Marissa Gillett, the top regulator at the Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA), is poised to be reappointed amid utility lawsuits and outcry about the state’s regulatory environment.

Tensions between utilities and regulators have escalated during Gillett’s tenure. The utilities have argued that the agency has demonstrated a lack of transparency and threatened their ability to receive a fair return on investments, while Gillett has argued that she is simply holding them accountable to existing laws. (See The Rocky Road to Performance-based Regulation in Connecticut.)

In January, Eversource Energy and Avangrid, which own gas and electric utilities in the state, sued the agency in Hartford Superior Court, alleging that Gillett has illegally issued unilateral decisions on “scores of substantive rulings across a wide range of contested and uncontested dockets conducted by PURA over the past five years.”

“Certain actors at PURA have undertaken a number of unlawful procedures that have the effect of reducing what the legislature intentionally designed as a multi-member agency to the province of one commissioner,” the companies wrote.

Gov. Ned Lamont (D) has stood by Gillett and helped craft a deal to ensure her reappointment on the eve of her confirmation hearing Feb. 20. The administration agreed to appoint state Sen. John Fonfara (D) and former state Rep. Holly Cheeseman (R) to fill the vacancies on PURA’s board, which would return the agency to a full complement of five members.

The deal would also transition PURA from a subsidiary of the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection to a quasi-public agency, enabling the administration to circumvent rules preventing it from appointing sitting legislators to executive-level positions.

At a nearly six-hour confirmation hearing with the legislature’s Executive and Legislative Nominations Committee, Gillett fielded a wide range of questions about her leadership at the agency, energy affordability in the state and utility decarbonization efforts.

She defended PURA against the utilities’ allegations in their lawsuit and said she has not made any final rulings without holding a vote with her fellow commissioners.

“We have votes recorded on every final decision of the agency in accordance with law,” Gillett said. She pointed to PURA’s record in recent court challenges to agency decisions, noting that it has “consistently and repeatedly won when challenged in court — four times at the [Connecticut] Supreme Court.”

Responding to questions about the regulatory environment for the state’s investor-owned utilities, Gillett said PURA has continued to apply “traditional ratemaking principles” and emphasized that its statute makes clear that the burden of proof in regulatory dockets is on the utilities.

In May 2024, Eversource announced its plans to cut $500 million in planned investments in the state because of the state’s “negative regulatory environment.” (See Eversource Announces $500M Cut in Connecticut Investments.) More recently, Eversource and PURA have disagreed over a potential expedited cost recovery mechanism for deploying advanced metering infrastructure, putting the estimated $766 million investment on hold.

“It is the legal obligation of these entities to appropriately invest in the grid,” Gillett said. “If a regulated monopoly is not adequately investing in the grid to meet its statutory obligations of maintaining a safe, reliable and affordable grid, the consequence of that is a revocation of their franchise.”

Gillett also criticized Eversource for not yet coming in for a rate case during her tenure, noting that it “has not been in for an adjudicated rate case since 2014; there was a settlement in 2018. If there is a question of whether the utility has enough revenue to build out and invest in this state, there is a remedy for that, and that remedy is coming in for a rate case before PURA.”

“It is my opinion that it is an unacceptable amount of time for a regulated utility to stay out of receiving scrutiny from not just its regulator, but other stakeholders,” she added.

Gillett said the fight between utilities and regulators in Connecticut is being watched throughout the country and could affect utility regulation in other states.

“The work that my colleagues and staff have positioned ourselves to continue … has been viewed at times as existential threats to traditional ways and business models. I think folks should understand that this is being watched and does have larger implications,” Gillett said.

Legislators focused much of the hearing on energy affordability in the state, which has some of the most expensive electricity rates in the country.

“People are telling us that they are suffering; they are truly having to make a decision between paying their utility bill … and having to give something up in exchange for that,” state Sen. Eric Berthel (R) said.

Gillett pointed to a significant recent increase in the public benefits charge for Eversource ratepayers as a key cost driver, which she said was largely from unrecovered costs associated with the power purchase agreement for the Millstone nuclear plant. She said she voted against the 10-month increase in the charge, which will conclude at the end of April, but was overruled by her fellow commissioners.

Environmental justice advocates attending the hearing voiced their support for Gillett, while the committee voted along party lines to support her reappointment. She still must be confirmed by the General Assembly, where Democratic legislators hold large majorities.

Avangrid declined to comment on Gillett’s renomination and the agreed-upon changes to PURA’s makeup. Eversource wrote in a statement that “the planned changes provide a pathway for a constructive, predictable and transparent regulatory environment that benefits customers through investment and a focus on reliability.”