Marissa Gillett is one step closer to serving a second four-year term as the chair of the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) after the House of Representatives, following a lengthy debate where Connecticut’s high electric rates were frequently at issue, voted to approve her nomination.
Gillett’s tenure as chair of PURA has been marked by controversy. While supporters, including Gov. Ned Lamont, have painted Gillett as a capable and professional leader, detractors, including several Connecticut utility companies, have raised concerns about actions Gillett has taken without consulting other PURA commissioners. Both Eversource and Avangrid have claimed Gillett was essentially rubberstamping thousands of PURA decisions without consulting with other commissioners by using an executive secretary’s signature. Both Avangrid and Eversource have also issued cease and desist letters against PURA over the matter.
Gillett’s path to legislative approval for a second term was also marred by controversy. After a seven-hour-long hearing, the Executive and Legislative Nominations Committee (ELN) voted to advance Gillett as the result of a late-night backroom deal that drew the ire of prominent Republicans. Under the deal, Lamont and legislative leaders agreed to expand PURA to include five commissioners, which is already required by state law, and to move the agency from under the control of the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) in exchange for approval to advance Gillett.
Both Democratic and Republican House leaders touched on Gillett’s nomination and ongoing debates surrounding PURA in pre-session press conferences and set the tone for party testimony during the debate on the nomination.
Speaker of the House Matt Ritter, D-Hartford, asked about Gillett’s detractors said his only response is he felt it was “good” to have someone who challenges and questions the status quo but PURA’s board probably needed a reset and to stay out of the newspaper, the legislature, and do their jobs.
Ritter further said no one benefits from the controversy surrounding Gillett’s leadership.
House Minority Leader Vincent Candelora, R-North Branford, called a vote for Gillett a vote for the status quo. He stated that Connecticut has seen the highest rate increases and interim decisions made to keep the public benefits charge high under Gillett’s leadership. He called it a “hard sell to support someone agreeing to hoard $200 million in cash” and not give it back to ratepayers.
Both Candelora and Ritter expressed support for expanding PURA to include five commissioners.
At a press conference held the day before Gillett’s renomination was taken up by the legislature, Lamont called Gillett “the first real professional” PURA has had and said she “really knows her way around” the regulatory authority.
Rep. Julio Concepcion, D-Hartford, chair of ELN, introduced the nomination, saying he believed Gillett had handled herself with dignity and respect throughout the process and would “do anything in her power” to lower energy costs.
Rep. David Yaccarino, R-Hartford, ranking member of ELN, disagreed with Concepcion’s assessment. Yaccarino likened Gillett’s position to that of a head coach, saying good coaches like Terry Francona or Yogi Berra were fired despite being great coaches because their records were not good. He said Gillett’s record was terrible for transparency.
Yaccarino further said he believed that, during Gillett’s grilling before ELN, she did not take responsibility for high electricity costs in Connecticut or for other energy policy failures.
A number of legislators expressed that they were conflicted about the vote to renominate Gillett, emphasizing it was not a personal issue and that they were impressed with Gillett’s credentials, but that rising electric rates are a pressing issue for constituents and asking what PURA’s plans for addressing the issue are. Others also stated that controversies surrounding Gillett and PURA, including the backroom deal to move her nomination forward, had tainted the process.
Republican comments critical of Gillett’s performance frequently criticized that she hadn’t developed a relationship with utilities, referenced voter frustrations, and knocked PURA on a lack of transparency and accountability. Rep. Tom Delnicki, R-South Windsor, asked what the difference would be in four years if Gillett is reappointed.
Candelora, who closed discussion on the nomination, said he was there to “stand for the rule of law” and vote against Gillett. Candelora stated that, counter to claims that other PURA commissioners don’t have access to PURA data or resources, Gillett told him at the committee hearing that they had signed an attestation that they did have a process. But Candelora said that when he requested those documents through the Freedom of Information Act, they were not produced.
Democratic comments supportive of Gillett frequently praised her “outstanding” job regulating rate decisions and cutting rate requests from utilities and emphasized that Gillett’s actions carried out laws passed by legislators.
