“Every day that English Station remains a contaminated eyesore is a slap in
the face to the State of Connecticut and New Haven families. This decision leaves no room for doubt—United Illuminating is obligated to remediate English Station, they haven’t, and now they must confront the serious consequences of their failures,” said Attorney General Tong. “How United Illuminating mishandled English Station is one of so many examples of this foreign-controlled company abusing Connecticut families. They take huge profits from Connecticut ratepayers—who can barely afford the skyrocketing bills—and want to leave us to clean up their mess. We’re not going to let them get away with it.”The court decision upholds a $2 million annual penalty imposed by PURA in 2023 as part of a broader rate case. United Illuminating had sought a bloated and unsupported $130.7 million rate hike, padded with exorbitant corporate profits. Attorney General Tong argued against the hike, seeking penalties for UI’s failures at English Station and identifying numerous areas where the utility sought to shift inflated, inappropriate costs onto ratepayers, including subsidized dog walking for employees working from home, “loyalty” bonuses for workers, advertising and membership fees, and an increased profit margin far exceeding the return on equity for any publicly regulated utility in Connecticut, among many other areas. PURA rejected all but $23 million of that demand.
United Illuminating appealed the penalty and the broader rate case, and filed a subsequent demand for an additional rate hike. Attorney General Tong has fought back against each of those actions on behalf of Connecticut families.
- Twitter: @AGWilliamTong
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