Norwich Public Utilities hopes it has developed a plan to upgrade the city’s nearly 100-year-old sewage treatment system that continues to pollute Norwich Harbor and the Thames River when heavy rains overwhelm the system. NPU officials presented the new proposal to the Board of Public Utilities Commissioners on Thursday and will meet with DEEP officials in January in an effort to win state approval to move forward finally with the upgrade project. NPU’s compromise plan would require average sewer rate increases of 5 percent per year for the first five years starting in 2021 for the project to be funded with a combination of state grants and low-interest loans through the Clean Water Fund. Construction would be done over a five-year period, and afterward, NPU is seeking state approval for a “capital recovery break” to ease the costs to ratepayers before continuing with longer-term system upgrades, LaRose said.
https://www.theday.com/local-news/20191221/norwich-seeks-state-approval-for-167-million-sewer-system-upgrade