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Connecticut Light And Power Co. Business Information, Profile, and History

107 Selden St.
Berlin, Connecticut 06037-1616
U.S.A.

History of Connecticut Light And Power Co.

Going into the mid-1990s, Connecticut Light and Power Co. (CL&P) had been the largest utility in that state since 1927. At the end of 1993, the company was providing electric service to over one million customers in 149 Connecticut cities and towns. Its generating capacity of 5.292 megawatts came from a combination of steam, internal-combustion, hydro, gas-turbine, nuclear, and pumped-storage plants. Connecticut Light and Power became a wholly owned subsidiary of newly formed Northeast Utilities in 1966.

J. Henry Roraback, a lawyer, laid the foundations of the future company, when he lobbied the state legislature to pass a special act chartering the Rocky River Power Co. in 1905. This charter gave Roraback sole power rights to the Rocky River, a tributary of the Housatonic River. A 1909 amendment gave Roraback permission to distribute power wholesale throughout the state, to construct dams on a stretch of the Housatonic in northwestern Connecticut, and to build mills and manufacturing plants in the same area. Roraback's political influence grew even greater when he became chairman of the state Republican party in 1912, a position he held until his death in 1937. Between 1915 and 1931, the party controlled both the legislature and governorship and virtually every Republican candidacy had to be cleared with "J. Henry." A big, forceful, mustachioed man who resembled the popular depiction of a political boss, Roraback actually denied the renomination of two Connecticut governors.

Roraback's power company was inactive until 1917, when he secured financial backing from a large Philadelphia-based utility holding company, the United Gas and Improvement Co. (UGI). UGI bought the Housatonic Power Co. from the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad Co. After this acquisition, the Rocky River Power Co. purchased all franchises, leases, and properties of the Housatonic Power Co., the United Electric Light and Water Co., and the Seymour Electric Light Co., changing the name of the combined companies to the Connecticut Light and Power Co. Roraback's financial backer UGI held a controlling interest in the new company. Roraback, originally a vice-president as well as a stockholder and director, became president of the company in 1925.

CL&P's first development project was to build the Stevenson dam and hydroelectric plant on the Housatonic. Completed in 1919, it impounded what came to be called Lake Zoar. That same year, the Connecticut legislature gave CL&P the right to divert water from the Housatonic back into the Rocky River, where it could be dammed and stored for release in periods of low water flow. The subsequent reservoir was named Lake Candlewood and became the state's largest body of water.

By 1918, CL&P had already established itself as the second largest utility in Connecticut. In succeeding years, the utility sought to expand its markets, which resulted in the construction of an enormous new steam plant in Devon, about three miles from the Housatonic's mouth, in 1924. After three years had passed, CL&P became the leading utility in Connecticut, with $8.3 million in operating revenues, compared to $2.6 million in 1918. Part of this growth was due to acquisitions or mergers with smaller power companies, which ultimately enabled CL&P to broaden its scope from the western part of the state into central and eastern Connecticut. A holding company, the Connecticut Electric Service Co., was created in 1925 to separate the retail aspects of the business from the power generation and wholesale elements of the business.

By the end of 1929, CL&P was supplying electricity to 60 cities and towns in Connecticut with an estimated population of 481,651. The utility also furnished electric current to other public utilities for sale in 26 towns with an estimated population of over 193,000. Also by this time, gas service had become possible after the company received sweeping authority from the state legislature to lay mains and pipelines for this purpose. Eventually, CL&P provided gas directly to 10 towns with a population of about 161,000 and supplied gas to other utilities. In all, the company owned 12 plants by the end of the 1920s. Dividends which were first paid out in 1927 continued from that date without a break.

Operating revenues of $14.6 million in 1929 continued to grow steadily even during the Depression, reaching $19.7 million in 1939. Net income, which was $3.8 million in 1929, gradually rose to $4.2 million in 1939. Electric output rose from 580.4 million kilowatt hours in 1919 to 625.9 million in 1939, while gas output rose from 3.1 billion cubic feet to 4.8 billion during the same ten-year period. The number of electricity customers increased during this period from 112,965 to 168,351, and the number of gas customers from 32,192 to 69,688. Through the course of this decade, CL&P owned and operated 11 electric generating plants and five manufactured-gas plants.

CL&P became an independent company in 1941 when UGI was forced by federal legislators to divest itself of its holdings outside Pennsylvania. By 1948, the utility was serving a population of about 715,000 over an area of about 3,455 square miles. It owned and operated 24 electric generating plants as well as its five gas plants. In that year CP&L applied for and received its first rate increase since 1920. Between 1918 and 1949, the electricity rate per kilowatt hour had fallen from an average of 10.04 cents to an average of 3.3 cents. In the meantime, the average annual household consumption of electricity increased more than ninefold during this period.

