Senate President Martin Looney called on Connecticut utility regulators on Tuesday to require United Illuminating parent company Avangrid to honor its commitments to more than 200 retired utility workers whose benefits are slated to be reduced by the corporation.
Looney, D-New Haven, wrote to the Public Utility Regulatory Authority chair urging the agency to require Avangrid to honor its promises to retirees after the company moved to end their Medicare Part B premium reimbursement and cut their annual subsidy nearly in half.
“This action represents a betrayal of these employees and of the terms of the 2015 acquisition agreement,” Looney wrote.
The acquisition agreement was created when Avangrid bought United Illuminating around a decade ago. It included guarantees that retirement benefits like pensions and healthcare would not be undermined by the acquisition, Looney said. In fact, the agreement stated that any surviving corporation would be expected to honor employee and retiree benefits.
In their own letter to regulators, the retirees said the cuts would worsen the financial strain already felt by individuals whose benefits have been “significantly eroded” by inflation.
“We retirees have depended on these benefits and are significantly harmed by AVANGRlD’s stated plans,” the retirees wrote.
Avangrid’s proposed retiree benefit cutbacks come as the company once again attempts to raise rates on its customers. Retiree costs were among the corporation’s excuses for its proposed rate hike, Looney said.
“It appears disingenuous for the company to claim it needs to increase rates to cover retiree costs at the same time it is breaking its promises and cutting retiree benefits,” Looney wrote to regulators. “I urge you to include in the rate case decision a requirement that AVANGRID live up to its longstanding commitment to its retirees.”
