EXECUTIVE AND LEGISLATIVE NOMINATIONS COMMITTEE;

CURRENT ISSUES

1. The legislature is currently addressing revisions to the state’s electric restructuring law. Do you believe that a competitive market will develop in the foreseeable future, particularly for residential and small business customers?

2. Some legislators are concerned that restructuring the electric industry has left the state vulnerable to significant volatility in prices. What can and should the state do to address these concerns?

3. Why do you believe that competition in the telecommunications market, specifically in residential local service, is developing more quickly in other states than in Connecticut?

4. Should residential customers be allowed to choose their gas supplier as larger customers can?

5. The siting of energy facilities, particularly electric transmission lines and gas pipelines, has been very controversial. What change, if any, do you believe is needed in the state’s siting laws?

ISSUES CONCERNING AGENCY PROCEDURES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

1. Federal law sharply limits the state’s ability to regulate the cable TV industry, and in the recent past DPUC has proposed legislation giving up the agency’s limited jurisdiction over cable rates. Would you support such a proposal in the future?

2. DPUC was instrumental in the formation of the Water Planning Council, which consists of the agencies that regulate the water industry and which is addressing a wide range of issues affecting the industry. Do you believe that there should be a single agency to regulate this industry? What else can be done to make the regulation of the industry more coherent? Do you see Connecticut ever adopting western water law?

3. DPUC, like other regulatory agencies, is primarily funded by assessments on the industries it regulates. Should another funding mechanism be considered as utility industries become increasingly deregulated?

4. How would you address the issue of “regulatory capture,” in which agencies are perceived by some to be unduly sympathetic to the industries they regulate, in part because they provide the agencies’ funding?

5. The law encourages the appointment of commissioners representing a wide range of backgrounds, including economics, engineering, finance, consumer advocacy, and the law. Currently, three of the commissioners are, like yourself, lawyers. How does your appointment increase the diversity of perspective on the commission?

6. As is permitted by law, DPUC sometimes designates parts of its staff to serve as a party in major proceedings such as rate cases, in part to represent ratepayer interests. The Office of Consumer Counsel also routinely participates in DPUC cases, and the Attorney General’s often participates in the most significant cases. Do you believe this results in duplication of effort?

KEM: eh