The Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) has opened a docket to examine Connecticut’s statutes and how they apply to PURA’s proceedings, including how the regulatory agency appoints a presiding officer and the “issuance of motions,” in what could be a slick political move ahead of PURA Chairman Marissa Gillett’s appearance before the Executive and Legislative Nominations Committee.
The new docket comes after Connecticut’s two largest utilities, Eversource and Avangrid, have alleged that Gillett has been issuing substantive decisions on her own as presiding officer under the executive secretary’s signature, hiding that it was a decision by her instead of the full commission and legally tainting hundreds, if not thousands, of decisions.
PURA has adamantly denied that Gillett or the Authority itself has done anything wrong or not followed proper procedure, telling the utilities in an official letter that it was all “much ado about nothing.”
According to the docket filing, however, Gillett appointed Commissioner David Arconti to act as presiding officer to examine a variety of state statutes that apply to PURA, including how hearing officers and presiding officers are assigned to dockets, what their powers and responsibilities are, and the definitions of a hearing officer and presiding officer contained in the Uniform Administrative Procedure Act.
“The Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (Authority or PURA), on its own motion, initiates this proceeding for a declaratory ruling as to the applicability of General Statutes § 16-2, § 16-8, §§ 4-166, to 4-189 and other related statutes and regulations to the Authority’s practices and procedures in conducting proceedings, including the designation of a presiding officer and the issuance of motion rulings,” the docket says.
Interestingly, although state statute indicates that a panel of commissioners must vote to appoint a president officer, the docket indicates that Gillett appointed Arconti without a vote.
However, the docket also contains an ex parte provision preventing Chairman Gillett and any other commissioners or staff from talking about this motion while it is proceeding. The move comes ahead of Gillett’s reappointment appearance before the Executive and Legislative Nominations Committee following Gov. Ned Lamont’s nomination. She will likely not be able to answer lawmaker questions about the allegations lodged by the utility companies due to the ex parte provision.
“The Authority observes the prohibition of ex parte communications for both contested and uncontested proceedings,” the docket filing states. “As such, there may be no communication, direct or indirect, with Commissioners or the Authority’s decisional staff on any issue of fact or law pertaining to this matter unless that communication (1) takes place in the course of a noticed hearing or meeting or (2) is made in writing and submitted in the docket with copies supplied to all other designated participants.”
This would not be the first time that PURA has investigated itself. According to records, Avangrid accused Chairman Gillett of improper communications and bias in an Avangrid gas rate case. PURA then issued an intermediary ruling under the executive secretary’s signature saying PURA found no evidence of improper communications or bias.
That PURA ruling was presumably issued by Gillett acting as presiding officer as a Freedom of Information request filed by Avangrid found no votes on this ruling, and PURA denied their FOI request for email communications.
Gillett was originally nominated to PURA by Gov. Ned Lamont in 2019 to a four-year term; Lamont reiterated his support for Gillett by nominating her to another four-year term in 2024, as the PURA chairman and Connecticut’s utility companies have come to loggerheads over numerous PURA rate case decisions.
Although Connecticut statute requires PURA be comprised of five commissioners, Gov. Lamont has refused to make any more nominations, limiting the powerful regulatory agency to only three commissioners and saying in his State of the State speech that appointing the full commission won’t make a difference.
Legislative Republicans have been calling for changes to PURA, including appointing two more commissioners and noting the ever-escalating issues between the Authority and utility companies. House Republican Leader Vincent Candelora, R-North Branford, said in a press conference he believes Gillett has essentially taken over the Authority and that it has become a political entity.
Nevertheless, Gillett still enjoys the support of the governor and the heads of the Energy and Technology Committee – Sen. Norm Needleman, D-Essex, and Rep. Jonathan Steinberg, D-Westport – and the Executive and Legislative Nominations Committee is dominated by majority Democrats.
More and more, PURA has been in the public eye following a dramatic increase to the public benefits charges that were allowed to build up during the COVID pandemic, and the utility companies’ increasing public criticism of PURA and, namely, Chairman Gillett.
Eversource recently issued a cease-and-desist letter to PURA, requesting Gillett cease the practice of appointing herself presiding officer in dockets without a vote and stop issuing decisions under the guise the executive secretary’s ruling.
PURA has said that Gillett will “generally designate herself as presiding officer,” but argued it is common practice to use only the executive secretary’s signature. Eversource and Avangrid, on the other hand, argue the executive secretary’s signature block conveyed it was a decision by the full panel of commissioners and prevented them from appealing the decision of a presiding officer for a vote. Instead, the utilities had to wait and file their appeals in superior court.
It is not just the utility companies, however, that are appealing to Connecticut’s superior over PURA rulings: The union representing Frontier workers who repair telephone poles has filed an appeal in court arguing PURA’s decisions have violated their union contract by forcing utility pole owners to hire outside, non-union labor.
While the Office of Consumer Counsel and the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection are listed as parties to the docket, the Office of the Attorney General – which has called this issue a “nothing burger” in the past – is not.
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I appreciate PURA, the same as I appreciate the media coverage on and about PURA. Over the last year in particular, PURA has come to stand for much more than the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority. It is a symbol of our government here in Connecticut, and the story of PURA in its current state explores the dark underbelly of an administration which is plagued by corruption, waste, fraud and abuse. PURA has begun a slow descent into desperation. It is time for Marissa to put down shovel, and stop digging. Alternatively, the Democratic Majority should consider spending significantly more advertising dollars on agenda op-eds in the CT Mirror. Just a thought.