Dive Summary:
- Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley wants utility regulators to cut Western Massachusetts Electric Co.'s $20 million rate request down to $4.2 million.
- Western Massachusetts Electric Co. filed the request to recover costs from storm response efforts in 2011, when the state was hit by Tropical Storm Irene and an October snowstorm.
- Coakley blasted the utility, which was hit with a $2 million fine by the Department of Public Utilities for poor storm response in 2011, for requesting rate increases for promotional materials "touting" its storm response.
From the article:
“The majority of costs that [Western Massachusetts Electric] is seeking to recover are unjustified, and should not be passed on to ratepayers,” Coakley said in statement. “It was particularly concerning to discover that they were trying to recover costs for promotional materials touting the storm response of a company that has already been fined $2 million for prior poor performance.”