Construction of a new CP&L headquarters building was completed in 1952, replacing offices in Hartford and Waterbury. Three years later, the company opened Shepaug, its largest electricity generating plant to date. Lake Lillinonah was created from water backing up behind the plant's dam and, like Zoar and Candlewood, became an area for public recreation. In 1956 the company became the first utility to order an IBM 7070 "electronic brain," using this early computer as the heart of its newly created data-processing department.

In 1958, CL&P owned and operated 36 electric generating units. By this time, manufactured gas had been replaced largely by natural gas, leading to the development of production plants for reforming natural gas in Norwalk and Waterbury and propane-air standby plants in five other communities. The utility continued to thrive in the mid-1950s, serving 853,000 people and taking in nearly $75 million, with a net income of $11.3 million. Having joined 11 other New England utilities in 1956 to build an experimental 134,000-kilowatt nuclear power plant in Rowe, Massachusetts, CP&L received 15 percent of its output when operations began in 1961.

In 1966, CL&P was serving a population in excess of 1,382,000 over an area of about 3,641 square miles. It owned and operated 39 electricity generating plants and was part of a consortium constructing Connecticut Yankee, a 490,000-kilowatt nuclear power plant in Haddam, Connecticut. A wholly owned subsidiary, Connecticut Gas Co., was providing natural gas in 12 service areas, while a mixture of natural and manufactured gas was being distributed in five communities and propane-air standby plants in eight others. During this period, operating revenues rose to a healthy $122.8 million, and net income stood at $20.5 million.

1966 witnessed the creation of Northeast Utilities to serve as a utility holding company consisting of Western Massachusetts Co., Connecticut Light and Power, and Hartford Electric Light Co. This consolidation was the latest step in a history of cooperation between these companies dating back to 1925, when the three utilities first engaged in joint power-pooling and long-range planning. CL&P's chairman and chief executive officer, Sherman R. Knapp, became president and chief executive officer of Northeast Utilities. Of the three original companies in Northeast Utilities (NU), CL&P was by far the senior partner. At the beginning of the 1980s, for example, its common stock was valued at $478.9 million, 51 percent of the nearly $931-million value of the NU common stock held by all of NU's subsidiaries.

The Connecticut Yankee project was completed in 1968, with CL&P holding 34.5-percent ownership in the nuclear power plant. A second nuclear plant completed in 1970 at Millstone Point, on Long Island Sound near Waterford, Connecticut, was entirely owned by NU and 81 percent by CL&P. These plants made NU the world's largest producer of nuclear-generated electric power.

In 1972, about 74 percent of Connecticut's area and 50 percent of its population was being served by NU. Four years later, 81 percent of NU's revenue and a larger part of its income was coming from Connecticut. Relations between the holding company--especially its CL&P subsidiary--and the state's regulatory authorities became of prime importance as energy costs rose worldwide in the wake of the 1973--74 Arab oil embargo. In all, CL&P filed eight rate-increase requests during the 1970s, which generated a tremendous political controversy.

While running for governor in 1974, Democratic party candidate Ella T. Grasso contended that CL&P had overcharged customers by more than $4 million in the last year. Grasso and state consumer groups brought an action blocking the state's Public Utilities Commission from granting CL&P a rate increase of 8.8 percent. After she was elected, the commission was replaced by a Public Utilities Control Authority that appeared to be more consumer-oriented. In December 1976, the authority ordered CL&P (and Hartford) to cut their gas and electricity rates to 1974 levels--a $22 million reduction in place of their request for a $56 million increase.

Under the impact of increased costs, CL&P's net income fell from $73.5 million in 1974 to $57.7 million in 1975, even though electric operating revenues increased from $338.3 million to $364.8 million (compared to only $139.1 million in 1969). In 1979 operating revenues were up to $591.6 million, but net income, at $57.8 million, was barely higher than the 1975 figure.

At the same time that the utility was facing a profit squeeze from being denied a rate increase, CL&P was confronted with heavy expenses from its overreliance on nuclear power. Before high costs arising from the energy crisis encouraged conservation, NU had projected an increase in electricity demand of about seven percent a year until the end of the century. Accordingly, by 1976 NU had sunk more than $1.3 billion--over half of its assets--into nuclear power. This investment included work at Millstone Point on two more nuclear power plants. Millstone II, which like Millstone I was 81-percent owned by CL&P, was completed in 1974. By 1981, NU was obtaining 54 percent of its energy from nuclear power, the highest ratio for a company of its size in the nation.

