Gov. Ned Lamont is doubling down on Connecticut’s top utility regulator, in spite of lawsuits from utilities and criticism about high electric bills.

On Monday, he re-appointed Marissa Gillett to another two-year term as chair of the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority. Lamont insisted that Gillett is the best person to keep electric rates down – and keep utilities accountable.

“The utilities sometimes think she’s a little strong-willed. I understand that,” he told reporters. “I understand that they seem to bring suit every month or two.”

Gillett has aggressively regulated utilities, often rejecting rate increases. She also pushed for rates to be based on how well a utility performs.

But utilities claim she’s been too tough. They filed several lawsuits alleging that Gillett is biased and has made key decisions in secret.

Gillett has called it a smear campaign in retaliation for her tough stance.

“It’s not just my work and integrity that has been questioned here, it is the work product of almost 80 staff who have committed their lives to public service,” she told lawmakers on Feb. 20.

The latest controversy involves text messages between Gillett and two state lawmakers who wrote a critical opinion piece. Two gas companies owned by Avangrid allege that the PURA chair helped write the piece, revealing a bias against them.

In court, the state attorney general’s office said that Gillett’s personal phone automatically deleted the texts. Under state Freedom of Information laws, all communications are supposed to be preserved on a state-issued phone or email address.

“It raises a lot of concerns and questions. You know, we have a sitting chairman that's embroiled in litigation, where we're now discovering that she has circumvented FOI laws and lied to the General Assembly,” said Connecticut House Republican Vin Candelora (R-North Branford). “I requested these documents on two occasions – these very specific documents that are subject to the court case-- and was told-- they were produced, and I was not told that they were deleted. It didn't come out until the court case.”

Lamont already took heat a deal he made with lawmakers to keep Gillett on the PURA board, leading Senate Republicans to walk out of the vote.

The governor insisted that Gillett is the right person to lead the authority.

“I think you’re innocent until you’re proven guilty in this world,” he said. “If there’s something there about the FOIA rules, you know, I want her to be totally transparent. I'd like to see the court move along quickly.”

Eversource issued this statement following Lamont’s announcement: “Our expectations are for a fair, transparent, balanced and lawful regulatory environment, regardless of who serves … We are ready to work with partners in a constructive fashion to deliver cost-effective solutions for customers to provide them with stable bills and strong customer service.”