AN ACT AMENDING THE CHARTER OF THE SOUTH CENTRAL CONNECTICUT REGIONAL WATER AUTHORITY CONCERNING THE POTENTIAL ACQUISITION OF A WATER COMPANY.

House of Representatives
sHB5249 / File No. 379 1

General Assembly File No. 379
February Session, 2026 Substitute House Bill No. 5249

House of Representatives, April 2, 2026

The Committee on Energy and Technology reported through
REP. STEINBERG of the 136th Dist., Chairperson of the
Committee on the part of the House, that the substitute bill
ought to pass.

AN ACT AMENDING THE CHARTER OF THE SOUTH CENTRAL
CONNECTICUT REGIONAL WATER AUTHORITY CONCERNING THE
POTENTIAL ACQUISITION OF A WATER COMPANY.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:

Section 1. Subdivision (6) of subsection (a) of section 16-1 of the 2026 1
supplement to the general statutes is repealed and the following is 2
substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage): 3
(6) "Water company" includes every person owning, leasing, 4
maintaining, operating, managing or controlling any pond, lake, 5
reservoir, stream, well or distributing plant or system employed for the 6
purpose of supplying water to fifty or more consumers. [A water 7
company] "Water company" does not include [homeowners, 8
condominium associations ] a homeowner , any condominium 9
association providing water only to [their members,] the unit owners of 10
such association, any homeowners [associations] association providing 11
water to customers, [at least] provided not less than eighty per cent of 12
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[whom are members of such associations ] such customers are unit 13
owners in such association, a municipal waterworks system established 14
under chapter 102, a district, metropolitan district, municipal district or 15
special services district established under chapter 105, chapter 105a , or 16
any other provision of the general [statute] statutes or any public or 17
special act , [which] that is authorized to supply water, or any other 18
waterworks system owned, leased, maintained, operated, managed or 19
controlled by any unit of local government under any provision of the 20
general [statute] statutes or any public or special act, provided any such 21
district or waterworks system owned, leased, maintained, operated, 22
managed or controlled by a unit of local government serves fewer than 23
three hundred thousand customer accounts; 24
Sec. 2. Subsections (b) and (c) of section 5 of special act 77 -98, as 25
amended by section 4 of special act 78 -24, section 4 of special act 24 -7 26
and section 37 of public act 24-1 of the June special session, are amended 27
to read as follows (Effective from passage): 28
(b) The members of the South Central Connecticut Regional Water 29
Authority board shall have the authority to act on behalf of the 30
Aquarion Water Authority, as described in section 35 of section 41 of 31
[this act] public act 24 -1 of the June special session , until such time as 32
the members of the Aquarion Water Authority board [are] may be 33
appointed. 34
(c) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a) of this section, 35
[upon] if the Public Utilities Regulatory [Authority's] Authority, in the 36
full exercise of the authority's powers concerning the review of a 37
proposed change in control of a water company, including, but not 38
limited to, such powers granted to the authority pursuant to sections 16-39
47 and 16 -22 of the general statutes, grants approval [of] to the South 40
Central Connecticut Regional Water Authority or the Aquarion Water 41
Authority to own and operate the Aquarion Water Company or one or 42
more of its subsidiaries, the [authority] Aquarion Water Authority 43
board, provided such approval has been granted, shall consist of eleven 44
members who shall reside in Connecticut and not be members of the 45
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representative policy board, [six] five of whom shall be residents of the 46
South Central Connecticut Regional Water District appointed by the 47
representative policy board, and [five] six of whom shall be appointed 48
by the representative policy board of the Aquarion Regional Water 49
District, as described in section 35 of section 41 of [this act] public act 24-50
1 of the June special session, in accordance with section 38 of section 41 51
of [this act] public act 24 -1 of the June special session, as amended by 52
this act. The [six] five members appointed by the representative policy 53
board of the authority shall have the authority to act on behalf of the 54
Aquarion Water Authority until such time as the members of the 55
Aquarion Water Authority [are] may be appointed. All such authority 56
members shall be appointed without regard to political affiliation by a 57
majority of the total votes of those members of the representative policy 58
board present at a meeting at which at least two -thirds of the weighted 59
vote, excluding vacancies, is present, for terms of five years, not to 60
exceed four consecutive full terms, and until their successors are 61
appointed and have qualified. The sixth member first appointed shall 62
be appointed for a three -year term ending January 1, 2028, and the 63
seventh member first appointed shall be appointed for a five -year term 64
ending January 1, 2030. Any vacancy occurring on the authority shall be 65
