The Office of Consumer Counsel has appointed a watchdog with a keen nose to make sure the actions and policies of the Connecticut Municipal Electric Energy Cooperative benefit the consumers it serves.

At a Monday news conference in Hartford, Consumer Counsel Elin Swanson Katz said Bill Kowalski of Durham, a former attorney in her office who is recently retired from a senior legal counsel position at Aetna, is at work as the consumer advocate within the municipal electric energy cooperative.

The legislature created the position earlier this year as part of a series of reforms. The legislative action followed investigative news reports that funds from the nonprofit cooperative were diverted to pay for extravagant trips to the Kentucky Derby, over several years, for senior staff, board members, public officials and other invited guests.

The purpose of the cooperative is to negotiate purchase agreements for the electricity its six municipal utility co-owners need to serve their customers and to find other sources of revenue to keep down those costs. Among the co-owners are the municipally owned utilities serving Norwich, City of Groton and Jewett City.

Its insulated nature, however, led to the abuses seen with the Derby junkets and who knows what else. That’s why this newspaper applauds the appointment of the consumer advocate, paid by CMEEC, and the undertaking of a detailed five-year audit of CMEEC’s operations. Another reform calls for each of the six member municipalities to appoint a representative to the cooperative’s board of directors, previously made up only of appointees assigned by the utilities.

Signs that the insular tendencies at the cooperative persist, two weeks ago it released a 2018 operating budget lacking the details that would be expected of any agency that is essentially an extension of municipal governance. With its broad summaries, lack of detailed line items and no comparison with the prior budget, it was not in keeping with the intent of the legislative reforms.

With the appointment of the consumer advocate and new board members from the member towns, CMEEC should eventually − though it appears reluctantly − start operating in truly transparent fashion. Only then will utility customers be confident it is operating in their best interests.

The Day editorial board meets with political, business and community leaders to formulate editorial viewpoints. It is composed of President and Publisher Timothy Dwyer, Executive Editor Izaskun E. Larraneta, Owen Poole, copy editor, and Lisa McGinley, retired deputy managing editor. The board operates independently from The Day newsroom.