It's Time to Take on Eversource
Break up Ned and Eversource
Last week, Eversource Ned proposed a one-time $200 energy rebate. Sounds nice, right? Here’s what he’s not telling you.
For years, Eversource Ned has lectured the legislature about fiscal responsibility every time we’ve proposed direct relief for working families. But suddenly, in an election year, it’s fine to blow a $500 million hole in the state budget for a one-time check that fixes absolutely nothing about the system that’s crushing you. It doesn’t lower your rates. It doesn’t reform the utilities. It doesn’t change a single thing about how Eversource does business. You get $200 and then your next bill shows up just as high as the last one.
This is a man who has spent $70 million of his own money on his political career. He’s not above using the state’s coffers to buy another term. That’s all this is — the most expensive campaign mailer in Connecticut history, paid for by the middle class.
It gets better. He was also on social media touting a 2023 law that prohibits utilities from charging you for their lobbying, advertising, and luxury perks. There’s just one problem: his administration fought that bill behind the scenes before it passed. In my role in the legislature, I see firsthand how Eversource Ned takes credit for work he didn’t do. It’s what you’d expect from a billionaire who was born on third base and thinks he hit a home run.
But let’s set the politics aside and talk about what actually matters — what that law revealed about how Eversource and Avangrid spend your money.
Here’s what the utility watchdog found:
The Energy and Policy Institute just released a report analyzing the spending disclosures required by that 2023 law. Since it went into effect, Eversource and Avangrid have racked up at least $9.7 million in spending on activities now prohibited from being passed to you — lobbying, advertising, trade association dues, luxury board retreats, and rate case expenses.
Some highlights:
Eversource employees logged nearly 8,000 hours on lobbying, advertising, and investor relations — and the company redacted their salaries so you can’t see the full cost. At a median salary north of $120,000, that’s well over a million dollars in labor alone.
Yankee Gas, Eversource’s subsidiary that just got a massive rate increase, spent thousands on Board of Directors meetings at five-star resorts in Massachusetts and Florida — including the EAU Palm Beach and LaPlaya Beach Resort.
Connecticut Light & Power paid over $1.6 million to trade associations and charities, including nearly $250,000 to the Edison Electric Institute and $84,000 to the MetroHartford Alliance.
Eversource spent $2.9 million on rate case expenses. Avangrid spent over $4.4 million. That’s $7.3 million — to pay lawyers and consultants to argue for permission to charge you more.
Both companies spent over $50,000 each on dues to the Connecticut Business & Industry Association — the same organization that lobbies against energy reform at the Capitol.
And here’s the kicker.
Eversource’s electric division hasn’t been through a rate case since 2018. That means they are still technically recovering these same categories of prohibited costs through your current rates — right now, today. The law stopped them from collecting new ones, but nobody has made them give back what they’re already collecting.
Before we talk about dipping into $500 million in state funds to give families a one-time check, shouldn’t we be demanding that Eversource start flowing back the money they’ve been erroneously collecting — with interest?
What I would do as governor.
A one-time $200 check is a campaign gesture, not a solution. Here’s what real accountability looks like:
Force Eversource to refund prohibited costs still embedded in current rates. They’ve been collecting for lobbying, luxury retreats, and trade association dues through rates set in 2018. That money belongs to you.
Revoke the franchise. Connecticut law — General Statutes 16-10a — gives towns the power to petition PURA to revoke a utility’s exclusive right to operate if their rates are excessive. I’m already building the grassroots infrastructure to make this happen. The process has never been used before, probably because well-funded utilities make sure not to call attention to it.
Build toward public power. Thirty percent of American households already get their electricity from publicly owned utilities or cooperatives. Right here in Connecticut, residents in Groton, Norwich, and Wallingford already have this. It’s not radical — it’s practical. And there’s a national movement and real resources to make it happen.
Lower the bloated return on equity. Eversource’s guaranteed rate of return got bumped to 9.25% — right after they ran the state’s top regulator out of her position. We need to bring that number in line with market rates, which makes any future public power transition more affordable for everyone.
Give the people a direct voice. Connecticut needs a constitutional amendment allowing ballot initiatives so that when the legislature won’t act, you can. The utilities spend millions lobbying the Capitol to protect the status quo. A ballot initiative puts this question directly in front of the people they’ve been overcharging for decades.
FDR once said, “Judge me by the enemies I have made.” Do you know who he was talking about? The utility companies.
When I sent my last email about Eversource, I got a reply from one of their government affairs people. They offered to sit me down with a former Speaker, a former mayor, a former head of the party, and a sitting DTC chair. The message was clear: We have power in this state.
Good. I’ve been picking fights with powerful people since my first race. I’m not stopping now.