From a consumer standpoint, NU's heavy reliance on nuclear power made the company's electricity rates the lowest in the Northeast. But the long-range costs for the NU system, and especially for CL&P, threatened to make "Millstone" an apt name. CL&P started paying fees to the U.S. Department of Energy for the disposal of spent fuel in 1983. Through the end of 1993, the company had paid the department $134.5 million for assuming responsibility for this high-level-radiation nuclear waste. A 1992 study estimated that CL&P's share of decommissioning costs for nuclear power plants totalled $801.4 million.

CL&P absorbed Hartford Electric Light Co. in 1982, assuming Hartford's outstanding bonds and other obligations. This acquisition raised the number of CL&P electric generating units to 65. Net income rose almost 50 percent the next year and another 25 percent in 1984, when the company earned $284.2 million--five times the 1979 figure--on operating revenues of $1.76 billion, under three times the 1979 figure. Further, the utility registered a 20.7 percent return on equity that year. However, state regulators, who had authorized only a 15.9 percent return, witnessed this prosperity and subsequently proposed to block the company from billing customers for at least $40 million to $50 million in fuel costs. In 1986, the regulators rejected CL&P's request for a $147-million rate increase and froze rates until the beginning of 1988.

Millstone III, Connecticut's fourth and largest nuclear power plant, was completed in 1986 at a cost of more than $3.8 billion, compared to its original estimate of $400 million. CL&P's stake in this facility was 53 percent. During the same year, CL&P was allowed to increase rates over five years to recover costs. As a result, Moody's Investor Service Inc. upgraded about $1.5 billion of the utility's securities, consisting of first and refunding mortgage bonds, unsecured pollution-control revenue bonds, and preferred stock. CL&P got another break in 1990, when state regulators gave it permission to charge ratepayers for $167 million, or about 60 percent, of its $276.5-million investment in construction of the Seabrook, New Hampshire, nuclear power plant. CL&P held a four percent stake in that facility, which opened in 1990. CL&P also held a 12 percent stake in Maine Yankee's nuclear plant and a 9.5 percent stake in Vermont Yankee's nuclear plant. The Yankee plant in Rowe, Massachusetts, was closed in 1992.

In June 1987, the federal Securities and Exchange Commission ordered NU to divest itself of its natural gas business. As a result, CL&P's Connecticut Gas Co. unit was transferred in mid-1989 to a new holding company formed by NU, Yankee Energy Gas System, Inc. NU distributed to shareholders of record one share of Yankee Energy Gas System for each 20 shares of NU stock. The next year, government regulators again focused their attention on CL&P, this time ruling that the company must greatly expand its conservation efforts. One of the most successful environmental programs that the utility implemented was the free collection of old refrigerators and freezers which consumed extremely high quantities of power. In the period between 1990 and 1994, more than 49,000 refrigerators and almost 11,000 freezers were collected in Connecticut and western Massachusetts, resulting in the recycling of almost 11 million pounds of metals and several thousands of pounds of refrigerants.

An issue of concern among Connecticut residents in the 1990s was the possible harmful effects of electromagnetic radiation from power lines which emanated from CL&P's 243 distribution substations. For example, some residents of Guilford, Connecticut, charged that the utility's substation in their town was responsible for several cases of cancer. This allegation was given significant publicity in a 1990 New Yorker article. However, after an in-depth investigation state officials concluded that there was no correlation between the incidences of cancer and the utility's power lines. Nevertheless, in 1993 when CL&P proposed to make good on a 21-year-old promise to move its Lodge Avenue substation in New Canaan, some residents opposed a planned relocation to a site only 700 feet from a school.

In 1993, CL&P delivered electricity to an average of 1,078,925 customers. Of this total, 39 percent were residential customers, 33 percent commercial, 14 percent industrial, and 11 percent wholesale. Sales, in kilowatt hours, came to $26.1 million, operating revenues to $2.37 billion, and net income to $191.4 million. Long-term debt stood at $1.74 billion. Of CL&P's total generating capacity at the end of that year, 49 percent came from steam, internal-combustion, hydropower, and gas-turbine plants, 37.5 percent from nuclear plants, and 13.5 percent from pumped storage, with most of its storage power deriving from the utility's 81-percent share in a project at Northfield Mountain, Massachusetts.

Related information about Connecticut

pop (2000e) 3 405 000; area 12 996 km²/5018 sq mi. A state in NE USA, divided into eight counties; the ‘Constitution State’, ‘Nutmeg State’ or ‘The Insurance State’; densely populated; explored by Adriaen Block, 1614; one of the original states of the Union, fifth to ratify the Federal Constitution, 1788; capital, Hartford; other chief cities, Bridgeport, New Haven, Waterbury, Stamford; the Thames, Connecticut, and Housatonic Rivers flow S through the state to empty into Long Island Sound; highest point, Mt Frissell (725 m/2379 ft); coast largely urbanized, with many industries; interior mainly woodland and forest, with some cropland producing dairy produce, poultry, and tobacco; machinery, transport equipment, electrical goods, firearms, metal products.

references

Connecticut (pronounced /k??n?t?k?t/) is a state in the New England region of the United States, located in the northeastern part of the country. In terms of per capita income, it is the wealthiest state in the country, while it ranks 4th for median household income. Connectitcut is also one of the most densely populated states in nation and has strong economic connections to New York, with several of its counties being part of the larger New York City metroploitan area. Connecticut was one of the Thirteen Colonies that revolted against British rule in the American Revolution.

