🔒Former PURA chair Gillett appeals $2,500 FOI fine to Superior Court

Marissa Gillett, the former chair of Connecticut’s utility regulator, has appealed a $2,500 fine from the Freedom of Information Commission, calling it the result of “persistent lawfare” against her former agency. In the administrative appeal, filed Jan. 29 in New Britain Superior Court, Gillett challenges a decision by the Freedom of Information Commission late last year that found her personally responsible for the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority’s failure to adequately respond to a 20-part records request from Eversource Energy. Eversource filed the request for PURA’s internal directives, policies and communications in December 2024. The commission found that PURA’s general counsel, Scott Muska, failed to conduct a “reasonable and diligent search” for responsive records — among other things, never instructing staff to search their personal devices, limiting the search to current rather than former directives, and declining to bring in IT staff to assist. The commission also found that a specific email setting a new scheduling policy was not produced, and that Muska acknowledged under oath he could not be certain all responsive records had been turned over. The final decision, adopted by the full commission in December 2025 after a hearing officer initially recommended a $1,000 fine, increased the penalty to $2,500 and directed it personally at Gillett as the official “directly responsible for the denial.” The decision noted that Gillett received notice of the hearing but chose not to appear. In her appeal, Gillett argues the fine is “grossly disproportionate” and legally flawed. Her attorney, Alexander Copp of Omnia Law in Trumbull, contends that Muska — not Gillett — received the request, communicated with Eversource’s counsel throughout, and independently made every judgment call about the search. “There is no evidence that Gillett personally directed any aspect of the FOIA response, instructed Muska or other staff to withhold documents, or otherwise personally failed to comply with the Freedom of Information Act,” the complaint states. The appeal also challenges the commission’s reliance on a November 2025 Superior Court ruling in separate litigation brought by Connecticut Natural Gas and Southern Connecticut Gas, which found that Gillett had exchanged text messages with legislators and used auto-delete functions on her personal phone, destroying public records in the process. Gillett’s complaint argues she had no meaningful opportunity to respond, which violated her due process rights and Connecticut administrative law. PURA produced approximately 750 pages of records in response to Eversource’s request on a rolling basis between January and February 2025 before declaring the matter closed. Gillett resigned as PURA chair in September 2025, effective Oct. 10, and has since joined the American Economic Liberties Project, a Washington-based advocacy group. On Monday, Superior Court Judge Henry Cohn issued a scheduling order setting briefing deadlines for mid-July in Gillett’s appeal.