Sen. Richard Blumenthal is calling for "close scrutiny" this week in anticipation of a planned rate hike proposed by energy provider Eversource.

He says public utility should not be "unfairly burdening consumers at a time of rising costs.”

"This company, Eversource, is making 23% higher profits now than it did last year at this time -- so to raise rates by 40% seems unjustified. Therefore, there needs to be close scrutiny and protection for consumers at a time when costs are rising,” he says.

Blumenthal added that the Public Utility Regulatory Agency should use its power to protect consumers.

Eversource provided News 12 the following statement:

"Unfortunately, Senator Blumenthal does not have the facts straight – the expected price increase is for the supply side of customer bills – the power we buy in the marketplace for customers who receive their energy supply from us. We don’t control the market for power supply and we have no influence on the cost of power supply in the marketplace.  We also don’t receive any profit on the cost of the power that we buy for customers – we charge customers only what we pay generators for producing the power. We will alert customers about what the new Standard Service rate is through multiple channels once it’s filed and approved later this month.

"As has been widely reported, energy costs are rising globally, with electric supply prices throughout the region reaching all-time highs this year due to increased global demand for and the high cost of natural gas, world events, extreme weather, and other issues. As the senator knows, New England and Connecticut are not immune to those increased prices.

"We continue to encourage customers to sign up for one of the many payment plans or assistance programs we offer and are urged to visit Eversource.com/BillHelp or call us at 800-286-2828 to enroll in the best program for them.  In addition to encouraging customers to enroll in one of our payment plans or financial assistance programs, we also provide customers with information about and help connect them with the Connecticut Energy Assistance Program, Operation Fuel and other federal or state assistance that may be available."