Geography-Climate

Connecticut is bordered on the south by Long Island Sound, on the west by New York State, on the north by Massachusetts, and on the east by Rhode Island. The state capital is Hartford, and the other major cities include New Haven, New London, Norwich, Stamford, Waterbury, Danbury and Bridgeport. There is an ongoing civic pride and economic competition between Hartford and New Haven, which stems back to the days when the two cities shared the state's capital, and even back to when New Haven and Hartford were two separate colonies.
The highest peak in Connecticut is Bear Mountain in Salisbury in the northwest corner of the state. That distinction belongs to an anonymous location just east of the point where Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New York meet (42° 3' N; peakbagger.com/peak.aspx?pid=7083

The Connecticut River cuts through the center of the state, flowing into Long Island Sound, Connecticut's outlet to the Atlantic Ocean.

The state, although small, has regional variations in its landscape and culture from the wealthy estates of Fairfield County's "Gold Coast" to the rolling mountains and horse-farms of the Litchfield Hills of northwestern Connecticut. and the need to compensate Massachusetts for an amount of land given to Connecticut due to inaccurate survey work.www.southwickma.org/Public_Documents/F000102F9/S00476B50-00476B5B.0/The%20Southwick%20Jog.pdf www.cslib.org/jog.htm strsd.southwick.ma.us/woodland/teachers/bwhalley/childshistory/jog.htm Perhaps the only suggested reason which can be safely ruled out is that the jog is necessary to prevent Massachusetts from sliding out into the Atlantic Ocean. In any event, the dispute over the border retarded the development of the region, since neither state would invest in even such basic amenities as schools for the area until the dispute had been settled.

The southwestern border of Connecticut, where it abuts New York State, is marked by a panhandle in Fairfield County, containing Greenwich, Stamford, New Canaan, and Darien, housing some of the wealthiest residents in the world. This irregularity in the boundary is the result of territorial disputes in the late 1600s, culminating with New York giving up its claim to this area, whose residents considered themselves part of Connecticut, in exchange for an equivalent area extending northwards from Ridgefield, Connecticut to the Massachusetts border as well as undisputed claim to Rye, New York.www.cslib.org/panhandle.htm

Areas maintained by the National Park Service include: Appalachian National Scenic Trail; and Weir Farm National Historic Site

Regions

The state of Connecticut can be said to be sub-divided into eight general regions which generally correspond with the eight counties of the state, though there are differences in the boundaries. Fairfield County's "Gold Coast" and towns west of Waterbury and New Haven, for example, are often derided by residents of the rest of the state as being more similar to New York than to New England. Many of the residents go for years or even decades without ever traveling to other regions of the state, considering themselves more attached to New York City and its suburbs in eastern New York State.

The eight regions of Connecticut are:

Gold Coast
Litchfield Hills
Naugatuck River Valley
Greater New Haven
Greater Hartford
Lower Connecticut River Valley
The Quiet Corner
Southeastern Connecticut

Connecticut lies in a Humid Continental Climate.
Windsor (1633),
Wethersfield (1634),
Saybrook (1635),
Hartford (1636),
New Haven (1638),
and New London (1646).
Because the Dutch were outnumbered by the English settlers, they left their fort in 1654.
Its first constitution, the "Fundamental Orders," was adopted on January 14, 1639, while its current constitution, the third for Connecticut, was adopted in 1965. According to a 1650 agreement with the Dutch, the western boundary of Connecticut ran north from the west side of Greenwich Bay "provided the said line come not within 10 miles 16 km of Hudson River." Agreements with New York, the "Pennamite Wars" with Pennsylvania over Westmoreland County, followed by Congressional intervention, and the relinquishment and sale of the Western Reserve lands brought the state to its present boundaries. In 1870, native -born Americans had accounted for 75% of the state's population, but that had dropped to 35% by 1918.

As of 2000, 81.7% of Connecticut residents age 5 and older speak English at home and 8.4% speak Spanish. Italian is the third most spoken language at 1.6%, followed by French at 1.6% and Polish at 1.2%.

The five largest reported ancestries in the state are: Italian (18.6%), Irish (16.6%), English (10.3%), German (9.9%), and French/French Canadian (9.9%).

