backs Down on Connecticut Electricity Rate Hike

Is this real? Did Eversource listen to the public outcry about the rise in their electricity rates?

Have you checked your Eversource electricity bill recently? In many cases, the cost to 'deliver the electricity' has doubled. As you've definitely read this week, the purchase of power from the Millstone nuclear power plant was mandated by the state legislature.

As Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton put it, in July, Eversource "put a beatdown" on its customers by raising their rates. During a radio interview on Thursday morning (July 30), he spoke of a friend who rents a one-bedroom apartment at Kennedy Flats, who usually pays $80 a month. When he opened up his bill in July, it had more than doubled to $200!

The good news is that the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) demanded that Eversource Energy immediately restore rates to what they charged on June 30. PURA found itself in the middle of a public uproar.

Eversource claimed the rise in electric rates was due to more customers working from home and using their air conditioners and devices. PURA said the rate increase couldn't be more ill-timed during this period when thousands of people are out of work due to the pandemic.