Attorney General Tong Urges PURA to Reject Aquarion Sale

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03/12/2026

Attorney General Tong Urges PURA to Reject Aquarion Sale

(Hartford, CT) – In written comments to the Public Utility Regulatory Authority, Attorney General William Tong this week urged regulators to reconsider their draft decision and to reject the sale of Aquarion Company to a new non-profit entity expected to double household water bills, gut consumer protections and end public oversight over water rates.

PURA initially denied the transaction on November 19. Aquarion appealed and the court remanded the matter back to PURA for reconsideration. Last Friday, PURA reversed itself and preliminarily approved the sale.

“The record in this case has not changed since the matter was remanded back to PURA. Yet, for reasons that are unclear, PURA has retreated from its initial decision – now approving the very same application that recently rejected for lack of managerial suitability in a manner consistent with the public interest - to the profound detriment of every Aquarion customer for years to come. To be clear, nothing in the court’s decision requires this reversal. The court squarely held that PURA maintains full authority to evaluate public interest and aspects of managerial suitability, and either of these reasons alone provides sufficient grounds to reject the Application,” Attorney General Tong states in his letter.

Attorney General Tong goes on to state that the massive rate increases that will result from the acquisition are alone sufficient grounds to find the application is not in the public interest and to reject it.

“If approved the proposed transaction will require Aquarion ratepayers to pay $5.895 billion in acquisition costs financed out over forty years. The PURA does not dispute the amount of these acquisition costs or that they will be borne by ratepayers,” Attorney General Tong states.

Further, Aquarion has failed to demonstrate necessary managerial suitability, specifically due to insufficiencies in the structure of the Office of Consumer Affairs, a non-independent advocate lacking resources to effectively protect customers. That deficiency alone would also be sufficient grounds for PURA to reject the transaction.

Click here for the full letter, in which Attorney General Tong urges PURA to hold oral argument on the matter and to reject the transaction.

Twitter: @AGWilliamTong

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Media Contact:

Elizabeth Benton
elizabeth.benton@ct.gov

Consumer Inquiries:

860-808-5318
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