A key legislative committee approved Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont’s nominee to serve as a commissioner of the state’s Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) on Thursday
David Arconti is a former state lawmaker from Danbury who had co-chaired the Energy and Technology Committee.
He has also worked as a state government liaison for United Illuminating, one of the state’s major utilities, which is challenging some of PURA’s recent decisions.
Appearing before the Executive Nominations Committee, he assured lawmakers that his prior experience might help diffuse some of the tensions between PURA and the utilities.
“The way I approached running the Energy and Technology Committee was an open-door policy. I would never say no to a meeting. And that is what I will bring to this role,” Arconti said.
He said that his familiarity with the work of utility linemen would also be useful.
“Getting to know their training facilities and seeing the work that they all go through, I think was helpful and should be helpful in this role now,” he said.
Arconti has been serving as a PURA commissioner in an interim capacity since last August. His nomination now goes to the full House and Senate. If confirmed, he’ll serve a four-year term.
