Judge Orders New PURA Gas Rate Case, Refers Two State Attorneys for Ethics Review

Overview

• New Britain Superior Court Judge Matthew Budzik vacated the prior decision and sent the Southern Connecticut Gas and Connecticut Natural Gas rate case back to PURA for fresh proceedings.
• Budzik referred PURA General Counsel Scott Muska and Assistant Attorney General Seth Hollander to the Statewide Grievance Committee over statements tied to efforts to obtain Marissa Gillett’s texts.
• The judge found PURA failed to initially disclose an auto-delete function on Gillett’s phone and concluded Muska intended to mislead the court, while saying Hollander should have made a more diligent inquiry.
• Avangrid’s attempt to depose the lawmakers who wrote a controversial op-ed was quashed, with the judge deeming broader bias questions moot given the rehearing before newly appointed commissioners.
• The litigation stemmed from PURA’s cut of the utilities’ combined revenues by $35 million, and Avangrid called the ruling unequivocal as the Attorney General’s office declined comment on the referral.