After a week of complaints, utility regulators temporarily pull plug on Eversource rate hike

After a tumultuous week filled with legislative outrage, sniping between energy companies, and consumer sticker shock at rising utility bills, state regulators on Friday announced they would temporarily suspend a controversial rate increase for energy company Eversource.

That rate increase went into effect on July 1 and was originally pitched to state regulators as relatively modest: about $5.50 on the average residential customer’s monthly bill.

But COVID-19 made that complicated. Stay-at-home orders drove people away from places of work, days got hotter, residential electricity usage spiked, and an economy-shattering pandemic left many cash-strapped customers reeling at bills compounded by Eversource’s rate increase.

By Friday morning, the utility began to acknowledge the strain.

“I think that our customers are really, really struggling,” said Penni Conner, chief customer officer for Eversource. “Many of them are struggling just to pay their rent, put food on the table. And these energy bills – the timing is just difficult.”

Read more: https://ctmirror.org/2020/07/31/after-a-week-of-complaints-utility-regulators-temporarily-pull-plug-on-eversource-rate-hike/