Eversource seeks 19% rate hike for CL&P customers

Millstone nuclear power station.
Photo by Sean D. Elliot/The Day of New London
Millstone nuclear power station.
Eversource filed a request Thursday, Feb. 15 for a $784 million rate adjustment that would bump its Connecticut Light & Power (CL&P) electric rates by nearly 19%, costing an average residential customer an additional $38 a month May 1.
The United Illuminating Company, an Avangrid subsidiary and the smaller of Connecticut’s two regulated electric monopolies, filed a request Friday, Feb. 16 to raise rates by 12%, or $26 a month, on May 1.
Twice a year, the utilities seek rate adjustments to recover costs imposed by public policies, notably a directive that they purchase electricity at a favorable rate from Millstone, the state’s last nuclear plant and its biggest source of carbon-free power.
Eversource said the Millstone credit authorized by the General Assembly in 2017 caused $605 million of the $784 million in unrecovered costs; another $160 million is blamed on mandated benefits for the poor and medical hardship cases.
The filing comes as Eversource is looking to raise cash by selling Aquarion Water to offset a one-time $1.9 billion loss on off-shore wind investments and a day after it told stock analysts that Connecticut regulators were making its cash crunch worse.
Eversource complains that a change that the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) unanimously adopted in December 2020 in its methodology for assessing biannual rate adjustments have slowed cost recovery.
The company’s cash issues were “primarily driven” by PURA’s shift in methodology away from forecasts of recoverable costs to using actual costs in the previous year as a benchmark, said John M. Moreira, the Eversource chief financial officer.
“We’ve been significantly under-recovered at the CL&P franchise in 2023 by a sizable amount, close to $1 billion,” Moreira told stock analysts on an earnings call Wednesday.
Eversource offered no estimate, however, of how using the older methodology would have mitigated the proposed increase by allowing some cost recovery earlier. Eversource proposed Thursday that the increase be phased in.
The criticism of PURA has a broader subtext: Eversource and Avangrid, the owner of United Illuminating, have been urging Gov. Ned Lamont not to reappoint Marissa P. Gillett, the authority’s chair, to another term.
Gillett declined comment on the filing. Neither she nor the other two commissioners, John W. Betkoski III and Michael Caron, were mentioned by name in the Eversource filing or accompanying letter or press statement.
Two lawmakers on the Energy and Technology Committee said they saw new messaging around the filing as part of the broader campaign against Gillett.
“It’s pretty clear that the utilities are not a great fan of Marissa Gillett,” said Sen. Ryan Fazio, R-Greenwich. “I think she has the interest of consumers at heart, and whether every decision she and the other commissioners make is right or wrong is a complicated question. Each of those decisions should be examined and judged on their merits.”
He called the campaign against her “untoward.”
Sen. Norm Needleman, D-Essex, co-chair of the committee, was blunter.
“In my opinion, they are just trying to get her fired. And that’s as simple as it is,” Needleman said.
Lamont has both praised Gillett for her close oversight of utilities’ expenses and rates, but he has urged her to work more collaboratively with her two colleagues on the PURA commission as well as the companies.
The governor’s office reacted with caution Thursday night.
“We need to review the filing. We agree that we ought to work together to lower electric costs,” said Julia Bergman, the governor’s spokeswoman. “We’ll continue to collaborate with all the parties to do that.”
Whether the numbers are correct, the types of expenses claimed by Eversource clearly are recoverable, lawmakers said. Fazio said the methodology challenged by Eversource did not change that.
The ranking House Republican, Rep. Bill Buckbee of New Milford, blamed Democratic policies.
“This proposed rate increase comes at a time when residents simply cannot afford to pay more out of pocket to cover the financial ramifications of policy decisions that have been made by the Democrat-controlled legislature, the governor’s office, and his regulators,” Buckbee said.
Actually, the Millstone bill had more Republican support in the House than Democrat — Buckbee among them. In 2017, Republicans held half the seats in the Senate and were five short of a majority in the House. The governor was a Democrat, Dannel P. Malloy.
At the time, Millstone’s profits were eroded by competition from electricity generated by what then was plentiful and cheap natural gas, and its owner said its future was threatened without help.
The bill allowed the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection and PURA to permit Millstone to compete in a more favorable market against solar, wind and hydro power that commands higher prices.
What resulted was a fixed price for much of the electricity generated by Millstone. Eversource and Avangrid would buy it and immediately resell it on the competitive market.
When the market prices were low, the utilities took a loss that PURA would let them recover from ratepayers. When the prices rose, as occurred during the first year of the war in Ukraine, the utilities turned a profit on the Millstone power that flowed back to ratepayers.
Millstone’s electricity is once again above market rates, meaning UI and Eversource are owed a recovery of their costs.
“Now we’ve got to pay the piper,” said Rep. Jonathan Steinberg, D-Westport, co-chair of energy. “There’s not much way around it, and they stand on very firm ground with that one aspect.”
