Eversource might owe around $1B in refunds to electric customers across New England including Connecticut, Massachusetts and New Hampshire. It’s the high end of the company’s own estimate after federal regulators ruled that Eversource was overcharging customers for its big power lines since 2011.
But Eversource’s latest report to the SEC tells a different story. The company only has $62M on its books for this. Connecticut Light & Power’s share is $29.8 million. The other $906M it could owe, which covers October 2014 through March 2026, isn’t on its books at all. The filing states that the company doesn’t consider that larger refund probable. Even though federal regulators have ordered them to pay it.
It’s a bold bet for Eversource, a company that keeps losing. The company asked federal regulators to hold off on forcing the refund and they said no. It then asked a federal appeals court to pause the refund requirement and the court refused, records show.
In September, regulators threw out the rest of Eversource’s arguments and left the refund in place. Eversource is still fighting this in court.
And the thing is, Eversource had $1.8 billion in cash at the end of June, according to the same filing. This is an accounting call about what the company thinks it will end up owing at the end of the day. If you look at their books, it’s clear they think most of this refund won’t happen.
Meanwhile, Eversource is demanding more money for the same power lines. It and the other power line owners asked federal regulators to raise the level of profits they can take and regulators said they hadn’t demonstrated that the increase was fair.
But they still allowed the higher rate to take effect on November 30 while they decide, on the one condition that the money gets paid back if regulators end up rejecting the increase. Eversource’s slides for Wall Street investors say so plainly. The refund for the old overcharge isn’t due until May 2027.
Officials in Connecticut have pushed back. In May, the state’s utility regulators (PURA) asked the federal government to make Eversource and other power companies report their progress on the refund. Federal regulators said no.
That same month, Governor Lamont and 5 other New England governors came out against the rate increase.
This week, Massachusetts went further. On Tuesday, Gov. Maura Healey told Eversource and the other companies to start paying people back now. She doesn’t want them to wait until next May and gave them until October 27 to say how much Massachusetts customers are owed.
Eversource told WBUR that it “plans to ultimately comply,” but said it won’t rush. Eversource hasn’t said how much of the refund belongs to Connecticut customers.
Eversource will have another investor report early next month, just weeks before the higher rate goes live. We’ll know more then about whether the company still expects to avoid paying most of it.