Connecticut has a large Italian-American population, although residents of British, Irish, German, and other ancestries are also present, with old-stock Americans being the largest percentage of the population in the eastern part of the state. Connecticut also has a sizable Polish American population, with New Britain containing the largest Polish-American population in the state. 13%

There is a significant Jewish population in the state, mostly concentrated in the "Gold Coast" towns between Greenwich and New Haven and in the Hartford suburb of West Hartford. The per capita income for 2005 was $47,819, ranking first among the states www.bea.gov/bea/newsrel/spi_highlights.pdf. This is due to Fairfield County having become a bedroom community for higher-paid New York City workers seeking a less urban lifestyle, as well as the spread of businesses outwards from New York City having reached into southwestern Connecticut, most notably to Stamford. The state did not have an income tax until 1991, making it an attractive haven for high earners fleeing the heavy taxes of New York State, but putting an enormous burden on Connecticut property tax payers, particularly in the cities with their more extensive municipal services. As a result, the middle class largely fled the urban areas for the suburbs, taking stores and other tax-paying businesses with them, and leaving only the urban poor in the now impoverished Connecticut cities.

The agricultural output for the state is nursery stock, eggs, dairy products, cattle, and tobacco. Its industrial outputs are transportation equipment (especially helicopters, aircraft parts, and nuclear submarines), heavy industrial machinery and electrical equipment, fabricated metal products, chemical and pharmaceutical products, and scientific instruments.

The income tax rate on Connecticut individuals is divided into two tax brackets of 3% and 5%. Bradley International Airport (BDL) is located in the central part of the state (15 miles (24 km) north of Hartford). There is railway service along the coastline from New York City to Boston, including commuter rail service between New Haven and New York and a new commuter service along the river north of New Haven, with spur service running northwards to cities such as Hartford. Bus service is supplied by Connecticut Transit, owned by the Connecticut Department of Transportation. The Interstate highways in the state are I-95 (the Connecticut Turnpike) running southwest to northeast along the coast, I-84 running southwest to northeast in the center of the state, I-91 running north to south in the center of the state, and I-395 running north to south near the eastern border of the state. The other major interstate traffic arteries in Connecticut are the Merritt Parkway and Wilbur Cross Parkway, which together form State Route 15, running from the Hutchinson River Parkway in New York State parallel to I-95 before turning north of New Haven and running parallel to I-91, finally becoming a surface road in Berlin, Connecticut. Other major arteries in the state include U.S. Route 7, State Route 8, and State Route 9.

Law and government

Hartford has been the sole capital of Connecticut since 1875. Unlike most other states, Connecticut does not have county governments or county seats; www.jud.ct.gov/directory/directory/location/Default.htm The eight counties are still widely used for purely geographical purposes, such as weather reports. The two exceptions are the City of Groton, which is a subsection of the Town of Groton and the City of Winsted in the Town of Winchester. One, Naugatuck, is a consolidated town and borough.

The two U.S. senators representing Connecticut are Christopher J. Connecticut currently has five representatives in the U.S. House.

Once considered one of the more conservative states in the Northeast (Connecticut was the first state to outlaw abortion, in 1822), the state now tends to vote Democratic for presidential and congressional elections. In 2004 election, John Kerry had a comfortable margin of 10 percentage points with 54.3% of Connecticut's popular vote. Christopher Shays, a Republican representing Connecticut in the U.S. House of Representatives, has sided with the Democrats on a range of issues including gun control, abortion, and the environment. Conversely, some state Democrats tend to be conservative or moderate, Senators Joe Lieberman and Christopher Dodd being the most notable cases.

The supreme executive power is vested in the governor, who heads the executive branch. The current Governor of Connecticut is Her Excellency, M. Connecticut was the first state in the United States to elect a woman as governor, Ella Grasso.

The legislature, referred to as the General Assembly, is a bicameral body consisting of an upper body, the Senate (36 senators); The Democrats currently hold the majority in both houses of the General Assembly.

The highest court of Connecticut's judicial branch is the Supreme Court, headed by the Chief Justice of Connecticut. this along with its proximity to New York City and its typically socially-liberal suburban voters have made Connecticut a Democratic bastion in general elections.

Connecticut was more supportive of Republican Presidential candidates in the 1970's and 1980's, voting five straight times from 1972 to 1988 for Republicans Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Voters in the state are more supportive of fiscal conservatives than social conservatives

Republicans are the minority in the state legislature, but they currently hold three of the five congressional seats. As of 2006, the two Senate seats from Connecticut are held by Democrats Christopher Dodd and Joseph Lieberman. Bush.

