Connecticut Attorney General William Tong and Consumer Counsel Claire Coleman asked state utility regulators October 13 to investigate how electric, gas and water companies use artificial intelligence and protect customer information.
Their joint petition seeks a Public Utilities Regulatory Authority proceeding covering storm response, customer systems, equipment management, demand forecasts, vendors and advanced meters. The officials argue that potential efficiency gains need to be assessed alongside accuracy, privacy and reliability risks; these are concerns supporting their request, not findings that a particular utility caused harm.
The seven-page filing names Eversource’s electric and gas companies, United Illuminating, Connecticut Natural Gas, Southern Connecticut Gas and Connecticut Water. It also supports including smaller water companies with participation tailored to their size. The proposed inquiry would require utilities to identify AI systems, explain their purpose and disclose the human oversight and internal rules governing them.
The petition goes beyond AI-generated material. It asks regulators to examine cybersecurity protections, breach notifications and whether companies review their practices after a breach. It acknowledges existing work in an Eversource rate case and another cybersecurity docket, while seeking a broader investigation across companies rather than treating those proceedings as a complete answer.
Tong’s announcement says Eversource and Avangrid have publicly described AI use but that its full Connecticut scope remains unclear. WSHU also reported the request October 13; that coverage concerns the same petition and is not a separate regulatory finding.
For Eastern Connecticut customers, the proposed review concerns safeguards around essential services and customer records, not an announced rate change or current outage warning. The filing allows for separate phases or dockets. PURA’s decision on whether to open the requested review, its timetable and any resulting utility disclosures remain to be verified.