Email from DPU Hearing Officer to Housatonic Resident - Criteria to Approve HWW Request for Rate Increase

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Regan:
Thank you for your question.  I am not able to discuss the specifics of an ongoing investigation, but I can say that the Department is investigating the changes that Housatonic Water proposed to its rates and rules tariffs.  Also, I am able to discuss the Department’s process for this case.  For example, I can share that after receiving Housatonic Water’s petition, the Department issued a Notice of Filing, which described the petition and provided information about the process for public comments and intervention. The Attorney General has intervened on behalf of Housatonic Water’s customers.  No other party has filed a petition to intervene so far; the deadline for intervention is September 12th.  Also, the Department is in the process of reviewing the changes that Housatonic Water has proposed to its tariffs and issuing discovery on the Company’s proposals.

After the deadline for intervention, the Department will establish a procedural schedule for the rest of the proceeding, which will be posted on the Department’s website.  Discovery is likely to continue for about eight more weeks and evidentiary hearings, if required, will be scheduled sometime in December or January.  The company and intervenors will also have an opportunity to file briefs after the evidentiary record is closed.  Lastly, the statutory deadline for the Department to issue a final order on the petition is May 31, 2023.
 
Finally, I will note that in a case involving a rate increase, sometimes the company seeking the rate increase and the intervenors will file a motion for the Department to approve a settlement. I do not have knowledge of whether Housatonic Water and the Attorney General are engaged in settlement negotiations, but I wanted to let you know that it is a possibility. If a proposed settlement is filed, the Department will review the terms of the settlement and approve it, approve it in part, or reject it. Housatonic Water’s last two rate increase petitions filed in 2015 and 2007 were settled.
 
That covers the process this case will take.  Again, thank you for your interest in this proceeding.  I have been following the written comments submitted by the Company’s customers, and I am looking forward to hearing from the Company’s customers at the public hearing.
 
Sincerely,
Kevin Crane