Ellms confirmed as new chair of Public Utilities Commission

Christopher Ellms, former deputy commissioner of the New Hampshire Department of Energy, was confirmed by the New Hampshire Executive Council Wednesday to serve as the new chairman of the Public Utilities Commission. 

Ellms will lead the three-member body, which functions like a court to regulate the state’s utilities, issuing orders on utility expenditures and proposed rate increases for the resources distributed by New Hampshire’s investor-owned utilities.

Ellms was nominated by Gov. Kelly Ayotte in January and confirmed by a 4-1 vote of the Executive Council Wednesday. 

Executive Councilor Karen Liot Hill was the only member to vote against Ellms’ nomination. In a statement before the vote, Liot Hill said she was concerned Ellms’ previous work with the Department of Energy, which is always a party to Public Utilities Commission proceedings, would pose a continued conflict of interest.

“I believe the Public Utilities Commission requires leadership with a strong legal background, and a clearly nonpartisan regulatory posture, to ensure rigorous independent decision making,” she said. “For these reasons, I will be voting against his confirmation.”

At a public hearing March 2, Liot Hill and other councilors questioned Ellms about his previous experience and qualification for the role of chair.

Ellms holds a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Northeastern University and worked for former Gov. Chris Sununu’s campaign and later in Sununu’s administration. He has been deputy commissioner of the Department of Energy since 2021, when the department was created under Sununu.

Councilor John Stephen said during Monday’s hearing that the biggest concern he had heard from constituents was Ellms’ lack of background in engineering, law, or finance.

“You’re coming into a role that, in the past, those are the chief areas of background that governors look for,” Stephen said.

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Ellms said his background would broaden the commission’s perspective. The statute governing the Public Utilities Commission’s makeup requires one member to be a lawyer and one to have experience or expertise in engineering, economics, accounting, or finance. It contains no requirement for the background of the third commissioner, he said. 

Public Utilities Commissioner Mark Dell’Orfano is a lawyer, while Commissioner Pradip Chattopadhyay is an economist with 22 years of utility experience, according to the commission’s website.

“I think it’s exactly why the Legislature, when they constructed the PUC, left that opening for somebody who’s not a lawyer, not a finance expert,” Ellms said. “… I’m somebody who can see the forest through the trees, who can make those decisions based on what’s going to serve the public interest.”

Also at the hearing, Liot Hill asked him how he would maintain independence in the new position with his partisan background.

“It’s a difficult question, because me doing my job well means that I’m not going to, to buck, ah, the desires of my bosses,” Ellms said. “So what I can say is that I have consistently earned trust, and I’m being put into a position by a governor who’s a very, very smart governor, who understands the law better than me. … It’s my commitment to follow the law. If I’m independent, I will be independent.”

Ellms also answered a question from Liot Hill about whether he believed efforts to increase renewable energy generation in New Hampshire had increased the price of electricity. 

Ellms did not answer about New Hampshire in particular. Regionally, he said, some contracts for renewable generation had been “significantly expensive.” He added it was the call of the Legislature whether those decisions were “worth the cost.”

He also declined to comment on certain ongoing dockets currently before the Public Utilities Commission, including an Eversource rate case that has been elevated to the New Hampshire Supreme Court, when questioned by Executive Councilor Janet Stevens. Ellms has been party to these matters by virtue of his role at the Department of Energy.

In his opening statement Monday, Ellms identified himself as a “husband, a father, and a Christian,” with a commitment to public service shared throughout his family. He said energy costs were among the most pressing issues for New Hampshire families, and said he had gained experience with energy policy while at the Department of Energy and in prior work as energy adviser at the Office of Strategic Initiatives under Sununu.

Ellms received support at the hearing from current and former colleagues and lawmakers, including Sen. Howard Pearl, a Loudon Republican; Rep. Michael Vose, an Epping Republican; and Jayne Millerick, former chief of staff for Sununu.