Sens. Harding & Fazio: “Electricity costs in CT are too damn high”

John Betkoski to retire from Connecticut PURA. Gov. Lamont nominates David Arconti to fill vacancy.

By Luther Turmelle

Hearst CT Media

Long time public utility regulator John W. “Jack” Betkoski III announced Thursday he will retire from the Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority at the end of the year.

Gov. Ned Lamont said he is nominating former state lawmaker David A. Arconti, Jr. of Danbury to fill an empty seat on the regulatory board. The state agency regulates the services of Connecticut’s investor-owned utilities, including electric, natural gas, water, and telecommunications companies.

Arconti will begin serving at PURA on an interim basis starting Aug. 5, according to Lamont’s office. His name will be put forth in nomination for a permanent position at the start of the 2025 regular legislative session, where lawmakers will vote on the appointment. PURA commissioners serve four-year terms.

A former state representative who served the 109th District for five consecutive terms starting in 2013 before deciding to not seek reelection, Arconti, a Democrat, is now vice president of state government relations for United Illuminating, a position he has held since Sept. 2023. In that role, he works with lawmakers and other state officials to develop policies related to the utility company’s general operations. Prior to that he was the director of community engagement for Danbury-based Fuel Cell Energy, where he worked with state and local government officials and community officials on strategies to deliver affordable and clean energy solutions to communities throughout the state.

The transition comes after more than a year of discord between some the utilities that PURA regulates and state officials, including commission Chairwoman Marissa Gillett. Several utilities have launched court challenges against PURA rulings, claiming some decisions, particularly on rate schedules, were unfair to their businesses and threaten their livelihood.

Officials with the state’s two largest utilities, Eversource Energy and the United Illuminating Co. weighed in on the transition at PURA.

“We are encouraged that David Arconti is a nominee with a keen interest in energy policy and valuable experience serving Connecticut as a member of the Connecticut General Assembly,” said Tricia Modifica, a spokeswoman at Eversource Energy. “We appreciated his collaborative approach.”

Modifica said Eversource supports “reasonable and balanced regulatory decisions that helped enable critical investments that allow us to continue providing safe and reliable service for our customers while empowering Connecticut’s efforts to achieve clean energy.”

Pedro Azagra, chief executive officer of Orange-based Avangrid, United Illuminating’s corporate parent, said company officials “extend our congratulations to our colleague, David Arconti, for his appointment as a new Commissioner at PURA.”

“We appreciate his service to our company and customers over the last year, and we are confident that Connecticut will be well-served by his leadership in this new role,” Azagra said.

Some lawmakers were critical, however, of the governor’s handling of PURA.

House Republican Leader Vincent Candelora, R-North Branford, said Thursday “severe issues of unaffordability and instability in our state’s energy sector should be the most pressing concerns for the governor, yet he treats the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority like a hobby that can be picked up whenever he feels like it.”

“While I am hopeful that David Arconti’s background as both a legislator and a utility industry professional will foster more in-depth discussions about the impact General Assembly policy decisions have on ratepayer bills, my immediate worry is the lack of transparency associated with a regulatory authority that is, in essence, being run out the governor’s office,” Candelora said in a statement. “His failure to present a semblance of a long-term strategy on energy policy will keep ratepayers under financial pressure for the foreseeable future and discourage much-needed investments by utility companies who are finding it increasingly difficult to do business here.”

Fellow Republican, Sen. Ryan Fazio, who is the Ranking Senator on the Energy and Technology Committee, issued a statement with Senate Republican Leader Stephen Harding regarding Betkoski’s retirement announcement.

“Electricity costs in Connecticut are too damn high,” Fazio and Harding said in a joint statement.
“We hear that every day from Connecticut families and job creators. Irrespective of the merits of today’s staff changes, we still need to address the underlying policies that Republicans have repeatedly highlighted in order to bring long-term rate reduction and stability for consumers.

The two lawmakers contend that Connecticut needs to separate the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection the state’s policy-making agency, from PURA, which is a regulatory agency.

“We need checks and balances,” the two lawmakers said in the joint statement. “PURA is still structured as an agency with five commissioners, but Lamont has left a pair of seats on the regulatory agency unfilled. Arconti’s appointment only exacerbates the Authority’s already imbalanced partisan makeup, with three Democrats and just one Republican.”

Republicans say Connecticut’s Democratic majority in the legislature has rejected taking steps that would reduce energy costs in the state.

https://www.newstimes.com/business/article/ct-pura-betkoski-retire-arconti-nominated-19596692.php