Whether PURA or the legislature bore primary responsibility for addressing electricity rates was also a frequent topic in legislators’ comments.
But support and criticism of Gillett did not fall strictly on party lines.
Rep. William Buckbee, R-New Milford, called Gillett responsive and knowledgeable on energy policy. He emphasized that criticism of electric rates should be directed towards the legislature, not PURA. He also suggested that separating PURA from DEEP could help solve the agency’s problems, saying the legislature needed to “get the politics the heck out of PURA.”
Rep. Anthony Nolan, D-New London, asked several questions about Gillett’s performance, citing increasing electric rates. Nolan questioned how Gillett’s leadership had lowered energy costs for low-income and marginalized communities and whether PURA has effectively controlled Eversource or United Illuminating rate increases.
Nolan ultimately expressed that while he was disappointed with increasing electric rates, he believed action to ultimately address the issue needed to come from the legislature.
Rep. Kerry Wood, D-Rocky Hill, said she would not support Gillett because she could not vote for someone who had neglected their role as a regulator to act as a consumer advocate. She also criticized Gillett’s lack of investment in the electric grid and failure to promote green energy due to Connecticut’s regulatory climate.
Gillett’s nomination succeeded by a vote of 91 to 52.
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Governor Lamont, in close and constant collaboration with Attorney General William Tong, DEEP Commissioner Katherine Dykes, and PURA Chair Marissa Gillett, is about the business of making history this executive session. Historians and economists alike will be talking about this session for centuries to come. It is symphony of great minds working in tandem to produce a musical score with lasting value and enduring party appeal. It is a masterpiece, and it is almost complete. Put Matt Blumenthal on the list above. I want all the credit, not partial credit, and my fear is Matt emerges on some national stage in the next 8 years as senior advisor to chief strategist of the ’25 CT Legislative Heist. He just seems to fits the profile. And Lamont loves him.
So there is a absolutely a plan to lower electricity rates for residents and ratepayers. There is plan for everything and everyone. Republicans have pounded the drums and signaled the alarms that the No. 1 issue which plagues their constituents in Connecticut is the high (and rising) costs of electricity. Gillet is going to lower costs. Her plan is solid and your constituents will thank the Majority for all their hard work and late hours behind closed doors prioritizing and placing the concerns of Connecticut ratepayers above all else. It is one great moment of many great moments in the season-ending/session closing speech.
But I think what is find most fascinating about this legislative heist is that I know of nothing-no other historical reference- for which to compare it. Trump will soon form an alliance with Lamont, because Lamont will have full and complete control over the re-development of 3500-4000 commercial properties in prime coastal communities. The Transfer Act is only days away from seeing its sunset. The new dawn is coming, and for 99.9% of the Connecticut population, it carries in its arms the promise of opportunity, new industry, large scale investment, and an economic boom this state not seen in nearly a century. These promises are real. A new era is coming to Connecticut. Those who have shown their loyalty and allegiance to the Lamont Administration and DEEP will be rewarded with great favor in this new system. On what side of the party line do the most, if not all, environmental lawyers and Connecticut-based law firms fall? And out of all the major environmental firms here in Connecticut, how many work as consultants and receive contract work for the Office of the Attorney General and the Departmental of Energy and Environmental Protection? And yesterday, how many Connecticut Real Estate and Environmental/Transactional Law Committee Members from the Connecticut Bar Association joined Attorney General Tong to condemn the federal government’s actions and call for “Rule of Law”? And how many of those CBA Committee Members are also Working Group Members for DEEP’s new released-based system which is days away from adoption? Obedience has its rewards.
But while the Attorneys carried the flaming torch of opposition on behalf of AG Tong, DEEP had some profound news for those who stayed behind. Please allow me to summarize although the recording of the meeting should be available sometime after the adoption of the new regs. It went something like this, “You do not tell us what to do. Ever. We decide, because we controls the strings that control the system.” And then there was nothing but silence.