PURA lifts fines against United Illuminating to remediate old English Station plant
Cleanup of the long-abandoned English Station power plant in New Haven may take longer after the state’s Public Utilities Regulatory Authority removed financial penalties previously imposed on United Illuminating.
The decision comes as the city is gathering community input on plans that could eventually transform the waterfront property into a public park and recreational space.
English Station, a massive former power plant along the Mill River in the Fair Haven neighborhood, has sat vacant for decades and requires environmental remediation before redevelopment can move forward.
New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker said PURA’s decision removes a key pressure point that had pushed United Illuminating to address contamination at the site.
“The reality is, PURA by removing this fine, takes a lot of pressure off of UI because it’s a significant fine that UI was going to receive for many years,” Elicker said.
A judge in 2023 ordered United Illuminating to pay a $2 million annual penalty for every year the company failed to clean up English Station.
PURA has now withdrawn that penalty, saying it will instead reassess the company’s compliance during its next rate case.
In its written decision, the authority said it wanted to ensure the costs associated with the penalties were not ultimately passed on to utility customers.
The move drew criticism from Connecticut Attorney General William Tong, who said the decision undermines accountability.
“PURA is now turning its back entirely on accountability for UI’s repeated failures to remediate dangerous contamination at English Station in New Haven,” Tong said in a statement.
Despite the setback, Elicker said the city still plans to pursue ownership of the property to move redevelopment forward.
If negotiations with the current owner fail, he said the city could pursue eminent domain.
“If we’re unable to come to an agreement with the property owner, we don’t want to but we’re prepared to take it by eminent domain,” Elicker said.
City officials are continuing discussions with residents about potentially building a waterfront park and public pool at the site — amenities Elicker said are currently limited in the area.
“Right now you have to pay a lot of money to go to an outdoor pool in the New Haven area because you have to be a member of some club, and in my view that’s not something that’s good for everybody in our community,” he said.
Some residents say they support replacing the deteriorating plant with something that benefits the neighborhood.
Xavier Reyes, who passes the site daily on his way to work, said he likes the idea of a park and pool replacing the abandoned site.
“I heard about the water park and pool area. I think that’s a lot better than what we have now. It will bring more people to the area,” Reyes said.
Reyes added that the proposed park would complement the surrounding Fair Haven neighborhood, which already includes nearby green space and waterfront views.
“We have the park right here, the bridge, everything is nice except for that,” he said.
NBC Connecticut contacted United Illuminating for a response.
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