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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 1063
January Session, 2023
LCO No. 3369
Referred to Committee on ENERGY AND TECHNOLOGY
Introduced by:
(ET)
AN ACT CONCERNING UTILITY COMMISSIONERS OF THE PUBLIC
UTILITIES REGULATORY AUTHORITY.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Subsections (a) to (c), inclusive, of section 16-2 of the 1
general statutes are repealed and the following is substituted in lieu 2
thereof (Effective October 1, 2023): 3
(a) There shall continue to be a Public Utilities Regulatory Authority 4
within the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, which 5
shall [consist of five electors of this state] be under the direction of three 6
utility commissioners, appointed by the Governor with the advice and 7
consent of both houses of the General Assembly. Not more than [three] 8
two members of said authority in office at any one time shall be 9
members of any one political party. [The Governor shall appoint five 10
members to the authority.] The procedure prescribed in section 4-7 shall 11
apply to such appointments, except that the Governor shall submit each 12
nomination on or before May first, and both houses shall confirm or 13
reject it before adjournment sine die. Any utility commissioner 14
appointed by the Governor and confirmed by both chambers of the 15 Raised Bill No. 1063
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General Assembly between February 1, 2019, and June 1, 2019, shall 16
serve a term expiring on March 1, 2024. Any utility commissioner 17
appointed by the Governor and confirmed by both houses of the 18
General Assembly between February 1, 2018, and June 1, 2018, shall 19
serve a term expiring on March 1, 2022. [Between July 1, 2019, and May 20
1, 2020, the Governor shall appoint three utility commissioners, 21
provided one such commissioner shall serve a term expiring on March 22
1, 2021, and two such commissioners shall serve terms expiring on 23
March 1, 2023.] Any utility commissioner appointed on or after May 1, 24
2020, shall serve a term of four years. No utility commissioner appointed 25
on or after February 1, 2023, may serve more than two such four-year 26
terms. All utility commissioners shall be electors of the state. The utility 27
commissioners shall be sworn to the faithful performance of their duties. 28
(b) [The authority shall elect] Each June, the utility commissioners 29
shall choose, from among them, a chairperson and vice-chairperson, 30
[each June] who shall serve for one-year terms starting on July first of 31
the same year. The vice-chairperson shall perform the duties of the 32
chairperson in his or her absence. 33
(c) Any matter coming before the authority may be assigned by the 34
chairperson to a panel of [three] one or more utility commissioners. 35
Except as otherwise provided by statute or regulation, the panel shall 36
determine whether a public hearing shall be held on the matter, and 37
may designate one or [more] two of its members to conduct such 38
hearing or may assign a hearing officer to ascertain the facts and report 39
thereon to the panel. The decision of the panel, if unanimous, shall be 40
the decision of the authority. If the decision of the panel is not 41
unanimous, the matter shall be approved by a majority vote of the utility 42
commissioners. 43
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 October 1, 2023 16-2(a) to (c)
Raised Bill No. 1063
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Statement of Purpose:
To limit the number of Public Utilities Regulatory Authority
commissioners to three and to establish a term limit of two four-year
terms for such commissioners.
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except
that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not
underlined.]