filled in the same manner for the unexpired portion of the term. Any 66
member of the authority may be removed from office by the 67
representative policy board for cause. Members of the authority shall 68
receive such compensation to be adjusted every three years by the 69
Consumer Price Index factor, as described in section 4 of special act 77 -70
98, as amended by special act 78 -24, special act 84 -46, public act 02 -85, 71
special act 03-11, special act 13 -20, special act 24 -7 and [this act] public 72
act 24 -1 of the June special session , if approved by the majority of 73
weighted votes of the membership of the representative policy board, 74
excluding vacancies, and shall be reimbursed for their necessary 75
expenses incurred in performance of their duties. 76
Sec. 3. Subsection (b) of section 37 of section 41 of public act 24 -1 of 77
the June special session is amended to read as follows ( Effective from 78
passage): 79
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(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a) of this section, 80
no members shall be appointed to the board of the authority or the 81
Aquarion representative policy board unless and until the date [of] that 82
the Public Utilities Regulatory [Authority's] Authority, in the full 83
exercise of the authority's powers concerning the review of a proposed 84
change in control of a water company, including, but not limited to, such 85
powers granted to the authority pursuant to sections 16-47 and 16-22 of 86
the general statutes, may grant approval [of] to the South Central 87
Connecticut Regional Water Authority or the Aquarion Water 88
Authority to own and operate the Aquarion Water Company or one or 89
more of its subsidiaries. The South Central Connecticut Regional Water 90
Authority shall send written notice to each entity with appointment 91
authority pursuant to subsection (a) of this section upon such approval. 92
Sec. 4. Section 38 of section 41 of public act 24 -1 of the June special 93
session, is amended to read as follows (Effective from passage): 94
(a) A public corporation, to be known as the "Aquarion Water 95
Authority", constituting a public instrumentality and political 96
subdivision, is created for the purposes, charged with the duties and 97
granted the powers provided in [section] sections 34 to 65, inclusive, of 98
[this act] section 41 of public act 24-1 of the June special session. On and 99
after December 31, 2025, if the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority 100
grants approval to the South Central Connecticut Regional Water 101
Authority or the Aquarion Water Authority to own and operate the 102
Aquarion Water Company or one or more of its subsidiaries, the 103
authority shall consist of eleven members. [Five] If so approved, six of 104
the members shall be residents of the Aquarion Regional Water District 105
who are appointed by the Aquarion representative policy board and 106
shall not be members of the Aquarion representative policy board, and 107
[six] five of the members shall be members of the South Central 108
Connecticut Regional Water Authority who are appointed by the South 109
Central Connecticut Regional Water Authority representative policy 110
board. The eleven members of the board for the Aquarion Water 111
Authority shall be and remain the same eleven members of the board of 112
the South Central Connecticut Water Authority. All authority board 113
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members shall be appointed without regard to political affiliation by a 114
majority of the total votes of those members of the Aquarion 115
representative policy board present at a meeting at which at least two -116
thirds of the weighted vote, excluding vacancies, is present, for terms of 117
five years, not to exceed four consecutive full terms, and until their 118
successors are appointed and have qualified, except that of the members 119
first appointed, two shall be appointed for a term ending January 1, 120
2026, two for a term ending January 1, 2027, two for a term ending 121
January 1, 2028, two for a term ending January 1, 2029, and three for a 122
term ending January 1, 2030. Any vacancy occurring on the authority 123
shall be filled in the same manner for the unexpired portion of the term. 124
Any member of the authority may be removed from office by the 125
Aquarion representative policy board for cause. Members of the 126
authority shall receive such compensation, to be adjusted every three 127
years by the Consumer Price Index factor, as described in section [37] 5 128
of [this act] special act 77-98, as amended by special act 78-24, special act 129
84-46, special act 99-12, special act 02-85, special act 03-11, special act 13-130
20, special act 17-5, special act 18-04, special act 24-7 and public act 24-1 131
of the June special session, if approved by the majority of weighted votes 132
of the membership of the Aquarion representative policy board, 133
excluding vacancies, and shall be reimbursed for their necessary 134
expenses incurred in performance of their duties. 135
(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a) of this section, 136
no members shall be appointed to the board of the authority or the 137
Aquarion representative policy board unless and until the date [of] that 138
the Public Utilities Regulatory [Authority's] Authority may grant 139
