State officials have begun to push back against Yankee Gas’ request for a rate increase that would bump its customers’ residential bills upward by an average of more than $46 starting November 2025.
Consumer Counsel Claire Coleman, Attorney General William Tong, and leaders of the state Senate’s Republican minority all challenged the request filed recently with Connecticut’s Public Utilities Regulatory Authority.
“Yankee’s request, which is the largest increase in delivery rates ever proposed by a gas distribution company in state history, will have a devastating financial effect on customers if approved,” Coleman said Thursday, noting Eversource’s natural gas subsidiary seeks to boost residential rates by 43%.
That translates into an average monthly bill increase of $46.74. But Yankee also has proposed a supply-related credit that would reduce the increase at times from 43% to 38%. In this case, a supply-related credit refers to a deduction applied to a customer’s bill when the utility company finds it has purchased more natural gas than needed to meet demand.
Rates for commercial and industrial users would grow between 14% and 42%, depending on the type of service. Overall Yankee, which serves about 252,000 customers spread across 85 cities and towns, is seeking an additional $209 million in revenue to finance new investments in its distribution system.
Coleman said elements of the Yankee request are five and 10 times that of recent requests submitted by Avangrid’s natural gas subsidiaries.
“Yankee’s customers simply cannot afford this and we are working to ensure they pay no more than what is legally required to provide safe and reliable gas service,” the consumer counsel added.
But Yankee noted in a statement that state regulators are requiring a review of natural gas operations, and the recent rate increase filing is its first in six years.
“The increase is driven by the substantial investments we’ve made — and must continue to make — in the natural gas distribution system to ensure customers have safe, reliable service year-round, and especially during the winter heating months. These vital investments are part of the service customers pay for through rates and are critical to safety and reliability,” the company wrote.
Yankee added that “we’re presenting a proactive approach that directly addresses the costs needed to ensure the safety and reliability of the natural gas system while proposing a new performance-based regulatory (PBR) plan” that promotes long-term cost control, reduced emissions and customer satisfaction.
But Tong said that the proposed increase would boost Yankee’s revenues by 29% while having a “major impact” on its residential customers.
“Read the room, Eversource,” Tong said. “Connecticut families are fed up with sky-high energy costs and can’t afford this massive increase. This is yet another tone-deaf slap in the face from our out-of-touch public utilities.”
Tong, like Coleman, also objected to Yankee’s proposal on grounds that it exceeded the recent requests of other natural gas providers.
“You don’t have to be a lawyer to see some basic obvious overreach in this filing,” the attorney general added. “They’re asking for profits that are completely out of whack with other public utilities.”
Meanwhile, minority Republicans in the state legislature have been arguing for much of the past year that utility rates, including electricity charges as well as those tied to natural gas, are exacerbating pain most families faced in 2022 and early 2023 due to high national inflation rates.
Senate Minority Leader Stephen Harding of Brookfield and Sen. Ryan Fazio of Greenwich, ranking GOP senator on the Energy and Technology Committee, renewed the Republicans’ call for a special fall legislative session to address utility rates.
“This is like the movie ‘Groundhog Day,’” the two leaders wrote in a joint statement, “but it’s devoid of humor and it is totally unsustainable for already struggling Connecticut families and employers.”