New Hampshire energy stakeholders are questioning the experience and potential conflicts of interest of Christopher Ellms Jr., Gov. Kelly Ayotte’s nomination to chair the Public Utilities Commission.
Ellms, the current Deputy Commissioner of Energy, helps set the state’s policy goals and advocates for ratepayers. He has a hearing before the Executive Council Monday on his nomination to lead the PUC.
The non-profit 350 New Hampshire, which advocates for renewable energy initiatives, has opposed Ellms’s nomination because he is “unqualified to hold that position and lacks the experience necessary to lead the commission.” A letter-writing campaign has received over 600 submissions.
“Ratepayers need a PUC chair who can guide the commission to make decisions that address soaring energy prices and lower costs,” the site says.
Ayotte cited similar concerns and said she appointed Ellms to “protect ratepayers.”
“Electric bills in New Hampshire are too high, and our Public Utilities Commission needs leadership that prioritizes lowering costs for families,” Ayotte said in a press release announcing the nomination last month.
Ellms, who lives in Webster, did not respond to multiple requests for comment at the time of publication.
The role of the PUC
The PUC is a quasi-judicial body that acts similarly to a court: it interprets policies set forth by bodies like the Legislature and the Department of Energy. The Commission is tasked with setting electric rates based on proposals from utility companies such as Eversource and Unitil, a process that often involves the Department of Energy.
Donald Kreis, the state’s consumer advocate, said his concern for Ellms’s nomination stems from how involved the PUC and the Department of Energy are with one another. In the Code of Judicial Conduct, a government official who was involved in cases before the body they’re a candidate for, must disqualify themselves.
Since the PUC is a three-person body, Kreis said it may be Ayotte’s responsibility to appoint a special commissioner to handle those cases in the event of a split decision.
“I think there is a very long list of cases that Chairman Ellms, assuming he’s confirmed at the PUC, would have to disqualify himself from,” he said.
Concerns over the nomination
Ellms became the deputy commissioner of the state’s Department of Energy in 2021 after he was appointed by then-Gov. Chris Sununu.
Ellms previously worked with Sununu as his policy advisor, his gubernatorial campaign manager and his legislative director. Before then, he held the title of energy advisor at the Office of Strategic Initiatives.
Kendra Ford, who organized a campaign with 350 New Hampshire to end coal and gas use in the state, said she doubts that Ellms has the skillset or first-hand experiences that a potential PUC Chair would need. She added that that inexperience could “really hurt” ratepayers.
“I realized that he’d been at the Department of Energy, but before that, he’d been doing stuff that wasn’t even at the Department of Energy,” she said. “He doesn’t have a very long history with being in utility spaces at all.”
Christopher Stewart had worked in clean energy development in New Hampshire for over 10 years. He sent a letter to the Executive Council opposing Ellms’s nomination, saying that former chairs have had extensive legal and adjudicative experience.
“[Ellms] has no demonstrated experience in utility ratemaking, cost causation, or contested administrative adjudication,” Stewart wrote in his Feb. 3 letter. “While recent PUC leadership has included commissioners with legal, engineering, or economics backgrounds, Mr. Ellms’ experience is primarily in legislative liaison work. This is not a peripheral gap; it is a lack of the core competencies required to fulfill the Chair’s statutory function.”
‘It’s good that people are paying attention’
Sam Evans-Brown, executive director for Clean Energy NH, is heavily involved in utility proceedings and knows firsthand the importance of the PUC.
“The issue is that in order for us to benefit from this changing technological landscape, we really need good regulators making good decisions,” he said. “Generally speaking, I think it’s good that people are paying attention to people with the PUC and the people that are appointed there.”
Kreis said that Ellms might have a “steep learning curve” ahead of him if nominated, but that his time at the Department of Energy has given him a good framework of the energy landscape in the state.
“I think he has taken to heart the admonition from the governor that we need to do something about making electricity affordable for people in particular,” he said. “I think that he, if confirmed, will do his best to try to achieve that kind of thing.”
Ellms’s nomination hearing will be on Monday at 2:30 p.m. at the Executive Council Chamber in the State House.
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