Last Friday, officials within the Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority gave a preliminary ruling approving the merger between Eversource-owned Aquarion Water Company and the semi-public South Central Connecticut Regional Water Authority.
According to the CT Insider, Eversource Energy executives announced a deal to sell Aquarion to the RWA back in January 2025. This $2.4 billion deal, which includes $1.6 billion in cash and $800 million in debt, would help the parent company pay off its debts and reinvest back into its core natural gas and electricity businesses.
PURA blocked this sale in November last year, citing concerns with its management structure and its ability to meet its “managerial responsibility” to customers, according to the CT Mirror.
This decision was reversed on March 6, after Superior Court Judge Matthew Budzik ordered PURA to reconsider their original decision, according to the CT Mirror.
The recent decision determined that PURA lacks the authority to block the sale, something Judge Budzik said in his written decision, although he did say PURA had authority on one issue: the Aquarion Water Authority’s consumer affairs office.
Critics of the Aquarion deal raised concerns about rising water bills, the loss of property taxes and loss of state oversight if this deal goes through.
Under state law, PURA can only approve rates for investor-owned entities, but not for publicly owned entities; If this sale goes through, it will remove PURA’s regulatory oversight as Aquarion would operate under a quasi-public entity, the AWA.
The AWA will operate as a sister company alongside the RWA, and both companies will share a board of directors, CEO and CFO.
As part of the application to PURA, Aquarion and RWA officials pledge to not seek a rake hike in the first six months of the merger. After that period, both companies forecasted annual rate increases between 6.5% and 8.35% until 2040 to maintain operations.
Non-profit entities also don’t have to pay property taxes. According to Eversource spokeswoman Jamie Ratliff, Aquarion paid $19.4 million in property taxes in 2024. Both companies have agreed to pay no less than that amount through a payment in lieu of taxes agreement.
The RWA was able to bid on Aquarion after Democratic lawmakers pushed through legislation in 2024 that allowed for RWA to create the AWA.
Aquarion Company and its subsidiaries Aquarion Water Company of Connecticut and Torrington Water Company service over 700 thousand people in 62 municipalities across Connecticut, according to a written statement by Attorney General William Tong.
Tong, who represented PURA in Eversource’s successful appeal of the original decision, called the reversal “an economic disaster for Connecticut families and municipalities and is not in the public interest… Your bills are going to go up to pay for this boondoggle. Not just a little bit. A lot.”
Stephen Harding, the state senate minority leader and a Republican representing Brookfield, also shared Tong’s sentiments on the deal.
“It’s the product of an atrocious legislative backroom deal that silenced the voices of the public,” Harding said in an interview with CT Insider. “This sale would bring about a tsunami of annual water rate hikes for ratepayers across Connecticut. Our focus must be on protecting water customers in this already unaffordable state while protecting the environment.”
The legislation’s sponsor, State Rep. Joe Gresko, praised Aquarion’s service during a press conference at the state Capitol last week.
“They have been responsible, they have been a good corporate citizen,” Gresko said. “I would prefer it if we didn’t monkey around with that, if we can avoid it.”
In a joint statement Friday, Aquarion President Lucy Teixeira and RWA Vice President Rochelle Kowalski praised PURA’s decision on the proposed sale.
“We appreciate the commission’s work to reach this point,” the statement said. “The decision recognizes the Aquarion Water Authority’s ability to access lower-cost capital as a public authority and reflects commitments we have made including full [payment in lieu of taxes] payments to support municipalities and the stabilization fund we proposed to help mitigate future rate impacts.”
A final decision on the matter will be made when the State General Assembly returns to session on March 25.