HARTFORD — Former top energy regulator Marissa Gillett was fined $2,500 Wednesday by the Connecticut Freedom of Information Commission after determining the agency under her leadership deliberately failed to properly respond to public records requests filed by Eversource.
The unusual penalty, which exceeds the $1,000 fine initially recommended by hearing officer Danielle McGee, reflected the commission’s concern about state agencies violating transparency laws, according to members of the commission.
“There seems to be somewhat looking down the nose at freedom of information and not taking that seriously,” said Commissioner Matthew Streeter. “I don’t like to use it against our own state, but if the agencies are not cooperating I believe that they should get the civil penalty.”
The commission voted unanimously to increase the penalty despite a request by Assistant Attorney General James Zimmer, representing the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority, to dismiss the fine entirely.
The decision, with some amendments to the draft, found that PURA attorney Scott Muska failed to conduct a “reasonable and diligent” search for documents requested by Eversource in November 2024. The utility had sought copies of policies and procedures, including emails directing other commissioners to seek permission from Gillett’s office before contacting PURA staff.
Eversource’s request included email, text and voice messages stored on personal devices. However, a key email showing that other commissioners were required to communicate with the chief of staff before contacting agency staff was not produced in the initial response, though PURA later released it to the Hartford Courant in September, just days before Gillett announced her resignation.
Other irregularities in PURA’s responses to freedom of information requests were made public in New Britain Superior Court during a rate case appeal by Avangrid’s subsidiaries. In those proceedings, it was shown that Gillett and her chief of staff had set their mobile devices to automatically delete text messages after 30 days, despite not previously disclosing the practice. The judge referred the matter for potential attorney discipline proceedings against Muska, finding that responsive records had been withheld.
Attorney Zimmer argued that these claims did not correspond to the information request being discussed by the commission, even admitting that public records could have been destroyed.
“That may be true,” Zimmer said, “but there’s no evidence that it affected any record at issue in this search or in this complaint.”
Zimmer argued that the records request required extensive research and interpretation due to subjective language. He added that Gillett had no direct involvement in the search process beyond asking Muska to handle it.
Hearing officer McGee countered that while Gillett did not directly oversee PURA’s response to the request, she was ultimately responsible for ensuring the agency complied with state laws.
Eversource attorney Thomas Murphy framed the records violations as part of a larger pattern of misconduct at PURA under Gillett’s leadership.
“You shouldn’t bury your heads in the sand and pretend that this problem isn’t part of a much larger problem at PURA,” Murphy told the commission. “This chair was operating this agency illegally and hiding from the utilities the fact that she was making unilateral decisions.”
Murphy pointed to a complaint written by PURA’s executive secretary Gaudiosi alleging that Muska mishandled FOIA requests.
In the Avangrid gas case, the judge ruled that PURA’s actions under Gillett leadership were illegal, finding that she had unilaterally appointed herself to preside panels, issued rulings without review by the full commission and presented her decisions as if they had been made by the entire agency. The judge ordered PURA to review that rate decision.
The case is one of several conflicts between Gillett and utility companies that have roiled PURA over the past year. Gillett announced her resignation in late September, two days after House Republican Leader Vincent Candelora, R-North Branford, called for the creation of a special impeachment committee to investigate whether Gillett lied to legislators during her reappointment hearings earlier this year.
During Gillett’s six-year tenure, the relationship between regulators and utilities grew notably hostile. Gillett pushed for what she saw as necessary changes to Connecticut’s utility oversight, toughening criteria for rate cases and taking a more aggressive stance toward the companies she regulated. Her supporters praised what they saw as her efforts to save ratepayers hundreds of millions of dollars and hold utilities accountable.
The utilities said those changes created an uncertain regulatory environment that resulted in credit rating downgrades for the companies, which would ultimately mean higher costs for customers.
Despite Gillett’s tougher approach, energy costs remained among the highest in the country during her tenure. Following Gillett’s departure and Governor Ned Lamont’s appointment of an almost entirely new PURA commission, tensions between utilities and regulators have persisted. Eversource is currently in litigation with PURA over the new commissioners’ vote to reject Aquarion’s proposed sale to a quasi-public.