approval [of] to the South Central Connecticut Regional Water 140
Authority or the Aquarion Water Authority to own and operate the 141
Aquarion Water Company or one or more of its subsidiaries. 142
Sec. 5. Section 42 of public act 24 -1 of the June special session is 143
amended to read as follows (Effective from passage): 144
Sections 34 to 41, inclusive, of [this act] public act 24 -1 of the June 145
special session shall not be effective on and after December 31, 2027, 146
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unless the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority approves the South 147
Central Connecticut Regional Water Authority or the Aquarion Water 148
Authority to own and operate the Aquarion Water Company, or one or 149
more of its subsidiaries, by said date. No provision of sections 34 to 41, 150
inclusive, of public act 24-1 of the June special session shall be construed 151
to limit the scope of the authority's review in any proceeding brought or 152
pending on or after October 1, 2024, concerning the proposed change of 153
control of a water company pursuant to sections 16 -47 and 16-22 of the 154
general statutes, which review shall include, but need not be limited to, 155
review of (1) the Aquarion representative policy board membership 156
structure set forth in subsection (a) of section 37 of section 41 of public 157
act 24 -1 of the June special session, (2) the Aquarion representative 158
policy board weighted voting structure set forth in subsection (c) of 159
section 37 of section 41 of public act 24 -1 of the June special session, (3) 160
the Aquarion Water Authority membership structure set forth in section 161
38 of section 41 of public act 24-1 of the June special session, as amended 162
by this act, and (4) the functions of the office of consumer affairs as set 163
forth in section 48 of section 41 of public act 24 -1 of the June special 164
session. 165
Sec. 6. Section 44 of section 41 of public act 24 -1 of the June special 166
session is amended to read as follows (Effective from passage): 167
Subject to the provisions of sections 34 to 65, inclusive, of [this act] 168
section 41 of public act 24-1 of the June special session, and contingent 169
upon the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority granting approval to the 170
South Central Connecticut Regional Water Authority or the Aquarion 171
Water Authority to own and operate the Aquarion Water Company or 172
one or more of its subsidiaries , the authority shall have the power: (a) 173
To sue and be sued; (b) to have a seal and alter the same at its pleasure; 174
(c) to acquire in the name of the authority by purchase, lease or 175
otherwise and to hold and dispose of personal property or any interest 176
therein, including shares of stock of a subsidiary corporation; (d) to 177
acquire in the name of the authority by purchase, lease or otherwise and 178
to hold and dispose of any real property or interest therein, including 179
water rights and rights of way and water discharge rights, which the 180
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authority determines to be necessary or convenient, and to acquire any 181
existing wastewater system or water supply system or parts thereof 182
which are wholly or partially within the district as described under 183
section 36 of [this act] section 41 of public act 24 -1 of the June special 184
session. As a means of so acquiring, the authority or a subsidiary 185
corporation may purchase all of the stock or all of any part of the assets 186
and franchises of any existing privately owned water or wastewater 187
company, whereupon the authority or such subsidiary corporation shall 188
succeed to all rights, powers and franchises thereof. Sections 16 -43, 16-189
50c and 16-50d of the general statutes shall not apply to any action by 190
the authority or a subsidiary corporation or any action by any privately 191
owned water company or sewage company, as defined in section 16 -1 192
of the general statutes, as amended by this act, taken to effectuate the 193
acquisition of the stock or all or any part of the assets and franchises of 194
such water company or sewage company by the authority. 195
Notwithstanding any provision of section 25 -32 of the general statutes, 196
land may be transferred to the authority or a subsidiary corporation of 197
the authority as part of such an acquisition; (e) to construct and develop 198
any water supply system or any wastewater system; (f) to own, operate, 199
maintain, repair, improve, construct, reconstruct, replace, enlarge and 200
extend any of its properties; (g) notwithstanding any provision of the 201
general statutes, special acts or this charter, but subject to the provisions 202
of section 45 of [this act] section 41 of public act 24-1 of the June special 203
session and this act , to sell water, however acquired, to customers 204
within the district or to any municipality or water company; (h) 205
notwithstanding any provision of the general statutes, special acts or 206
this charter, to purchase water approved by the Commissioner of Public 207
Health from any person, private corporation or municipality when 208
necessary or convenient for the operation of any water supply system 209
operated by the authority; (i) to adopt and amend bylaws, rules and 210
