Gov. Ned Lamont gave the state's top utilities regulator, Marissa Gillett, another two years at the helm of the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority on Monday, despite recent criticism over her transparency and Connecticut's high electric costs.
Gillett, 38, has led PURA since 2019 when she was chosen by Lamont. She previously worked as an advisor to the Maryland Public Service Commission and for an energy storage trade association.
Over the last few years, Gillett has developed an increasingly fraught relationship with the state's two largest utility companies, Eversource and Avangrid, each of which own both electric and gas operations in Connecticut. Utility executives have accused Gillett of wielding excessive control over cases before regulators, and of making decisions that undermine the companies' financial health and access to capital.
In April, Gillett's nomination to a second, 4-year term as a member of PURA's board was confirmed by lawmakers over the opposition of most Republicans. Her separate appointment as chair, however, is not subject to legislative review.
Lamont has consistently defended Gillett's approach while singling out her background as a regulator, engineer and attorney who is willing to butt heads with the utilities.
"The utilities sometimes think she's a little strong-willed, I understand that," Lamont told reporters Monday, noting the companies have several pending lawsuits against Gillett and PURA.
"Let's get this behind us so we can start working collaboratively," the governor said.
In one of those lawsuits, brought by two gas companies owned by Avangrid, Gillett's communications with two lawmakers who penned an op-ed harshly criticizing the utilities has become a point of contention. If Gillett helped to write the piece, the companies argue, it would reveal a bias that should have prevented her from ruling in cases that resulted in regulators cutting Avangrid's gas rates by roughly $35 million.
Last week, an attorney for Gillett admitted in court that the chairwoman's personal phone had automatically been set to delete text messages. That included messages with one of the authors of the op-ed.
Both Gillett and the authors of the op-ed have denied that she was involved in writing or editing the piece. A judge last week said he would allow attorneys for the utilities to question Gillett and her chief of staff under oath over whether she played any role in its creation.
In a statement released through a spokesperson Monday, Gillett said she was grateful to the governor for his continued support.
"I look forward to working with my colleagues and the incredible PURA staff in furtherance of the important duties of the Authority," Gillett said.
Gillett's critics, meanwhile, have latched on to the issue of her text messages to argue that she lacks transparency and has created needless controversies, all while electric rates in Connecticut remain some of the highest in the nation. House Minority Leader Vincent Candelora, R-North Branford, panned the governor's decision after he previously called for Gillett to resign.
"The Governor’s decision to reappoint Marissa Gillett as PURA Chair is as baffling as it is predictable," Candelora said in statement. "She misled legislators and the public — and even deleted records subject to Freedom of Information laws. That alone should prompt bipartisan outrage and a hearing before the very legislators who confirmed her nomination."
In a statement Monday, Eversource spokeswoman Jamie Ratliff said, "Our expectations are for a fair, transparent, balanced and lawful regulatory environment, regardless of who serves."
"We value strong, impartial regulation for the benefit of customers who rely on us for their electricity, heat, and water to be delivered safely and reliably," Ratliff continued. "We are ready to work with partners in a constructive fashion to deliver cost-effective solutions for customers to provide them with stable bills and strong customer service."
A spokesperson for Avangrid, which owns the electric utility United Illuminating, did not immediately comment on Lamont's appointment Monday.
When asked whether he had any concerns regarding Gillett's deletion of text messages, Lamont said he would wait for the matter to be adjudicated in the courts. Still, he said he would urge the chairwoman to be "fully transparent," and offered another bit of public advice.
"Stay away from the press," he said. "Stay away from those type of ways that people can say, 'Oh, my God, you have a point of view one way or the other.' Everybody in life has a point of view, I can't deny that, but I don't think you should be doing that in the press."
Lamont said he is also close to making a decision on other appointments he has promised to make in order to fill current and possible future vacancies on PURA's five-member board. Those picks would go before the General Assembly for confirmation.
While declining to say who, exactly, he was considering, Lamont noted that Republican former lawmaker Holly Cheeseman of East Lyme has "a big following." Lamont had previously promised to nominate Cheeseman earlier this year as part of a deal to ease Gillett's confirmation.
Lamont said that he would like to have his picks vetted and announced in time for them to be confirmed when lawmakers meet later this year in a special session, potentially in September.
This article first appeared on CT Mirror and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
