For years, CUC has had leaders and board members with titles, degrees, and polished resumes. Yet history speaks for itself: chronic operational failures, aging infrastructure, lack of true business discipline, weak accountability, and a utility system that continues to burden the people with high costs and unreliable service. If the current model of selecting leadership based heavily on academic pedigree was the answer, CUC would not still be struggling.
The public deserves to ask a simple question: What exactly have all these degrees produced?
A utility is not saved by framed diplomas on the wall. It is saved by leadership that can execute. It is saved by people who understand operations, maintenance, safety, budgeting, procurement, asset management, workforce discipline, and the daily realities of keeping the lights on, the water flowing, and the system functioning in a business-like manner.
Academic education has value. No reasonable person denies that. But degrees alone do not guarantee sound judgment, integrity, courage, or the willingness to make hard decisions. They do not guarantee that a leader will control costs, demand performance, prevent waste, or stand up to bad contracts, bad procurement, or bad management culture. The record shows that credentials without accountability can still produce failure.
That is why CUC’s leadership criteria should be revised.
The Commonwealth should prioritize proven utility performance, operational competence, financial discipline, and accountability over pure academic pedigree. The selection process for Executive Director and even for board appointments should place greater weight on demonstrated results, not just formal education. Has the candidate managed complex operations? Have they controlled budgets responsibly? Have they reduced waste, improved performance, enforced standards, and led organizations through difficult conditions? Have they shown the discipline to operate in the best interest of ratepayers, not bureaucracy?
Those are the questions that matter.
CUC is not a classroom exercise. It is a public utility with direct consequences for every household, every business, every school, every clinic, and every government function in the Commonwealth. Poor leadership at CUC does not remain on paper. It shows up in outages, rate increases, deferred maintenance, public frustration, and lost trust.
The public should no longer be impressed merely because a candidate checks academic boxes. The real test is whether that person can actually lead, manage, and deliver results.
CUC needs leaders who understand that utilities are not abstract theories. They are operational systems that demand constant discipline, practical knowledge, sound financial management, and relentless accountability. The Commonwealth cannot afford more leaders who look qualified on paper but fail in practice.
It is time to stop confusing credentials with competence.
It is time to demand leadership standards that reflect what CUC actually needs: performance, discipline, integrity, and results.
By Rep. Vincent R. Aldan Chairman, House Committee on Transportation & Infrastructure
Editor’s note: The views and opinions expressed in this op-ed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of NMI News Service or its staff. All assertions are the sole responsibility of the writer.
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