regulations for the management and regulation of its affairs and for the 211
use and protection of the water and properties of the authority or a 212
subsidiary corporation and, subject to the provisions of any resolution 213
authorizing the issuance of bonds, rules for the sale of water, the 214
collection and processing of wastewater and the collection of rents and 215
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charges for both water supply and wastewater functions. A copy of such 216
bylaws, rules and regulations and all amendments thereto, certified by 217
the secretary of the authority, shall be filed in the office of the Secretary 218
of the State and with the clerk of each town and city within the district. 219
Any superior court located within the district shall have jurisdiction 220
over any violation of such bylaws, rules or regulations and the authority 221
may prosecute actions before the superior court to enforce such bylaws, 222
rules and regulations; (j) to make contracts and to execute all necessary 223
or convenient instruments, including evidences of indebtedness, 224
negotiable or non-negotiable; (k) to borrow money, to issue negotiable 225
bonds or notes, to fund and refund the same and to provide for the 226
rights of the holders of the authority's obligations; (l) to open the 227
grounds in any public street or way or public grounds for the purpose 228
of laying, installing, maintaining or replacing pipes and conduits, 229
provided upon the completion of such work the grounds shall be 230
restored to the condition they were in previously; (m) to enter into 231
cooperative agreements with other water authorities, municipalities, 232
water districts, water companies or water pollution control authorities 233
within or without the district for interconnection of facilities, for 234
exchange or interchange of services and commodities or for any other 235
lawful purpose necessary or desirable to effect the purposes of sections 236
34 to 65, inclusive, of [this act] section 41 of public act 24 -1 of the June 237
special session , such agreements to be binding for a period specified 238
therein; (n) to acquire, hold, develop and maintain land and other real 239
estate and waters for conservation and for compatible active and passive 240
recreational purposes and to levy charges for such uses, provided the 241
state department of health finds that such uses will not harm the quality 242
of water provided by the authority; (o) to apply for and accept grants, 243
loans or contributions from the United States, the state of Connecticut 244
or any agency, instrumentality or subdivision of either of them or from 245
any person, and to expend the proceeds for any of its purposes; (p) to 246
create programs and policies for the purpose of conserving water; (q) to 247
do any and all things necessary or convenient to carry out the powers 248
expressly given in sections 34 to 36, inclusive, [of this act] and sections 249
38 to 40, inclusive, of [this act] section 41 of public act 24 -1 of the June 250
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special session, including the powers granted by the general statutes to 251
stock corporations, except the power to issue stock, and the powers 252
granted by the general statutes to water pollution control authorities; 253
and (r) to borrow money, to issue negotiable bonds or notes, to fund and 254
refund the same and to provide for the rights of the holders of the 255
authority's obligations for the specific purpose of acquiring the 256
Aquarion Water Company or one or more of its subsidiaries. 257
Sec. 7. Section 62 of section 41 of public act 24 -1 of the June special 258
session is amended to read as follows (Effective from passage): 259
[Insofar as ] If the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority grants 260
approval to the South Central Connecticut Regional Water Authority or 261
the Aquarion Water Authority to own and operate the Aquarion Water 262
Company or one or more of its subsidiaries, and if the provisions of 263
sections 34 to 65, inclusive, of [this act] section 41 of public act 24 -1 of 264
the June special session are inconsistent with the provisions of any other 265
general statute, special act or any municipal ordinance, the provisions 266
of sections 34 to 65, inclusive, of [this act] section 41 of public act 24-1 of 267
the June special session shall be controlling; provided nothing contained 268
in sections 34 to 65, inclusive, of [this act] section 41 of public act 24-1 of 269
the June special session shall exempt the authority from compliance 270
with zoning regulations lawfully established by any municipality, 271
except that the plants, structures and other facilities of the water supply 272
system or the wastewater system owned or operated by the authority 273
shall be permitted uses in all zoning districts in every city, town or 274
borough within the district; and provided further that the authority may 275
not construct purification or filtration plants or wastewater treatment 276
plants in any zoning district in which such use is not permitted under 277
local zoning regulations without first obtaining approval of the 278
proposed location of such facility from the Aquarion representative 279
policy board following a public hearing. 280
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:

