Connecticut Rate Filing

The Company has taken all possible steps to avoid the need to make a base-rate filing , including seeking to enter a sale agreement to the Aquarion Water Authority, a not-for-profit operating entity created through a Special Legislative Act in 2024. On March 25, 2026, PURA approved the transaction in Docket No. 25-04-03. However, until the sale the is completed, Aquarion must proceed with the process to align its rates with the underlying cost of service incurred to provide safe, clean and reliable water to customers.

 

The average customer impact of the increase would equate to approximately $12.74 per month, or an increase of approximately 28.6% above the Standard Service Division charges currently authorized by PURA. The impact of the increase would vary for Aquarion's other service divisions.  There will be no change in customer rates until PURA has completed the rate case process.

PURA will determine through the rate case process the actual level and distribution of any approved rate increase, but it is expected that the amount of the increase will vary based on rate division and customer class, i.e.: residential, commercial, industrial or public authority.

We understand residents and businesses are frustrated by rising costs, and we are facing the same economic headwinds and higher operating costs as many other organizations across Connecticut. At the same time, it is our duty to provide safe water and reliable service to our more than 209,000 residential and business customers—that’s more than 688,000 people in the state.

We have not had a base rate increase in more than a decade, while costs across the board have increased significantly since then. When we sought an increase to right-set our rates in 2022, PURA denied the request in 2023, despite evidence of increasing costs since our previous rate case filing in 2013.

Since the denial of the rate increase, we have invested more than $475 million in water utility infrastructure improvements that benefit our customers. These critical projects include water main repairs and replacements, storage tank rehabilitation, treatment plant upgrades, dam improvements, new treatment facilities for smaller systems, enhanced pump stations, efforts to address PFAS and lead service lines, and more.

Additionally, the Company projects to invest more than $65 million through June 2026, and nearly $230 million from July 2026 through June 2027, in system improvements. These investments, along with depreciation expense and associated municipal property taxes, are driving the need for rate relief.

Despite increased costs, Aquarion manages its operations with industry-leading efficiency, and we’ve been successful in controlling day-to-day operating and maintenance (O&M) expenses since the devastating impacts of the 2022/2023 rate increase denial, enabling the Company to avoid base-rate changes and maintain low, reasonable rates for customers. The Company has controlled O&M expenses through rigorous cost oversight and efficient work practices, thereby limiting its growth rate over this period. 

WICA (Water Infrastructure and Conservation Adjustment) is a surcharge that allows Aquarion to facilitate more timely replacements of aging infrastructure, such as old or problematic water mains, valves, hydrants, and other equipment. Under WICA, timelier, smaller increases on customers’ bills allow Aquarion to invest in our infrastructure, enabling us to improve our service and delivery.

• Since 2024, the WICA surcharge has ranged from 2.50% to 7%.

• Through WICA surcharges, Aquarion was able to make more than $137 million in timely/pressing/critical infrastructure investments.

PURA is statutorily charged with regulating the rates and services of CT’s investor-owned utilities and balances the public’s right to safe, adequate, and reliable utility service at reasonable rates with the provider’s right to a reasonable return on its investment. During the PURA review process, the agency will hold a public hearing no later than 60 days after the rate application is filed and will promote the hearing, so customers have ample opportunity to express their views. Customers can also submit written comments.

Customers are welcome to provide comments on the application at any of the hearings, or electronically through the PURA web-filing system or by email to Pura.ExecutiveSecretary@ct.gov.

Instruction on how to use the web-filing system may be found at: https://portal.ct.gov/PURA/Consumer-Services/File-a-Public-Comment/File-a-Public-Comment.

Electronic comment submission is preferred, but in the event comments cannot be submitted electronically, they may be sent via mail to:

PURA
Ten Franklin Square
New Britain, CT 06051

Please refer to Docket Number 25-12-12 in any written or electronic correspondence. Do not include any account numbers, phone numbers, or other personally identifiable information. If you have any questions about the proposed rates, the public hearing, or how to submit comments on the application, you may contact PURA at (800) 382-4586, call Aquarion Water at (800) 732-9678 or email at CS@aquarionwater.com.