The head of Connecticut’s Public Utilities Regulatory Authority was confirmed to a second four-year term on Tuesday, despite a walkout from Senate Republicans in protest of a purported deal to secure political support for her reappointment.
Marissa Gillett, who has led the authority since 2019, was confirmed by a vote of 21-0 in the Senate with none of the chamber’s 11 Republicans participating.
Tuesday’s vote was the final step in a months-long confirmation process that has seen Gillett face attacks from both Republicans and the state’s largest utilities over her leadership style as well as the state’s chronically high electric rates. The House voted largely along party lines to advance Gillett’s nomination last week.
It was another allegation, however, that led Senate Republicans to take what they said was the “unprecedented” step Tuesday of walking out of the chamber ahead of the vote.
In February, as Gillett was facing a pivotal hearing before the legislature’s Executive and Legislative Nominations Committee, Gov. Ned Lamont’s office announced a deal to appoint one of the committee’s members, state Sen. John Fonfara, D-Hartford, to one of two open seats on PURA in order to clear the way for her nomination to proceed. Fonfara, who had previously expressed reservations about Gillett’s tenure, ultimately voted to advance her nomination out of the committee.
Senate Minority Leader Stephen Harding, R-Brookfield, called that deal a “blatant quid pro quo” on Tuesday and went as far as to suggest it violated the state’s bribery laws.
“We will not allow our constituents’ vote to be complicit in what has gone on here,” Harding told a gaggle of reporters shortly before the party staged its walkout. “The governor’s office is wrong. Anyone else that was involved in this is wrong, and our constituents should not have to have us be complicit in any of this.”
Harding later made similar comments on the Senate floor before joining the rest of his colleagues in the GOP’s caucus chambers while Democrats quickly proceeded with the vote to approve Gillett’s appointment.
Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff, D-Norwalk, characterized the Republicans’ walkout as an attempt to “smear” Gillett, who he said has been effective at scrutinizing Connecticut’s utilities and keeping their rates in check.
“There’s a lot of money on the line to make sure she doesn’t get back in,” Duff said. “People are looking at her nationally because she’s a change agent. She’s actually won in court against utility companies … and so I think that there’s just been this tremendous amount of just bad information that’s come out” regarding her tenure.
In 2015, while Harding was a freshman member of the House, Republicans in that chamber held a similar walkout to protest comments by then-Gov. Dannel Malloy that they said characterized members of the GOP as racist. After shutting down business in the House for more than five hours, Republicans returned to work after Democratic leaders distanced themselves from Malloy’s comments.
Lamont’s spokesman, Rob Blanchard, released a statement later Tuesday criticizing the Republicans’ actions.
“Senate Republicans chose to completely abdicate their responsibility today by talking a walk and not voting on their confirmation — a purely political move that doesn’t match their concerns about addressing utility costs,” Blanchard said. “Despite the political theater, the Governor looks forward to working collaboratively to find policy solutions needed to have a lasting impact on delivering cheaper energy for the people of our state.”
Gillett declined to comment directly on the Republicans’ walkout Tuesday but released a statement through a PURA spokesperson thanking Lamont and lawmakers for their support throughout her confirmation process.
“Serving as the chair of PURA for the past several years has been an honor, and I look forward to continuing my service on behalf of the state and its ratepayers,” she said.
Sen. Fonfara’s appointment became the subject of further scrutiny last month after press reports revealed the senator’s ownership in several energy-related companies that had previous run-ins with regulators at PURA, including racking up more than $1 million in fines.
Fonfara has denied any wrongdoing while accusing Gillett of retaliating against him for speaking out against legislation that would have broadened her powers in 2023. On Tuesday, he recused himself from the final vote on her nomination.
Fonfara later told a reporter that “a lot has changed” since his decision to support Gillett’s nomination in committee but said he wasn’t wrong to cast that vote, even though he recused himself from the full Senate vote Tuesday.
“What I voted I believed in, but like I said, a lot has changed since then,” he said.
Fonfara declined to respond to Republicans’ allegations of corruption regarding the deal to secure his appointment.
As part of that deal, Lamont said he would also appoint a former Republican lawmaker, Holly Cheeseman of East Lyme, to a second vacant seat on PURA, thus expanding its board to the full five members set by state law. House Republican leaders have since denied playing a part in the negotiations.
Harding, the Senate Republican leader, said the deal resulted in Fonfara and his allies agreeing to provide the votes needed to get Gillett through the Executive and Legislative Nominations Committee. Democrats hold a 13-8 majority on the committee, meaning they can afford to lose no more than two members if Republicans vote in a block against a nominee.
While Harding declined to say which other members may have agreed to provide their support for Gillett as part of the deal, he pointed to Lamont’s comments in a press conference last month in which the governor said he was told by legislative leaders “you’re not going to get Marissa through unless we make an arrangement.”
Lamont also said during that press conference that Fonfara’s business interests pose a “conflict” for his plans to join PURA, while adding that he would have to undergo further vetting that is routine for gubernatorial appointments.
Duff, the Senate Majority Leader, told reporters Tuesday that he had been unaware of Fonfara’s entanglements with PURA prior to press reports that were first published in CT Insider. Pressed repeatedly, he declined to say whether he believes Fonfara should step aside from a potential spot at the authority.
“I think that’s going to have to go through the process,” Duff said. “I don’t really know that much about it.”
Gillett served as an advisor to Maryland’s Public Service Commission before she was tapped by Lamont to take over PURA. In that role, she has overseen a legislatively-mandated shift toward a style of regulation that places greater scrutiny on the costs incurred by utilities for infrastructure upgrades and passed along to residents through utility rates.
She has also clashed with the utilities, particularly Eversource and United Illuminating, who have accused her of usurping the power of her fellow commissioners and making unilateral decisions impacting their businesses.
“We’re simply looking for fairness, balance, truth, accuracy and transparency, and we’re eager to work with whoever can deliver that in order to provide customers with stable and predictable energy bills while ensuring the safety and service reliability that homes and businesses across the state need for success,” Eversource spokeswoman Tricia Modifica said in a statement Tuesday.
In a separate statement following Tuesday’s vote, United Illuminating spokeswoman Sarah Wall Fliotsos said the utility has never taken an position on individual appointments to PURA.
“But it is a contradiction for regulators, and the legislators who support them, to publicly attack the companies they regulate,” Fliotsos said. “We simply ask that PURA commissioners be neutral arbiters of fact who comply with the law and appropriately balance the interests of all stakeholders to best ensure affordability, reliability, resiliency, and efficiency in Connecticut’s utility service.”
The Senate also voted Tuesday to confirm a second PURA nominee, David Arconti of Brookfield. Republicans opted to participate in that vote, and Arconti, a former state representative and lobbyist for United Illuminating, was approved by a mostly party-line vote of 23-7.
One Republican and one Democrat each crossed sides to vote with members of the other party on Arconti’s nomination.
CT Mirror reporter Mark Pazniokas contributed to this article.