The case of Jacquier vs. Camardi is expected to continue at Torrington Superior Court the week of Sept. 15.
NORTH CANAAN — A pair of Democratic Town Committee (DTC) candidates are seeking legal recourse to ensure they are included on the ballot this November despite errors on the party endorsement slate.
Plaintiffs Jean Jacquier and Carol Overby brought the case against defendant Marilisa Camardi to Torrington Superior Court, which held an evidentiary hearing Friday, Sept. 12. Testimony from both sides aimed to explain the situation to Judge Ann E. Lynch.
At the July 22 DTC caucus, Jacquier was endorsed as the party’s candidate for town clerk and Overby was endorsed to run for Board of Finance.
The next day, DTC chair and caucus secretary Chris Jacques filed the full endorsement slate and State Election Enforcement Commission (SEEC) documents to Assistant Town Clerk Marilisa Camardi. But the slate was missing information: Jacquier and Overby were not assigned to a specific office or term.
"I am a rookie at this," Jacques said on the witness stand. "I suppose I just didn't look at it closely enough."
Jacquier testified that she was not wearing her glasses while filling out her information on the official endorsement slate and “made a clerical mistake.”
Overby was not called as a witness.
Camardi testified to noticing on July 24 that the form was missing information and, after cross referencing the accompanying SEEC documents, filled in the blanks herself. It was established during the hearing that making clerical corrections on forms is within proper protocol for a town clerk.
On Aug. 7, however, First Selectman Brian Ohler alerted the Secretary of the State’s (SOTS) office that the original document was incomplete. (Ohler was not present at the Sept. 12 hearing.)
SOTS Election Officer Heather Augeri reviewed the slate as it was originally submitted. Per the filing, she responded that the endorsements were not properly certified and therefore void. Augeri advised Camardi remove both nominees from the ballot.
Jacquier testified that since the Aug. 7 correspondence she has had several phone calls with Augeri, who she described as a friend. Jacquier said Augeri relayed the same message to her: “She said it’s not valid.”
Camardi is the acting town clerk in North Canaan, though she is technically Jacquier’s part-time assistant. Jacquier is the current, four-term elected town clerk but has not reported to work since February following a dispute between her and the first selectman. “I did not resign. I did not quit. I just left,” Jacquier testified. “I couldn’t stand the turmoil.”
Plaintiff attorney John Kennelly said the SOTS office has no statutory authority to rule on issues relating to municipal party endorsements. Kennelly claimed that as the acting town clerk, Camardi is the sole individual responsible for finalizing and certifying the town election ballot.
Kennelly asserted that if Camardi was informed through the SEEC documents of which offices Jacquier and Overby were endorsed for, then Augeri’s advice should be ignored and the two candidates should be eligible to run in November.
Camardi said she was waiting to finalize the ballot until the court makes its decision.
After nearly three hours of testimony, Judge Lynch referenced a similar case, Airey vs. Feliciano (2024), in which Connecticut Supreme Court ruled to reject an improperly signed petition sheet. Lynch requested briefs from each attorney by Monday, Sept. 15, and planned to continue the hearing that week.
Aradev LLC’s plans to redevelop Wake Robin Inn include four 2,000-square-foot cabins, an event space, a sit-down restaurant and fast-casual counter, a spa, library, lounge, gym and seasonal pool. If approved, guest room numbers would increase from 38 to 57.
LAKEVILLE — The public hearing for the redevelopment of Wake Robin Inn is over. Salisbury Planning and Zoning Commission now has two months to make a decision.
The hearing closed on Tuesday, Sept. 9, after its seventh session.
Michael Klemens, chair of P&Z, had warned at the opening of the proceedings that “this might be a long night” due to a last-minute influx of material from experts hired by Wells Hill Road residents William and Angela Cruger to oppose the project, but this turned out not to be the case.
These 11th hour submissions set a sour tone to the start of the meeting, with commissioner Robert Riva stating that it was “not very professional to pull this stunt on this Commission.” Riva said he had diligently reviewed the already substantial documentation provided by both the applicant and the opposing experts, and was surprised to find a “dump” of additional information submitted just hours before the meeting’s start time at 6 p.m.
Tensions were quickly eased, however, when William Cruger offered his concise summation of his platform’s opposition to the expansion, which is the second iteration of the project after an earlier version was withdrawn late last year.
“It’s important for you all to hear from me that there was never any disrespect intended to the Commission, the commissioners, and to the process,” Cruger said. He defended the last-minute submissions as an effort on the part of the experts to be thorough in their analysis: “Our intention… has been and remains to do our best to get whatever we think will be helpful in your deliberations into the record.”
The Crugers formally entered the hearing process as intervenors for the first application from Aradev LLC, the applicant, in the fall of 2024, meaning they and their hired consultants had full party status in the hearing proceedings. During this cycle, however, they chose not to petition for intervenor status, yet during this round of hearings their role has been similar. Klemens described them as having “almost intervenor status — not quite.”
William Cruger summarized the consultant’s findings for Aradev’s revised application, noting they found it to be “virtually identical in scale to the previous proposal.”
