Eversource Says Challenge to ‘Junk’ Reconnect Fee Can’t Advance

Eversource Energy defended the $102 it charges customers to reconnect electricity, telling a Massachusetts judge Tuesday that a proposed class action challenging the charge as a “junk fee” can’t clear two legal hurdles.

Since the state’s Department of Public Utilities signed off on the charge, and the state’s unfair trade practices law has a safe harbor for actions administered by a regulatory board, the suit must be thrown out, lawyers argued.

Superior Court Justice Debra Squires-Lee pressed lawyers for plaintiff Allison Newton how their client’s junk fee complaint falls outside of those defenses. In their lawsuit, the plaintiffs argue the ...