Brendan Crowley

A settlement agreement for United Illuminating to return money it has overbilled customers is moving forward, say state regulators, after the agreement was amended to address concerns that it could stall the introduction of performance-based rates for Connecticut’s energy providers. Under the settlement, United Illuminating would return the $44.7 million it has overbilled customers since a federal corporate tax cut in 2017. The company also agreed to contribute an additional $5 million which will slightly lower customer rates. Residential customers will see their bills drop by about 5.2 percent starting July 1, in part as a result of the settlement,

Legislators broke largely along party lines in approving a bill that will require developers of large solar projects to pay workers the prevailing wage. The bill faced vocal industry opposition warning that the law will add to the expense of solar energy and slow development of additional solar capacity. On Tuesday night, the House voted to approve the bill by a vote of 89-59 , with one Republican voting “yes” and five Democrats voting “no.” The bill later passed the Senate on Thursday night by a vote of 24-12, with Democrats voting in favor and Republicans opposed.  The debate in

Residential customers of either of the state’s two major electric utilities will see their monthly electric rates decrease this July. Starting July 1, Eversource customers rates will decrease by about 4 percent, and United Illuminating customers’ rates will decrease by about 6 percent. That amounts to about $9.50 for the “typical” residential Eversource customer using 700 kWh of electricity each month, and about $9 for the typical United Illuminating residential customer, according to the Public Utility Regulatory Authority. Because electric customers tend to use more electricity in the hot summer months, however, the actual amount of the bill may still

Twenty-two third-party electric suppliers admitting to charging customers higher than expected rates have agreed to return a total of $9.4 million to those customers. State utility regulators at PURA offered amnesty to civil penalties to any supplier that voluntarily admitted that it charged customers higher rates than it told them it would in the “Next Cycle Rate” section on their bills. In each case, the supplier caused the issue by failing to provide utilities with the right information, sometimes for months or years, according to PURA. Twenty-two suppliers agreed to “amnesty agreements” that require them to return the $9.4 million

When Mercia Ordine lost her job last March, she quickly fell behind on the $200-a-month electric bills in her 600-square-foot, two-bedroom Fairfield apartment. Ordine is far from alone.  Electricity was expensive in Connecticut before the pandemic, and the poorest residents have always struggled to pay their bills. But the pandemic has caused a wider range of people to struggle with electric bills, said Brenda Watson, executive director of Operation Fuel. The assistance program was created during the energy crisis of 1977 as a way to help low-income families who fell through the cracks of government assistance programs. It’s funded primarily