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Communities served by United Illuminating. Credit: UI

United Illuminating filed a request Friday for a $174.4 million rate adjustment that would raise its electric rates by 12%, costing an average residential customer an additional $26 a month, effective May 1.

The filing by the Avangrid subsidiary comes a day after a similar request by Eversource’s Connecticut Light & Power.

Both utilities are seeking to recover costs imposed by public policies, such as the so-called Millstone credit that is intended to stabilize the finances of Connecticut’s last nuclear plant and its largest source of carbon-free power.

Another major factor is the arrearage forgiveness programs mandated by the General Assembly and the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority.

ā€œWhile the cost increases are outside UI’s control, we understand their impact on our customers,ā€ said Sarah Wall Fliotsos, a spokeswoman for UI.

The $174.4 million in revenue represents pass-through costs that UI is entitled to recover through a twice-a-year rate adjustment mechanism.

UI is the smaller of the state’s two investor-owned regulated electric monopolies. It serves customers in 17 communities, including two of the state’s four largest cities: New Haven and Bridgeport.

Mark is the Capitol Bureau Chief and a co-founder of CT Mirror. He is a frequent contributor to WNPR, a former state politics writer for The Hartford Courant and Journal Inquirer, and contributor for The New York Times.