CEMA Adds to Lobbying Team

Walter L. Morton IV joined the Connecticut Energy Marketers Association’s Government Advocacy Team as the Director of Government Relations & Community Affairs with nearly ten years of experience at the local, state, and federal levels. He will be primarily responsible for fighting municipal electrification efforts by working with community groups, nonprofits, and town councils to educate them about the benefits of Bioheat fuel, the fragility of the electric grid and the issues surrounding electric vehicles.

Morton will also be stationed at the capitol during the legislative session where he will advocate for the best interests of the energy industry. He is a lifelong Connecticut resident who studied Political Science and Economics at Penn State University prior to enlisting in the U.S. Army. He began as a staffer for Senate President Martin Looney, where he clerked The Public Health, and Transportation Committees. Most recently he served as Hamden’s Director of Legislative Affairs for three and a half years. In that role, he covered Hamden’s legislative priorities at the state and federal levels. In addition, he worked on several economic development-related projects in Hamden — most notably the High Meadows Redevelopment project and Newhallville on crumbling foundation remediation. Morton was also elected to the Hamden Board of Education in 2016. As of March 2022, he returned home from a deployment with the National Guard to East Africa.

Morton joins President Chris Herb, Director of Legislative Affairs & Member Services Nickey Kollie, and CEMA’s outside lobbyist PJ Cimini of Capitol Strategies in efforts to promote and protect CEMA members from the state’s electrify-everything efforts. He can be contacted at walter@ctema.com or 203-675-1537. — adapted from June 30 issue of CEMA Pipeline. Photo courtesy of CEMA.