UI Issues Statement Following Filing of Written Exceptions in Rate Case

UI President & CEO: "We look forward to a day when we are not forced to raise serious concerns about the impacts of such a devastating draft decision. But no company can survive in 2025 on a budget fit for 2013."

A graph demonstrating UI's Operations & Maintenance (O&M) expenses, comparing the inflation-adjusted actual expenses (green) to the O&M expenses allowed by PURA (orange).

ORANGE, Conn. - September 23, 2025 - Following yesterday's filing of the company's Written Exceptions in its rate case (Docket # 24-10-04) before the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA), Frank Reynolds, President and CEO of United Illuminating (UI), a subsidiary of Avangrid, Inc., issued the following statement:

"Much has changed at PURA in the last few days. But what has not changed is its draft decision in UI's rate case. As we communicated in our Written Exceptions filed yesterday, if the draft decision is enacted without significant changes, it would have severe consequences for UI customers, our employees, and the future of the state.

"Our customers, first and foremost, would experience a noticeable degradation in their quality of electric service because of the decision's proposal to make deep cuts in UI's operating budget. Longer outages and less efficient power restoration efforts would be the new normal, especially during routine thunderstorms and snowstorms, because the draft decision cuts our minor storm budget from $3 million across three years to just $389,000. Such a minute fraction of necessary funding could perhaps adequately fund us for the first two months of the year - and what then? How will we pay our workers to work overtime to restore customers overnight or on the weekends? How will we bring in extra crews and contractors to help restore customers more quickly without funding for them?

"It's not just our customers: our employees, too, would feel the harmful consequences from this draft decision. The draft decision does not fund the positions of 71 UI employees, which comprises more than 10% of UI's workforce. Our employees would also receive fewer benefits that they and their families rely on, such as a student loan repayment program, though a similar program, funded by ratepayers and taxpayers, is available for state employees at PURA.

"Even state goals would be jeopardized under the draft decision. The draft decision's proposal to eliminate funding for a UI program essential to Governor Lamont's 'Broadband for All' initiative would make it next to impossible - or extremely expensive - for internet and cable companies to continue bringing more Connecticut residents online. And the continued elimination of all forward-looking capital - rendering it impossible for UI to plan and invest proactively in storm resiliency, grid hardening, and projects that replace aging infrastructure in favor of 21st-century technology - will have reliability impacts for customers, safety impacts for front-line workers, and resiliency impacts for some of Connecticut's most important economic centers.

"We look forward to a day when we are not forced to raise these serious concerns about the impacts of such a devastating draft decision. But no company can survive in 2025 on a budget fit for 2013, and that is exactly the funding level UI will receive if this devastating draft decision is finalized. As long as the draft decision stands, the stakes are too high for us to remain silent in its wake. We urge PURA to make significant changes to ensure the workers and ratepayers across the state do not suffer its needless consequences." - Frank Reynolds, President & CEO, UI

Background

• UI's written exceptions can be found at the following link: Docket No. 24-10-04 - UI Written Exceptions (9.22.25) FINAL.pdf

• PURA's draft decision can be found at the following link: 24-10-04 PFD.pdf.

• While UI had requested an increase in revenues of $105 million as a result of PURA's decision to significantly underfund the company in 2023, PURA's draft decision provides only a $28.6 million increase. Importantly, PURA funded Operations & Maintenance expenses at only $138 million, versus the company's inflation-adjusted requirement of $220 million. UI has not been funded at these levels since 2013, when PURA approved Operations & Maintenance expenses of $136 million.

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