The state's Republican strongholds are rural Litchfield County, the Naugatuck River Valley, Western Hartford County and most towns in affluent Fairfield County near the New York State border. Bush in the 2004 Presidential Election, all other counties in Connecticut, including Fairfield County (often referred to as the Gold Coast) voted for his opponent, Senator John Kerry. The suburban towns of New Canaan and Darien in Fairfield County are considered the most Republican areas in the state, and perhaps one of the most reliably conservative areas in New England, the former being the hometown of conservative activist Ann Coulter. She is campaigning to face him again in the next congressional election.

Democrats are the majority almost everywhere else, especially in the cities of Hartford (the state capital), New Haven and Bridgeport, the largest cities in the state. More affluent urban areas of the state, such as Norwalk and Stamford also trend towards the left, but have favored moderate Republicans in many elections such as former Governor John G. Rowland and Congressman Chris Shays.

Connecticut's independent streak is most apparent in its choice for Governor, as the Democrats have failed to win the office since 1986, losing four straight elections to independent Lowell P. Pundits such as Michael Barone speculate that Connecticut voters are hesitant to give one party control of state government after the massive expansion in taxes and spending that occurred in the final years of the William O'Neill administration.

Political corruption

In recent years, Connecticut politics has been plagued by widespread corruption. On the more extreme end, former Waterbury, CT Mayor Philip Giordano (R) was stripped of power in 2001 after a corruption investigation had to be cut short when phone taps unexpectedly revealed alleged sexual acts with 8- and 10-year-old minor girls and other possible pedophilia charges.

Principal cities

Bridgeport
Danbury
Danielson
East Hartford
Hartford
Middletown
Milford
New Haven
New London

Norwalk
Norwich
Stamford
Stratford
Torrington
Waterbury
West Hartford
Willimantic

25 richest places in Connecticut

Ranked by per capita income*:

New Canaan, Connecticut $85,459
Darien, Connecticut $77,519
Weston, Connecticut $74,817
Greenwich, Connecticut $74,346
Westport, Connecticut $73,664
Stamford, Connecticut $67,109
Wilton, Connecticut $65,806
Roxbury, Connecticut $56,769
Georgetown, Connecticut $55,029
Easton, Connecticut $53,885
Ridgefield, Connecticut $51,795
Avon, Connecticut $51,706
Groton Long Point, Connecticut $51,066
Redding, Connecticut $50,687
Woodbridge, Connecticut $49,049
Sharon, Connecticut $45,418
Fairfield, Connecticut $43,670
Lyme, Connecticut $43,347
Essex, Connecticut $42,806
Bridgewater, Connecticut $42,505
Cornwall, Connecticut $42,484
Madison Center, Connecticut $42,046
Old Lyme, Connecticut $41,386
Noank, Connecticut $41,355
Glastonbury, Connecticut $40,820

25 poorest places in Connecticut

(descending order)

Hartford, Connecticut $13,428
Conning Towers-Nautilus Park, Connecticut $14,216
Poquonock Bridge, Connecticut $14,664
Plainfield Village, Connecticut $14,836
East Brooklyn, Connecticut $15,093
Wauregan, Connecticut $15,311
Willimantic, Connecticut $15,727
Danielson, Connecticut $16,042
Bridgeport, Connecticut $16,306
New Haven, Connecticut $16,393
North Grosvenor Dale, Connecticut $16,409
Moosup, Connecticut $16,827
Windham, Connecticut $16,978
Waterbury, Connecticut $17,701
Rockville, Connecticut $17,896
Mansfield, Connecticut $18,094
New Britain, Connecticut $18,404
Bantam, Connecticut $18,442
New London, Connecticut $18,437
Plainfield, Connecticut $18,706
North Canaan, Connecticut $18,971
Jewett City, Connecticut $19,083
Putnam District, Connecticut $19,229
Sterling, Connecticut $19,679

Storrs, Connecticut, with an average per capita income of $9,947, is technically the poorest in the state, but this is only because of the high student population at the University of Connecticut, which is factored into the survey.

Education

Connecticut is well-known as the home of Yale University, which maintains a consistent ranking as one of the world's greatest and richest universities, and has the most selective undergraduate program of any university in the United States (an 8.6% acceptance rate in 2006). Additionally, the State is packed with dozens of prestigious boarding schools, such as Choate, which draw students from all over the world.

Colleges and universities

Asnuntuck Community College
Albertus Magnus College
Briarwood College

Central Connecticut State University
Charter Oak State College
Connecticut College
Eastern Connecticut State University
Fairfield University
Holy Apostles College and Seminary
Manchester Community College
Mitchell College
Northwest Connecticut Community College

Paier College of Art
Post University
Quinnipiac University
Rensselaer at Hartford

Sacred Heart University
Saint Joseph College
Southern Connecticut State University
Trinity College

United States Coast Guard Academy
University of Bridgeport
University of Connecticut
University of Hartford
University of New Haven
Wesleyan University
Western Connecticut State University
Yale University

Sports teams

Connecticut Sun of the Women's National Basketball Association
From 1979 to 1997, the National Hockey League had a franchise in Hartford, the Hartford Whalers. Their departure to North Carolina caused great controversy and resentment.

