At a hearing Monday, Gov. Kelly Ayotte’s nominee to the Public Utilities Commission shared more about how he would approach the role with the state’s Executive Council.
Chris Ellms was nominated in January to become the chair of the commission, which regulates investor-owned energy and water utility companies. The agency is currently operating with only two of its three commissioner positions filled, after Ayotte declined to renominate former chair Daniel Goldner, who led the commission through several controversial decisions and proposals.
Ellms, who is currently the deputy commissioner at the state’s Department of Energy, has spent the bulk of his career in political roles. He served as a campaign manager and legislative director for former Gov. Chris Sununu after graduating with a political science degree from Northeastern in 2014.
Public utilities commissioners generally have a background in law, economics, engineering or related fields. But state law allows one commissioner to come from a different background.
“I believe that's because it is the legislature's intention to have a wide diversity of perspectives and be able to bring forward people who can think differently and think about the public interest,” Ellms said. “My time at the Department of Energy prepared me well to do that.”
Ellms said energy affordability would be one of his main priorities, if confirmed as chair. He said his other priorities would include making the commission’s decisions clear and transparent, and ensuring the agency has the resources to do its job.
“If confirmed as chairman, I will never lose sight of the fact that the regulatory process is about delivering the energy systems that Granite Staters need to thrive,” he said.
Ellms’s nomination has faced pushback from advocates and other energy stakeholders, who have raised concerns about his relative lack of energy experience.
Executive Councilor Karen Liot Hill questioned Ellms about his partisan background, asking him how he would ensure he was making decisions based on evidence and not political considerations. She also asked him about his approach to renewable energy.
Ellms said he would work to ensure the commission was following its legal role – reviewing the evidence and making decisions.
“It's not the role of the PUC to unilaterally try to move forward certain policy ideas,” he said. “If the legislature chooses to pass a decarbonization, electrification mandate and it has some impact on the PUC, I will follow the law. I will weigh the arguments and I will make decisions that are clear and transparent.”
Liot Hill also questioned Ellms about his approach to recusing himself from certain cases that he has participated in as part of the New Hampshire Department of Energy.
State law requires judges to recuse themselves from proceedings in which they have played a role previously. New Hampshire’s consumer advocate, Don Kreis, did not testify at the hearing. He said he is "certain [Ellms] will do the job in good faith," but he’s concerned that Ellms’s current role would disqualify him from every case currently pending at the Public Utilities Commission.
He added that his office would argue for Ellms’s recusal in those cases, if he’s confirmed.
Ellms said he was working with the state’s Department of Justice to understand the standards for recusal.
“It’s important, if I am confirmed, that I participate as often as possible when it's appropriate for me to participate, and not participate when it's inappropriate.”
Several officials spoke in favor of Ellms’s nomination, including former Gov. Sununu’s Chief of Staff, Jane Miller. She highlighted his integrity and his ability to absorb new information quickly.
“That capacity to learn quickly translates directly into sound decision making. He does not rush to conclusions. He gathers facts, understands the statutory framework, and considers downstream impacts,” she said.