Section 1 from passage 16-1(a)(6)
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Sec. 2 from passage SA 77-98, Sec. 5(b) and
(c)
Sec. 3 from passage PA 24-1 of the June Sp.
Sess., Sec. 41section
37(b)
Sec. 4 from passage PA 24-1 of the June Sp.
Sess., , Sec. 38 Sec. 41
Sec. 5 from passage PA 24-1 of the June Sp.
Sess., Sec. 42
Sec. 6 from passage PA 24-1 of the June Sp.
Sess., , Sec. 44 Sec. 41
Sec. 7 from passage PA 24-1 of the June Sp.
Sess., , Sec. 62 Sec. 41

ET Joint Favorable Subst.

sHB5249 File No. 379

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The following Fiscal Impact Statement and Bill Analysis are prepared for the benefit of the members of
the General Assembly, solely for purposes of information, summarization and explanation and do not
represent the intent of the General Assembly or either chamber thereof for any purpose. In general,
fiscal impacts are based upon a variety of informational sources, including the analyst’s professional
knowledge. Whenever applicable, agency data is consulted as part of the analysis, however final
products do not necessarily reflect an assessment from any specific department.

OFA Fiscal Note

State Impact: None
Municipal Impact: None
Explanation
The bill makes various clarifying and procedural changes regarding
the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority's (PURA) regulatory authority
and makes changes to the composition of various governing boards,
which does not result in a fiscal impact.
The Out Years
State Impact: None
Municipal Impact: None

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OLR Bill Analysis
sHB 5249

AN ACT AMENDING THE CHARTER OF THE SOUTH CENTRAL
CONNECTICUT REGIONAL WATER AUTHORITY CONCERNING
THE POTENTIAL ACQUISITION OF A WATER COMPANY.

SUMMARY
Under current law (PA 24 -1, June Special Session, §§ 34 -42), if the
Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) approves the South
Central Connecticut Regional Water Authority (RWA) or the Aquarion
Water Authority (AWA) to own and operate the Aquarion Water
Company or its subsidiaries , an 11 -member governing board with
members from both authorit ies’ districts is created to run both
authorities. (PURA approved the transaction on March 25, 2026.)
This bill changes the composition of the governing board, if PURA
approves the transaction, to require:
1. six, rather than five, members to be residents of the Aquarion
Regional Water District appointed by AWA’s policy board and
2. five, rather than six, members to be members of RWA’s
governing board appointed by RWA’s policy board.
As under existing law, the members appointed by RWA’s policy
board may act on AWA’s behalf until the AWA members are appointed.
The bill also generally specifies that (1) nothing in the underlying law
creating AWA limits the scope of PURA’s review of the transaction and
(2) certain provisions in the underlying law depend on PURA’s
approval of the transaction.
Separately, the bill also expands PURA’s regulatory authority over
water companies to cover companies that serve at least 300,000 customer
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accounts and are (1) districts, metropolitan districts, municipal districts,
or special services districts established under state statute or public or
special act or (2) waterworks system s owned, leased, maintained,
operated, managed, or controlled by any unit of local government under
a statute or public or special act . (It does not appear that this change
would apply to RWA or AWA under the bill, as the underlying laws for
both generally specify that they are the controlling authority, regardless
of conflicting state laws or local ordinances.)
The bill also makes various minor, technical, and conforming
changes.
EFFECTIVE DATE: Upon passage
PURA REVIEW
The bill specifies that nothing in the underlying law creating AWA
limits the scope of PURA’s review in any proceeding brought or
pending on or after October 1, 2024, about a proposed change of control
of a water company under the laws on (1) PURA’s review and approval
of holding companies exercising control over Connecticut public utility
companies, which generally requires PURA to investigate and hold a
hearing on the issue (CGS § 16 -47), and (2) transferring a public utility
company’s franchise or assets, which generally requires the company to
prove that the transfer is in the public’s interest (CGS § 16-22).
More specifically, the bill requires PURA to review at least the
following factors, as set in the underlying law creating AWA:
1. Aquarion representative policy board membership structure;
2. Aquarion representative policy board weighted voting structure;
3. Aquarion Water Authority (the governing board) membership
structure, as amended by the bill; and
4. functions of the office of consumer affairs.
The bill similarly specifies that certain provisions of the underlying
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law for RWA and AWA hinge on PURA’s approval of the transaction as
described above, including (1) the change in the governing board’s
membership, as required by the bill; (2) appointments to the Aquarion
representative policy board; (3) certain AWA powers (such as acquiring
property); and (4) a provision that generally requires the underlying law
to supersede any conflicting state statute, special act, or municipal
ordinance.
COMMITTEE ACTION
Energy and Technology Committee
Joint Favorable Substitute
Yea 24 Nay 2 (03/17/2026)