For too long, Connecticut’s regulated utilities have benefited from subterfuge and obfuscation —using complex energy and legal jargon to bamboozle anyone who might try to rein in their corporate greed.

They create a false sense of controversy, manufacturing a crisis at PURA where none exists. But under its current leadership, PURA has become exactly what it was always meant to be: a staunch defender of ratepayers, grid reliability, and statutory authority.

PURA’s resistance to regulatory capture is precisely what has utilities scrambling. When regulated entities attempt to influence the regulator to serve their interests, PURA’s leadership pushes back—hard. And now, for the first time in a footnote so obvious, a court ruling has explicitly called it out (although by my count, PURA has successfully been upheld four times at the State Supreme Court and countless at the Superior— can someone call out frivolity in what was previously rate payer dollars— thank goodness we put an end to that in SB7).

A decision handed down recently in New Britain Superior Court affirms what many of us have been saying for years: utilities manipulate the narrative to protect their bottom line.

The court itself recognized this in its ruling, stating, “the complaint is not a model of clarity. The complaint generally alleges facts and legal principles, but does not, in most cases, clearly link those alleged facts and legal principles to a clearly stated legal claim or cause of action.” That footnote on page two is the icing on the cake, directly acknowledging these tactics.

For those paying attention, this moment is long overdue. PURA is finally fulfilling its role as a truly independent regulator, undeterred by corporate pressure. Utilities may keep trying to spin their web of misdirection, but the truth is catching up with them.

 Jaime S. Foster is a State Representative for District 57, Ellington, East Windsor, and Vernon.