Attorney General Tong Urges PURA to Reject Creation of New Aquarion Water Authority that Could Double Consumer Bills

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08/22/2025

Attorney General Tong Urges PURA to Reject Creation of New Aquarion Water Authority that Could Double Consumer Bills

(Hartford, CT) – Attorney General William Tong today urged the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority to reject the sale of Aquarion Company to a new nonprofit that could double household bills and gut public oversight of water utility rates and consumer protections.

Aquarion Company and its Connecticut subsidiaries, Aquarion Water Company of Connecticut (AWC-CT) and Torrington Water Company (TWC), is currently by far the largest water company in the state, serving approximately 722,000 people in 62 municipalities across Connecticut.

“This transaction is a costly loser for Connecticut families who simply cannot afford higher water bills right now. This is about Eversource wanting to offload Aquarion because they didn’t get the multimillion-dollar rate hike they demanded. Don’t be confused by the complicated legal maneuvers. This is an end run around PURA to double bills, and it should be rejected,” said Attorney General Tong.

Click here for the full comments.

Aquarion is currently owned by Eversource. As a corporate-owned public utility, it is regulated by PURA, which has authority to set rates and scrutinize its service. In 2023, PURA rejected Aquarion’s bid to raise rates by nearly 30 percent. The company appealed and the Connecticut Supreme Court recently largely affirmed PURA’s decision.

Now, Eversource is seeking to offload Aquarion, reaping funds from the sale and shedding its obligations while saddling Connecticut families and businesses with the long-term costs and consequences. The move would convert Aquarion into a nonprofit entity called the Aquarion Water Authority (AWA), which would share resources with the South Central Regional Water Authority (RWA), including a CEO, CFO, board, and board committees.

Nonprofit utilities, such as the RWA and proposed AWA, are governed not by PURA but by their own board, comprised of representatives from the towns they serve. The board, making decisions for both the RWA and AWA in this proposed transaction, must either accept or reject a rate request in its entirety, with no ability for line-item adjustments as before PURA. Not once has RWA’s board ever rejected a rate hike request. While the Office of the Attorney General and Consumer Counsel both aggressively advocate on behalf of ratepayers before PURA, the RWA selects its own consumer advocate and sets the advocate’s pay.

Aquarion is not hiding its intentions to raise rates. The application projects annual rate increases between 6.5 percent and 8.35 percent annually through 2035, with even more rate hikes expected every five years after. Those plans could as much as double water bills for Connecticut families over the next decade.

Attorney General Tong’s comments urge PURA to reject the transaction. But should the transaction go forward, the comments urge specific measures to protect ratepayers. Critically, PURA must prohibit Aquarion, the RWA, or Eversource from using ratepayer funds to cover transaction costs, including any premium paid above the strict cost of the deal, any consultant, banking, legal or regulatory fees, executive severance, among other items. Any new governing board must be given the ability to make line-item adjustments in rate hike requests. The ratepayer advocate must be fully independent, among other necessary measures to protect consumers.

Assistant Attorneys General Caroline McCormack and John Wright and Deputy Associate Attorney General Michael Wertheimer, Chief of the Consumer Protection Section assisted the Attorney General in this matter.

Twitter: @AGWilliamTong

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Media Contact:

Elizabeth Benton
elizabeth.benton@ct.gov

Consumer Inquiries:

860-808-5318
attorney.general@ct.gov