Connecticut lawmakers on the Energy and Technology Committee exchanged heated words with representatives of the state’s largest utility companies during a public hearing about the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority on Tuesday.
Officials from Avangrid (United Illuminating’s parent company) and Eversource fought a proposed bill that would reduce the maximum number of PURA commissioners from five to three. The bill would also allow one single commissioner to make decisions on cases, no matter the size or context of the case. This aspect of the bill seemed to upset the utility companies the most.
“Having more brains than fewer seems to me always a good idea, but even more concerning, this really isn't about a bill going from five to three commissioners. This is about going from five to one,” said Kimberly Harriman, Avangrid’s senior vice president for Public and Regulatory Affairs.
Norm Needleman, state senator and co-chair of the Energy and Technology Committee, said the language in the proposed bill is the same as that in the bill that was in effect from 2011 to 2019. Vincent Pace, assistant general council for Eversource, said the company did not submit any testimonies to express concern about the language of the statute during that period.
“We’re making a lot of hay about something that’s turned out to be nothing because there are no votes that have ever taken place with one commissioner, have there?” Needleman asked. “Have there been major decisions rate cases where one commissioner has decided this?”
Republicans on the committee also agreed that there should be more than one commissioner making decisions. They said allowing just one commissioner limits transparency and integrity.
“I think it makes a lot of sense to have five, or even three, but always having at least two people voting for the transparency and sunshine for our ratepayers and for good government and good processes,” Rep. David Yaccarino (R-CT) said.
Other representatives seemed more concerned about the quality of the commissioners.
“I actually don’t have strong opinions about three or five, but I do have very strong opinions about making sure we enable that commission to be as strong as possible, to do the work that they need to with really good rigor and skill and expertise…the number, maybe that matters, but my guess is it matters less the number and more who they are,” Rep. Jaime Foster (D-CT) said.
Foster cited a report by the Energy and Policy Institute that reviewed 800 commissioners who served between 2000 and 2020 throughout the U.S. The report found that only Connecticut’s commissioner, Marissa Gillett, differed from the national trend in relation to ties with utility companies.
The hearing comes after Eversource and United Illuminating sued Gillett last week for allegedly abusing her power. Gov. Ned Lamont and Attorney General William Tong spoke out against the utility companies and defended Gillett.
Needleman said the proposed bill is “many, many miles away from what a final bill would look like” and is open for discussion.
