Whether that happens depends on both regulatory decisions and ongoing legal appeals, company officials said. Sara Furiossos, a spokeswoman for Avangrid, said the company “looks forward to investing as much as we can in Connecticut.”
“Once we get approval from PURA, we will do that,” Furiotzos said of the Connecticut Public Utility Regulatory Authority. “We ask them to approve the distribution investment plan we have proposed for UI and natural gas utilities.”
Avangrid officials note that Connecticut’s regulated utilities can only invest capital to the extent that regulators expect them to collect revenue. The extent to which Avangrid will be able to recover its capital expenditures is uncertain due to several factors.
Despite the commencement of this appeal, Avangrid filed a rate lawsuit against PURA in November seeking to recover $19.8 million from its Connecticut natural gas subsidiary, as well as a year-long rate lawsuit against Southern Connecticut Gas. asked for an additional $40.8 million. A company official said the evidentiary hearing in the fee case is expected to conclude this summer and a decision will be made this fall.
UI has budgeted a total of $152 million for capital expenditures on its distribution network in 2024. Unable to fully fund that budget due to the PURA ruling, UI officials cut spending by about 50 percent, leaving about $78 million for infrastructure work in 2024.
One example of the resulting budget cuts is UI’s April announcement that utilities would suspend electric vehicle charging incentive rebate programs.
Not everyone is convinced that ratepayers should bear the burden of maintaining utility infrastructure.
State Sen. Norman Needleman (D-Essex) said cutting budgets for both Avangrid and Eversource in response to the PURA ruling carries a significant level of risk for both companies.
“In exchange for being given a monopoly, they have a legal obligation to maintain the grid,” said Needelman, who co-chairs the General Assembly’s Energy and Technology Committee. “If they don’t make that investment and something goes wrong, there’s going to be a problem. I’m not a lawyer, but let me tell you, I don’t want to be the one responsible for making the decision not to make the investment. Invest when it happens.”
