CT Mirror26%
Before CT families pay more, Eversource must prove its worth 87%
By Jamie Flynn98%
7/22/2026, 4:02:00 AM
BS Summary: This article contains 28 faulty reasoning types, including Appeal to Emotion, Post Hoc (False Cause), and Negativity Bias, with Loss Aversion as the most egregious example at 14.1% saturation with 81 hits. Analysis detected 1,084 faulty-reasoning hits from 575 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 80.1% and a BS Rank of 87% (2,649 of 19,901 articles). This article is worse (more manipulative) than 86.70% of the article peer group.
For many Connecticut families, opening up the electric bill has become another source of stress.
It’s the parent deciding whether to keep the air conditioner running during a heat wave .
It’s the senior on a fixed income wondering what else they have to cut to make ends meet.
It’s the small business owner watching utility costs eat into already thin margins.
Now those customers could soon see their electric bills rise again.
Eversource has filed its first electric rate case in eight years, seeking an annual increase of either $451 million or $727 million, depending on whether recent storm-related costs are included.
If approved as proposed, the average customer’s bill would increase by about 11 percent (without storm costs) or 18 percent (with storm costs).
Connecticut families and businesses already pay some of the highest electric bills in the country.
That’s why Eversource’s rate case must receive rigorous scrutiny from the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority.
As a regulated monopoly, Eversource faces no competition.
PURA exists to provide accountability that the market cannot.
No one questions that Connecticut needs a safe and reliable electric grid.
We all want fewer outages after storms and an electric system that can support our clean energy future.
The real question isn’t whether we should invest; it’s whether Connecticut families and businesses already stretched by the high cost of living are being asked to pay more than necessary.
That’s why this rate case cannot become a rubber stamp.
PURA has an important responsibility: to make sure customers pay only for investments that are truly necessary, reasonably priced, and in the public interest.
Every dollar that isn’t carefully scrutinized comes directly out of a family’s monthly budget or a business’s bottom line.
This review must look beyond the traditional utility playbook.
For too long, utilities have relied on expensive poles-and-wires projects while overlooking lower-cost solutions that can deliver the same or better results.
PURA should require Eversource to prove that every proposed investment was prudent, that lower-cost alternatives were fully considered, and that customers are not paying for unnecessary or gold-plated infrastructure.
Connecticut has opportunities to reduce costs by investing in solutions such as energy efficiency, battery storage, demand response, and other non-wires alternatives that can improve reliability.
Those solutions should be the first option – not the last.
Customers should also see something in return if rates increase.
Investments should modernize the grid in ways that help people save money over time, including new electric rates that make technologies like heat pumps more affordable to use and reduce energy costs for families and businesses alike.
Conservation Law Foundation is participating directly in this case as an intervenor.
We will advocate for rigorous oversight, challenge unnecessary spending, and fight for investments that lower costs, strengthen reliability, and deliver real benefits to the people paying the bills.
Connecticut families shouldn’t have to choose between keeping the lights on and paying for groceries.
Small businesses shouldn’t have to absorb avoidable utility costs that make it harder to hire workers and grow.
If customers are being asked to pay more, they deserve the confidence that every dollar has been carefully examined and every reasonable opportunity to reduce costs has been pursued.
Connecticut families and businesses deserve affordable energy, a reliable grid, and a utility that earns – not assumes – the public’s trust.
Jamie Flynn is the Conservation Law Foundation’s Vice President for Connecticut.
Analysis
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