Sen. Hwang: Massive Electric Rate Hike Requests are “Outrageous”

For Immediate Release

Sen. Hwang: Massive Electric Rate Hike Requests are “Outrageous”

Calls for Transparency, Accountability, Public Forums

Sen. Tony Hwang released the following statement in response to Eversource and United Illuminating filing their proposed new Standard Service Rates with PURA. Starting January 1, 2023 the Standard Service Rate for residential Eversource customers will go from 12.1 cents a kWh to 24.2 cents a kWh. An average customer using 700kWh per month will see an increase of 48% or about $85 a month increase. This rate will run from 1/1/23 until 6/30/23. United Illuminating’s Standard Service Rate will increase from 10.62 cents per kWh to 21.94 cents per kWh. This will be a bill increase of 43% or an average monthly increase of $79.

“Outrageous. There is no other word to describe these massive, crushing rate hikes, and I oppose them in the strongest terms. We need accountability and we need transparency. The utilities must answer questions about these unaffordable hikes in a public forum. Their data and reasoning must be thoroughly examined. Their Wall Street financial reporting must be closely analyzed. These are our ‘public’ utilities. We, the public, must be able to have trust in their numbers. These rate hikes will inflict pain on families across Connecticut, and the utilities need to unequivocally justify these requests.”

As a state lawmaker, Sen. Hwang has consistently turned up the heat on public utilities and has fought for years to limit rate increases.

At the same time, Sen. Hwang has repeatedly pushed for renewable energy solutions.

For example:

• Hwang has supported shared solar programs for low-income families and supported net-metering for residential renewables to foster energy independence.
• Hwang has led the successful bipartisan push to enact cost-saving municipal virtual net-metering.
• Hwang has been a champion for the ConnectSun program, which offers significant cost savings for ratepayers to install solar and battery storage in an effort to increase the reliability of the electric grid.
• Hwang continues to focus on how distributed energy resources like solar and storage can provide value, reliability, and resiliency for homeowners and the electric grid.

Citing his long standing bipartisan leadership and his vote in helping to pass legislation to promote clean air, climate change and protect our state’s natural resources, the Connecticut League of Conservation Voters again named State Senator Hwang an “Environmental Champion” in its 2022 Environmental Scorecard.

To speak out about the requested rate hikes, Sen. Hwang urged the public to send an email to:

[email protected] and copy [email protected]

On the web: www.SenatorHwang.com