Governor Dannel Malloy has sharply rebuked his own utility regulators in a dispute over how the agency should be governed.
The commissioners of the Public Utility Regulatory Authority, headed by chairman Arthur House, wrote to Malloy at the end of last month expressing deep dissatisfaction with the decision four years ago to bring PURA under the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.
In his letter, House said the panel is encountering insurmountable conflicts of interest, and he accused DEEP of meddling in the authority’s decisions over rates and enforcement actions.
But Malloy told reporters Monday that he disagrees, and that the commissioners are free to resign if they don’t like the present arrangement. "I’ve been in government for a long time. I’m used to people wanting to have their own empire," he said. "I don’t believe that that’s what’s necessary. I believe that we need to constantly be looking for greater efficiencies, and if any of the commissioners find that objectionable, they can always act on it."
The governor rejected the concerns over independence, and said that his decision to bring PURA under DEEP’s authority was motivated by a need to save money in state government.
