Sen. Gordon on Face the Facts: CT Republican talks about what PURA should look like moving forward (Transcript)

Watch the full interview here: Face the Facts: CT Republican talks about what PURA should look like moving forward – NBC Connecticut

Mike Hydeck: Senator, welcome back. Marissa Gillett, the chair of the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority, resigned. Governor Lamont appointed five new commissioners. Do you think that’s going to reset the relationship between the state and Eversource and UI?

Jeff Gordon: Mike, thanks for having me on. That’s the big question everybody has. What’s going to happen now with PURA and with their electric bills? I’m cautiously optimistic that having new people there, including a new chair, could reset the tone and the way things are done, but the legislature really needs to step in, do what it needs to do, to drop these electric rates down, get all these taxes off the bills that are still there, and really hold PURA’s feet to the fire, to put ratepayers first. And my Republican colleagues and I going to continue to focus on that.

Mike Hydeck: So you’re talking about the public benefits portion of the charge. You’d like to see more of those charges come off. Is that what I’m hearing?

Jeff Gordon: Oh, absolutely, we’ve been fighting for that, and PURA has been standing in the way to a degree for that, including my Democratic colleagues, have stood in the way for that. We need to really make certain the legislature dictates what is happening with these electric bills, gets a lot of these taxes off, and we need to make certain PURA really is keeping rate payers first. I’m cautiously optimistic with new people there, that will happen, but time will tell, and we really need to keep a watch on this.

Mike Hydeck: Now, in months past and in years past, Governor Lamont would say that’s exactly what the chair Marissa Gillett was doing, holding them accountable, not giving them these full rate increases that they were asking for each time. Now, to that end, some of your colleagues were saying that they think other members of the PURA staff should be leaving too, As in, maybe Marissa Gillett’s, you know, second, third in command, that kind of thing. What’s your take on it?

Jeff Gordon: That should be. I mean, we’re finding out that there were people who misled or lied in a court under oath. I mean, if you and I, or the average person in Connecticut did that, we would be in jail. We should be holding these public officials very accountable. This is part of the mess that’s gone on with PURA, and why people are very discouraged that state government is going to do anything moving forward to help them with their very, very high electric bills. And we really need to hold more of these people accountable. I’ve been very vocal. We need to really clean house at PURA, and not just with the people who are causing the problems, but the way they’ve been operating.

Mike Hydeck: So as far as PURA is concerned, excuse me, when the utilities were asking for rate hikes every year, they continued to say money was needed to improve infrastructure, to improve the grid, to improve improve reliability. But the utility companies were saying, PURA has been too opaque about their decisions. The utility companies are also opaque about when that money comes in, where it goes. So are we going to have any proof on the ground, like going to see sites where things are being built to re-ensure that we’re having a stronger grid with all this extra money we’re paying? It seems like there is no accountability there.

Jeff Gordon: Well, there should be, and I think we should be holding everybody accountable. How these decisions are being made, that affects electric bills, especially all these different taxes and all the different money to upgrade the electric systems. But also when this money is being spent, we should have accountability as well. It’s a two-way street, and the legislature is the entity, represents the people, should be making certain that there’s accountability and transparency. My Republican colleagues and I have been fighting for that. We’re going to continue to push for that on all fronts.

Mike Hydeck: So there’s a case in point, our NBC Connecticut Investigates team did a story about some of this quote, unquote, infrastructure improvement. There was a transmission line going in northern New Hampshire that cost a significant amount of money to Connecticut rate payers. And it seems as if the way that construction project unfolded, there was very little accountability, according to our investigation. Is that something that needs to be looked at further? In your opinion?

Jeff Gordon: Oh, absolutely it should. If taxpayer money or money from from ratepayers is going to be used for projects, rate payers deserve to know how that money is being spent. It shouldn’t be kept hidden. It should be out there, transparent, and there should be an accounting for it. That’s where the legislature comes in to set the law, set the rules. And we should be doing that, and PURA has to do a much, much better job with that than it has in the past.

Mike Hydeck: Last question, the lawsuits are still pending. PURA’s tried to settle some of the lawsuits. The United Illuminating and Eversource source said, ‘Look, we want to see them continue.’ What’s your take? Should they continue? Or should the lawsuits find a way to be settled and move on with the new board?

Jeff Gordon: Well, it’s always good if things can be settled, certainly, but we should make certain that PURA is not trying to sweep something under the rug and hide something. So in some regards, whether this settles or not, the legislature needs to step in, and I believe should be doing some serious investigations of PURA. What’s happened? Who did what? And what can we do to make things better for rate payers moving forward.