Minor League Hockey Teams:

Bridgeport Sound Tigers of the American Hockey League
Hartford Wolf Pack of the American Hockey League

(The Danbury Trashers of the United Hockey League have been dissolved by the league after their owner, James Galante was arrested in June 2006 on accusations that he was running a mob-related scheme to control trash hauling prices and was paying hockey team employees under the table and against league rules.)

Minor League Baseball Teams:

Connecticut Defenders Double-A Affiliate of the San Francisco Giants
New Britain Rock Cats Double-A Affiliate of the Minnesota Twins

Both of the Eastern League

Independent League Baseball Teams:

Bridgeport Bluefish of the Atlantic League
Manchester Silkworms of the New England Collegiate Baseball League
New Haven County Cutters of the Canadian-American League
Stamford Robins of the Atlantic Collegiate Baseball League
Torrington Twisters of the New England Collegiate Baseball League

Professional Cycling Teams:

Team Nerac.com presented by OutdoorLights.com

The Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference (CIAC) is the state's sanctioning body for high school sports. Other state champions in football include Staples (in Westport), Branford, Daniel Hand (in Madison), Woodland Regional (in Beacon Falls), and Hyde Leadership (in Hamden).

Famous residents, past and present

David Pogue, New York Times Technology Columnist lives in Westport
Kevin Bacon, actor, maintains a residence in Sharon.
Jeff Bagwell, professional baseball player, grew up in Killingworth
Vin Baker, former professional basketball player, born and raised in Old Saybrook
Chris Berman, ESPN sportscaster lives in Cheshire
Michael Bolton, singer-songwriter, born in New Haven
Rico Brogna, former professional baseball player, born and raised in Watertown
Chris Browne, who draws the comic strip "Hagar The Horrible", went to school in Wilton
, founder of National Review, lives in Stamford
Chris Carrabba, member of indie rock band Dashboard Confessional was born in and went to primary and secondary school in West Hartford.
Cassie, singer with hit Me & U, was born and raised in New London
Marcus Camby, professional basketball player, born in Hartford
Glenn Close, actress, born in Greenwich
Ann Coulter, author, columnist, political pundit, raised in New Canaan
Rivers Cuomo, lead singer of Weezer, was raised on an ashram and attended high school in Storrs
Brian Dennehy, actor in many movies, has a home in Woodstock
Rob Dibble, former professional baseball player; baseball analyst, born and raised in Southington
Phil Donahue, former talk show host, lives in Westport
Chris Drury, professional hockey player, born and raised in Trumbull
50 Cent, rapper, maintains a residence in Farmington
Dwight Freeney, professional football player, raised in Bloomfield
Michael J. Fox, actor, maintains a residence in Sharon
James Greco, CEO of Bruegger's Bagels, lives in Cheshire
Dorothy Hamill, Olympic gold medalist, born and raised in Greenwich
Rip Hamilton, plays for Detroit Pistons, went to UCONN-
Katherine Heigl, actress on hit tv series "Grey's Anatomy", was born and raised in New Canaan
Leona Helmsley, real estate maven, lives in Greenwich
Katharine Hepburn (1907 ? 2003) , actress, was born in Hartford and lived in Old Saybrook
Jeffery Immelt, CEO of General Electric (GE), lives in New Canaan
Craig Janney, Hockey player, was raised in Enfield.
Bruce Jenner, Olympic gold medalist, born in Newtown
Tebucky Jones, who currently plays for the New England Patriots of the NFL, lives in Farmington
Henry Kissinger, former Secretary of State, lives in Kent
Ivan Lendl, former tennis pro, maintains a residence in Litchfield
Barry Levinson, director, producer, and writer of many movies like "Rain Man", owns a house in Redding
Christopher Lloyd, actor, born and raised in Stamford
John Mayer, singer, native of Fairfield
Pedro Martinez, professional baseball player, ace pitcher for the New York Mets resides in Greenwich
Charles Peter McColough, former Chairman and CEO of the Xerox Corporation, lives in Belle Haven, Greenwich
Vince Kennedy McMahon Jr., Chairman of the WWF/WWE, lives in Greenwich
Jesse Metcalfe, actor, plays John Tucker in John Tucker Must Die, was raised in Waterford
Robert Mitchum (1917 ? 1997), actor, was born in Bridgeport
Ellen Muth, actress, was born in and maintains a residence in Milford
Ralph Nader, consumer advocate and former U.S. presidential candidate, native of Winsted
Kevin Nealon, actor and comedian, born and raised in Bridgeport
Paul Newman, salad dressing guru and actor, lives in Westport
Frank Oz, actor, maintains a residence in Sharon
Carl Pavano, professional baseball player for the New York Yankees, born and raised in Southington
