Governor Ned Lamont appointed Claire Coleman as a state consumer adviser on Wednesday to fill a position vacant more than two years ago.

"I think it has expired, and we are very happy to see it," said Nora Duncan, the state director of the American Association of Retired Persons who lobby on behalf of consumers. "We have worked with Claire in the past and the interaction has been very good."

Coleman, Deputy Minister of Legal Affairs of the Office of National Policy and Management, will take over the leadership of the Office of Consumer Legal Counsel on December 3. This is a temporary appointment until confirmed by the General Assembly.

The office represents the interests of consumers before public utility regulators and courts on issues involving electricity, natural gas, telecommunications, and water.

Coleman joined the Lamont government in April and became OPM's chief attorney two months before Elin Swanson Katz resigned as a consumer consultant. She previously worked on climate and energy issues for two years at Save the Sound, three years at Wiggin & Dana, and four years as a legal officer on the U.S. House of Representatives Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

"Claire's expertise in energy law, investigations, and regulatory reforms make her ideally suited to effectively safeguard the interests of all customers of electricity, gas, water, telephone and cable television services," Lamont said.

Lamont's announcement was not unexpected. He said last week that he had made a choice for a consumer consultant, but that person was in a position he needed to fill. Rumor has it that Coleman's name is a possible choice.

The acting consumer legal counsel is Richard E. Sobolewski, who has served as the head of technical analysis in the office for nearly 20 years.

The governor’s communications director, Max Reiss, defended Katz’s delay in finding a permanent successor, saying that after at least one applicant rejected the position, the government had to restart the search for candidates. It is not clear when Coleman became a candidate.

Rice said the governor believed that the staff of the Consumer Legal Counsel's Office had confidence in Sobolevsky.

Coleman lives in Woodbridge and has a bachelor's degree from Cornell University and a law degree from Northwestern University.

"I look forward to joining the Office of Consumer Legal Counsel and advocating for consumers in Connecticut to work with state leaders, regulatory agencies, and stakeholders to develop innovative, fair and inclusive solutions to improve the affordability and sustainability of our energy Sex and performance, water and telecommunications utility infrastructure to benefit all consumers," she said.

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Mark Pazniokas is the Director of the Capitol and the co-founder of CT Mirror. He often writes for WNPR, has served as a state political writer for the Hartford News and Journal Inquirer, and a writer for the New York Times.

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