An influential legislator is calling for an oversight hearing on operations of the embattled Public Utility Regulatory Authority, including whether the authority was using ratepayer money set aside for consumer advocacy to build political support for its own personnel and policies.
PURA critic and House Republican leader Vincent Candelora of North Branford made the request by letter to the General Assembly’s top Democrats — Senate President Martin M. Looney of New Haven and House Speaker Matthew Ritter of Hartford.
The Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) Bureau of Energy and Technology Policy located at the Joseph H. Harper, Jr. Building at 10 Franklin Square in New Britain on Tuesday, March 11, 2025. (Aaron Flaum/Hartford Courant)
“I am writing to ask that you exercise your authority … and request the chairpersons of the Committee on Government Oversight to hold a hearing concerning an array of issues involving the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority,” Candelora wrote in a letter delivered late Monday.
There was no immediate response from the top Democrats or the Democratic committee co-chairs. If the hearings were to move forward, it would be the first test of the Legislature’s Oversight Committee, created a year ago.
In his letter, Candelora referred to complaints about PURA operations under the leadership of former Chairman Marissa Gillett, who resigned in October. Many of the complaints were laid out in a decision last month by Superior Court Judge Matthew Budzik. His ruling has put in motion a review of regulatory decisions issued under Gillett’s leadership.
Budzik wrote that PURA broke laws, deviated from accepted procedure, interfered with utility appeal rights, illegally froze fellow commissioners out of the rate setting process and then violated public record laws to conceal the fact that Gillett was making what amounted to illegal, and unilateral decisions on the rate cases.
But the letter raises new questions about what has been called a ratepayer education and advocacy program that Gillett pushed for inclusion in comprehensive, 2023 energy legislation.
The provision created something called a stakeholder group compensation program that uses ratepayer money collected though the public benefit portion of electric bills to pay the expenses — including expenses such as child care, transportation and food — of members of ratepayer groups who have difficulty paying bills or live in “environmental justice communities” and want to be heard on cases before PURA.
Language in the legislation read: “Not later than January 15, 2024, the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority shall establish a program to award compensation to eligible stakeholder groups in proceedings of the authority. Such compensation shall be limited to not more than one hundred thousand dollars for each stakeholder group, not more than three hundred thousand dollars for all stakeholder groups in an eligible proceeding and not more than one million two hundred thousand dollars total for all stakeholder groups in each calendar year.”
While compensating groups for intervening in rate cases, Candelora suggests the program also gives PURA the ability to reward groups that support its programs.
“These are the questions that I have: Whose initiative was this? What were they getting out of it? I would like to know the substance of these educational forums. To what extent was it being used as a public relations campaign for PURA? Or was it an arm of a lobbying group to effectuate change in Hartford?” Candelora said in an interview.
House Republican leader Vincent Candelora of North Branford (File photo)
“You know, it only takes a couple of hundred people to testify at a public hearing to change policy. And was PURA using this nonprofit to do that? It’s a very strange use of money at best.”
In his letter, Candelora referred to an article published earlier this month by the news website Inside Investigator. The website reproduced PURA records showing that the Nonprofit Accountability Group, a small, obscure Hartford non-profit, received nearly $200,000 — slightly less than $70,000 of which went to three principals — in order to cover costs of the group’s participation in rate proceedings.
“As you are well aware, policies, programs, and decisions that impact electric rates are top of mind for our constituents, who face financial pressure through high monthly bills,” Candelora wrote to the Democratic leaders.
“The ‘public benefit’ portion of bills has, understandably, been an area of focus for ratepayers, with many residents now asking questions about how that money is awarded to non-governmental entities such as the Hartford-based Nonprofit Accountability Group (NAG) for advocacy work—and where organizations spend that money,” he wrote.
“I’m not sure anyone—certainly not Republicans—intended for the legislation to cover monetary bonuses for individuals attending advocacy workshops, or even covering related childcare, food, and travel expenses,” he said.
The Nonprofit Accountability Group website described itself as an organization with varied interests that include LGBTQIA2s+ issues, housing justice, arts and has called for abolishing the police.
Tenaya Taylor, the organization’s founder, referred questions to Sierra Club member Martha Klein.
Klein issued a statement calling the Nonprofit Accountability Group “a group of low- and moderate-income residents in the Hartford area, who are concerned about the high cost of utility bills as well as other challenges facing our communities.”
“Traditionally, only the utilities and well-resourced companies and organizations participate in the PURA utility regulatory process; it is essential that the state legislature has provided a process for low- and middle-income residents to be able to participate,” Klein said. “This is critical so that we can advocate for lower rates and help PURA establish programs that are fair and accessible for all ratepayers.”
“NAG has held dozens of workshops for our 30 participants over the past year to educate and seek ideas from them as informed low- and middle-income residents in order for us to make recommendations to PURA in the utility regulatory process. To do this, it has been essential that we eliminate the barriers for participation for our members,” Klein said. “The total amount that the legislature authorized, and the ratepayers provide to NAG and other nonprofits is very little compared to what is provided to the utilities for participation in these PURA dockets.”
“Over its first year, NAG’s low- and middle-income ratepayers have provided dozens of innovative ideas on reducing energy cost and making the PURA regulatory process easier to access by the public,” she said.
