Researcher: MF Page 1 4/3/23
OLR Bill Analysis
sSB 1063
AN ACT CONCERNING UTILITY COMMISSIONERS OF THE PUBLIC
UTILITIES REGULATORY AUTHORITY.
SUMMARY
This bill reduces, from five to three, the number of utility
commissioners the governor must appoint to the Public Utilities
Regulatory Authority (PURA). It also establishes term limits for
commissioners appointed on or after February 1, 2023, by prohibiting
any utility commissioner appointed on or after that date from serving
more than three four-year terms.
Current law requires PURA to consist of five commissioners and
establishes a schedule for the governor to appoint three of the five
commissioners between July 1, 2019, and May 1, 2020. In practice, there
are currently only three PURA commissioners; additional appointments
have not been made. The bill instead requires PURA to be under the
direction of three commissioners appointed by the governor (i.e., the
existing number of commissioners) and eliminates the schedule for
appointing new commissioners. It also makes conforming changes to:
1. prohibit more than two, rather than three, commissioners from
the same political party from holding office concurrently and
2. allow the PURA chairperson to assign any matter before the
authority to one or more utility commissioners, rather than to a
panel of three or more utility commissioners.
Lastly, the bill makes technical changes to replace references to PURA
“members” with “utility commissioners.”
EFFECTIVE DATE: October 1, 2023
COMMITTEE ACTION 2023SB-01063-R000387-BA.DOCX
Researcher: MF Page 2 4/3/23
Energy and Technology Committee
Joint Favorable Substitute
Yea 20 Nay 0 (03/14/2023)