John Ratzenberger, actor, born in Bridgeport
Keith Richards, member of The Rolling Stones, lives in Weston
Alex Rodriguez, All-Star Third Baseman for the New York Yankees, has a home in Stamford
Bill Romanowski, former professional football player, born in Vernon
Diana Ross, singer, maintains a residence in Belle Haven, Greenwich
Meg Ryan actress in When Harry Met Sally grew up in Bethel
Patty Hearst Shaw, heiress of the Hearst media empire, lives in Westport
John Scofield, famous Jazz guitarist, grew up in Wilton
Jimmy Shea, Olympic gold medalist, born and raised in West Hartford
Rip Torn, actor, maintains a residence in Lakeville
The Rock, pro WWE wrestler, went to elementary school at Shepherd Glen in Hamden
Seth MacFarlane, creator of the FOX animated sitcom Family Guy was born and raised in Kent
Kyra Sedgwick, actress, maintains a residence in Sharon
Bobby Valentine, former professional baseball player and manager, born and raised in Stamford
James Van Der Beek, actor, born and raised in Cheshire
Mo Vaughn, former professional baseball player, born in Norwalk
Sam Waterston, actor in Law & Order, maintains a residence in Salisbury
Gene Wilder, actor and comedian, is a current resident of Stamford
Bruce Willis, actor in several movies, has a home in Bethel
Jack Welch, former head of General Electric lives in Fairfield
Steve Young, former professional football player; 1789), early American revolutionary and guerrilla leader, was born in Litchfield
Benedict Arnold (1741 - 1801), early American Colonial Army Captain turned British spy was born in Norwich
Phineas T. 1891), American showman, best remembered for founding Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus, was born in Bethel
Walter Camp, football coach known as the "Father of American Football", born and raised in New Haven
Samuel Colt (1814 ? 1862), inventor of the revolving cartridge firearm, was born in Hartford
Jonathan Edwards (1703 ? 1758),a colonial American Congregational preacher and theologian, was born in East Windsor
Nathan Hale (1755 ? 1776), captain in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, American hero and official State Hero of Connecticut, widely considered America's first spy, was born in Coventry
Isaac Hull (1773 ? 1843), a Commodore in the United States Navy, was born in Derby
Charles Goodyear (1800 - 1860),inventor of vulcanized rubber, was born in New Haven
J. Walter Kennedy (1912 - 1977), fisrt commissioner of the NBA, born and raised in Stamford
J. 1913), financier and banker, one of the wealthiest men in America at the turn of the century (1901), was born in Hartford
Israel Putnam (1718 ? 1790), American army general who fought with distinction at the Battle of Bunker Hill during the American Revolutionary War, lived in Pomfret
Wallace Stevens (1879 ? 1955), American Modernist poet, lived in Hartford from 1916 until his death
Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811 ? 1896), abolitionist and writer, most famous for writing Uncle Tom's Cabin, was born in Litchfield and raised in Hartford
Mark Twain (1835 ? 1910), humorist, novelist, writer, and lecturer, best know for writing The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, lived in Hartford and died in Redding
Noah Webster (1758 ? 1843), lexicographer, textbook author, spelling reformer, political writer, and editor, was born in what now know as West Hartford
Eli Whitney (1765 ? 1825), inventor and manufacturer, created the first cotton gin in 1793, graduated from Yale College in 1792 and died in New Haven

Trivia

Connecticut is the southernmost state in New England and the wealthiest state in the country per capita as well as the third smallest state in landmass. It was one of the thirteen colonies that revolted against British rule in the American Revolution.
Due to the prominence of the aircraft industry in Connecticut in the mid-Twentieth Century, Connecticut has an official state aircraft, the F4U Corsair, and an official Connecticut Aviation Pioneer, Igor Sikorsky. In addition, the state legislature officially recognizes the claim of aircraft designer Gustav Whitehead to have had the world's first successful powered aircraft flight in Bridgeport, Connecticut, two years before the Wright brothers at Kitty Hawk.
Connecticut is known officially as the Constitution State based on its colonial constitution of 1638-39. Bush was born in New Haven, Connecticut and lived there for a short time before moving to Texas.
Commemorative stamps issued by the United States Postal Service with Connecticut themes include Nathan Hale, Eugene O'Neill, the whaling ship the Charles W. Morgan which is docked in Mystic Seaport, and a decoy of a broadbill duck.

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