State regulators gave final approval to the sale of Connecticut's largest water company on Wednesday.
Public Utilities Regulatory Authority interim commissioner Holly Cheeseman voted in favor of the sale of Aquarion Water Company.
“The new authority will be governed by individuals from the communities it serves, not by a board of directors whose main responsibility is providing a return to shareholders,” Cheeseman said. “The authority will be under public ownership, not a creature of private equity, and no longer subject to sale, when the winds of the market grow adverse.”
The New Haven-based non-profit Regional Water Authority is buying Aquarion from Eversource for $2.4 billion.
State Attorney General William Tong called the water company sale a bad deal for Connecticut, and a gift to Eversource. Tong says it will cost water ratepayers billions of dollars in the coming decades.
“The economics of this deal made zero sense,” Tong said. “It’s a costly loser wrapped in a bunch of fuzzy math and empty promises.”
Town leaders from southwestern Connecticut opposed the sale, arguing lack of local control in Fairfield county will lead to higher prices. Four of those towns are fighting the sale in court.
This is the second final decision issued by the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority on the Aquarion sale.
Regulators had initially rejected the sale in November, but the buyer and seller went to court, and convinced a judge to order regulators to review the sale a second time.
