Hartford, CT—This afternoon, Governor Lamont announced that he is selecting Commissioner Marissa Paslick Gillett to serve as the chairperson of the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA). Here is what Charles Rothenberger, Save the Sound’s Director of Government Relations, had to say:
“Save the Sound applauds Governor LaMont’s reappointment of Marissa Gillett as chairperson of PURA. Marissa Gillett has proven herself to be a strong, independent, and capable regulator who brings a wealth of experience to the position.
“At the direction of the General Assembly, Chair Gillett has overseen an increasingly complex series of dockets to modernize the electric grid while holding the state’s utilities accountable. As part of this effort, she has worked to ensure that the utilities pursue the most cost-effective solutions to providing safe and reliable service.”
During her tenure so far, Chair Gillett has overseen:
- An investigation into the utilities’ storm response efforts,
- The expansion of demand response programs and other cost-effective solutions to grid reliability,
- The design of a performance-based regulations framework to ensure that utility compensation is more closely tied to utility performance,
- The establishment of an Innovative Energy Solutions program to provide a regulatory sandbox though which innovative pilot programs, technologies, products, and services can be deployed, investigated, evaluated, and eventually brought to scale if ratepayer benefits are demonstrated.
Under Chair Gillett’s leadership, the Authority has taken the initiative to increase transparency and public engagement for PURA’s dockets. Since October 2022, the Authority has issued quarterly newsletters highlighting major docket decisions and summarizing them in plain language for a general audience, and providing a schedule of upcoming meetings, opportunities to comment, and final decisions. The Authority has also started releasing an Annual Report to increase stakeholder engagement with, and awareness of, the body’s current and future proceedings.
Rothenberger added, “Chair Gillett has worked tirelessly on behalf of ratepayers to ensure that utility requests for rate increases are carefully evaluated to make certain that the compensation provided to the utilities is supported by the evidence presented and comports with well-established legal principles and standards governing utility compensation. This involves critically assessing utility filings to ensure that expenses are being prudently incurred and that the compensation is ‘sufficient but not more than sufficient’ to ensure the provision of safe and reliable service to customers.”
We thank Governor Lamont for this action and look forward to Chair Gillett’s continued leadership.
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