Gov. Ned Lamont has nominated an energy-storage trade association lawyer from Maryland to serve as one of three commissioners of the Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA).
On his 100th day in office, Lamont on Thursday named Marissa Paslick Gillett, vice president of external relations for the Energy Storage Association, to lead PURA, a state agency dedicated to regulating the rates and services of the state’s electricity, water, natural gas and telecommunications companies.
Gillett will begin serving as commissioner-designate on April 26, succeeding Katie Dykes, who has been confirmed as commissioner of the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP). The General Assembly must confirm Gillett’s nomination before her appointment becomes official.
PURA is administratively held within DEEP and is overseen by three commissioners, which also include John W. Betkoski III and Michael Caron. The three commissioners will elect a new PURA chairperson as the post was previously held by Dykes.
Lamont, who has spent recent months filling out his administration, has not yet nominated an education commissioner. The Connecticut Mirror has characterized Lamont’s cabinet as one of the most racially diverse in state history.
According to the governor’s office, Gillett served as a senior advisor for the Maryland Public Service Commissioner, a public utilities regulator, from 2011 to 2018.
During her tenure, Gillett advised the Maryland agency’s chairman and other commissioners on technical, legal and policy matters regarding offshore wind procurement, energy efficiency initiatives, grid reliability issues and electric vehicles, among other issues.
Gillett earned a bachelor’s degree in bioengineering from Clemson University in South Carolina and a law degree from the University of Baltimore School of Law.
Lamont said Gillett will bring an “outsiders’ perspective” to PURA.
“It’s no secret that Connecticut has some of the highest energy rates in the country – we need to change that, and I hope that with her fresh set of eyes and the experience she has working on these issues she can help advance our policy goals of bringing cheaper, cleaner, and more reliable power to the people of our state,” the governor said.
