Lawmakers consider clarifying PUC decisionmaking quorum after 2021 statute change

Representative Tom Corman presented an amendment to House Bill 169 to clarify how many Public Utilities Commission (PUC) members must agree to take official actions. The amendment would require a majority of the commission (effectively two of three commissioners) for hearings, orders and rulemaking.

Corman said recent statutory language — which delegates certain administrative powers to a commission chair — has the unintended effect of concentrating rulemaking authority in a single commissioner and that the amendment would restore majority voting for key actions. "A commissioner does not make a commission," Corman told the committee, arguing that the 3-member panel should act collectively.

State consumer advocate Donald Kreese testified that the change would be best addressed narrowly by restoring rulemaking authority to the full commission while preserving administrative delegation to the chair. "If it was up to me, I would just change the language in RSA 363:1 to say something like ... except for the power to promulgate rules, which shall repose in the commission," Kreese said.

Public Utilities Commission staff opposed broad language that would remove single-commissioner authorities absent careful drafting, arguing the commission’s workload and practical scheduling needs created routine circumstances in which a single commissioner handles certain matters. PUC staff warned that overly broad language could halt routine actions or create the need for special-commissioner appointments.

Committee members discussed options and requested that the PUC chairman provide a formal view on a narrowly tailored fix to the statute; the PUC staff agreed to provide additional, follow-up comment. No committee vote on the amendment was recorded on the hearing day.