Avangrid’s two natural gas utilities in Connecticut filed requests with state utility regulators on Friday for rate increases.
Southern Connecticut Gas is asking the state’s Public Utilities Regulatory Authority for a rate increase of nine percent from its customers while Connecticut Natural Gas is seeking a 4 percent hike. SCG serves 208,024 customers in 24 Connecticut communities in Fairfield, New Haven and Middlesex counties while CNG has 184,880 customers in 24 central Connecticut communities and Greenwich.
The rate hike requested by CNG represents and average increase of approximately $6.68 per month or an average daily increase of 22 cents. SCG’s requested increase represents an average increase of about $13.51 per month or an average daily increase of 44 cents.
Frank Reynolds, president and chief executive officer of the two natural gas utilities, described the increases being sought as modest and said they are necessary to provide “the top-tier service reliability our customers expect and deserve.”
“As we look to build the gas distribution network of the future, the modest rate increases we are proposing will go directly towards upgrading our infrastructure, replacing leak-prone cast iron pipe, and building capital projects that ensure our customers maintain gas service on the coldest nights,” Reynolds said in a statement.
CNG officials last sought a rate increase in 2018 while SCG’s last rate case was in 2017.
As part of their rate increase requests, officials with the two utilities are proposing to establish a low-income discount rate in collaboration with PURA.
The proposed rate increases also call for the utilities to increase the number of full-time employees in key areas. About 60 percent of the new hires will be unionized workers.
Connecticut Attorney General William Tong reacted to the rate hike requests by saying the state families “pay far too much for basic utilities.”
“We all appreciate the need to invest in safe, reliable gas distribution, but we also need to acknowledge just how difficult it is for families right now to make ends meet,” Tong said in a statement. “I will be scrutinizing every line of this application and playing an active, aggressive role in these proceedings before PURA to ensure no one pays any more than absolutely necessary.”
Connecticut’s Consumer Counsel Claire Coleman said when natural gas rates “are out of sync with a utility’s actual costs and consumer needs, individual customers and businesses across the state suffer.” Coleman’s office represents the interests of utility rate payers in cases before PURA,
“My team and I are looking forward to gaining full access to each company’s financials and pouring over every line item in these requests to ensure customers only pay the cost of receiving reliable service,” Coleman said in a statement.