“Our position is that the proposed expansion would absolutely negatively impact the usefulness, enjoyment and value of the surrounding properties,” he said.
Aradev’s attorney Joshua Mackey countered by saying that the special permit conditions would elevate the currently non-conforming hotel in the zone, describing it as a “community asset that is improved, regulated, and safeguarded for generations to come.” He characterized Aradev as “the next steward of this storied property.”
After Mackey and Aradev co-founder Steven Cohen concluded their remarks, Klemens closed the hearing with no public comment, which he had stated would be the case at last week’s hearing session on Thursday, Sept. 4. Klemens said that P&Z will begin deliberating the proposal in early October after the commissioners have had the chance to review the information in the record.
A total of 45 letters, including the Crugers’ experts’ testimony, were submitted since the Sept. 4 meeting alone, alongside hundreds of pages of application materials and additional testimony.
As the Commission deliberates and reviews, all of this information is available for public viewing on the “Meeting Documents” subpage under P&Z’s section on the town website, www.salisburyct.us.
The Commission must issue a decision on the application by Nov. 13, the end of the statutorily defined deliberation window.
COPAKE — Judith Marie “Judy” Drury, 76, a four-year resident of Copake, New York, formerly of Millerton, New York, died peacefully on Tuesday, Sept. 2, 2025, at Vassar Bros. Medical Center in Poughkeepsie, New York, surrounded by her loving family and her Lord and savior Jesus Christ. Judy worked as a therapy aide for Taconic DDSO in Wassaic, New York, prior to her retirement on Feb. 1, 2004. She then went on to work in the Housekeeping Department at Vassar Bros. Medical Center for several years.
Born Jan. 2, 1949, in Richford, Vermont, she was the daughter of the late Leo J. and Marie A. (Bean) Martel. She attended Roeliff Jansen Central School in Columbia County, New York, in her early years. Judy was an avid sports fan and she was particularly fond of the New England Patriots football team and the New York Rangers hockey team. She enjoyed spending time with her family and traveling to Florida, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and Pennsylvania for many years. She was a longtime parishioner of Faith Bible Chapel of Shekomeko on Silver Mountain in Millerton as well.
Judy is survived by two brothers; John Martel and his wife, Jane of Falls Village, Connecticut, and Frank Martel of Ancram, New York; her sister, Susanna “Sue” Martel of Copake, New York; and three generation of nieces, nephews, great nieces and nephews and great-great nieces and nephews. In addition to her parents, Judy was predeceased by her brother, Leo W. Martel, Sr. of Poughkeepsie, New York, and her sister, Helen J. Slater of Hillsdale, New York; her sister-in-law, Karen Martel of Ancram and a special nephew, Jacob Stickle of Copake.
A visiting hour will take place on Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025, from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. at Faith Bible Chapel, 222 Silver Mountain Road, Millerton, New York 12546. A funeral service will be held at 3 p.m. Pastor William Mayhew will officiate. Burial will follow at Irondale Cemetery in Millerton, New York. A celebration of Judy’s life will be announced at a later date. Arrangements have been entrusted to the Scott D. Conklin Funeral Home, 37 Park Avenue, Millerton, New York 12546.
Memorial contributions may be made to Faith Bible Chapel, 222 Silver Mountain Road, Millerton, New York 12546 or American Cancer Society, 45 Reade Place, Poughkeepsie, New York 12601. To send an online condolence to the family, flowers to the service or to plant a tree in Judy’s memory, please visit www.conklinfuneralhome.com
AMESVILLE — Jeremy Dakin, 78, passed away Aug. 31, 2025, at Vassar Brothers Medical Center after a long battle with COPD and other ailments.
Jeremy was a dear friend to many, and a fixture of the Amesville community. There will be a service in his memory at Trinity Lime Rock Episcopal Church on Sept. 27 at 11 a.m.
Below is the obituary Jeremy himself wrote:
Born July 20, 1947, Pittsfield, Massachusetts.
A resident of Salisbury, Connecticut for over 75 years, he graduated from UVM in 1970, at which time he enlisted in the U.S. Army as a German translator (“It just seemed like a better idea than learning Vietnamese”), and served two years in West Berlin.
Returning to Vermont in 1973 he began a 16-year gig as a ski shop manager and a professional ski patroller, which led to a 30-year stint as an EMT.
A direct descendant of Rebecca Nurse (who was hanged as a witch in Salem in 1692), he is survived by a nephew, Robin Dakin, of Englewood, Ohio, his wife Amy, and a flock of grandnieces, all of whom seem to have inherited the family love of camping and canoeing.
The love of his life, Wren Smith, passed away in 2007 after a 10-year battle with breast cancer. By the time he was seventy, Jeremy’s physical activities were curtailed by COPD, due to a lifetime of smoking.
Rather than spend money on flowers, please consider a donation to the American Cancer Society and/or the American Lung Association. But, for Pete’s sake, don’t smoke.