The Public Service Commission of Wisconsin (PSC) is an agency that regulates all public utilities in Wisconsin, even those owned by municipal governments. They do much more than that however, and the PSC allows the public to have important input on utility rates, fossil fuel energy projects, and renewable energy projects.
The PSC is made up of three “commissioners” who make the decisions on cases brought to the PSC. They are appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the State Senate for six year terms that are staggered so that there are usually commissioners appointed by multiple governors at any given time. The commissioners oversee the entire staff of the PSC that includes engineers, attorneys, planners, researchers, and more, whose roles are to advise the commissioners or put together information.
They have a broad jurisdiction over more than 1,100 utilities that includes regulating electricity, water, telephones, and sewage systems. All of these utilities must get approval from the PSC in order to change the rates that they charge customers or to take on any major construction projects.
The PSC is a powerful agency, and they will play a huge role in our energy future. They have the power both to approve fossil fuel infrastructure, like earlier this year when they approved NTEC’s fracked gas plant (don’t worry, we’re still fighting it!), and to approve the development of renewable energy projects like the Badger Hollow Solar Farm they approved last year. They operate the Wisconsin Office of Energy Innovation whose mission is to “promote innovative and effective energy policies and programs.” Under this office is Focus on Energy, which is a renewable energy incentive program that works with Wisconsin residents and businesses to install more efficient energy systems and renewable energy projects. Focus on Energy has many examples of success stories and has “helped more than 2.8 million residents and businesses save more than $730 million in energy costs,” which helps save energy and reduce environmental impacts. Also, Governor Evers just released a report from the Climate Task Force that recommends increasing funding for Focus on Energy. These programs under the PSC can help us move towards a clean energy future in Wisconsin, but the PSC has also approved fossil fuel projects in the past. Part of this is because of changing commissioners, but the public can also play a role and pressure the PSC to make the right decisions.
There are many opportunities for the public to engage in PSC processes, and gathering public input is a crucial piece of the work that the PSC does. All of the documents filed in case proceedings are open to the public and you can access them here. A docket is a set of three pieces of information -- utility ID, case type, and sequence number -- which identify a particular case the PSC works on and can be used to find the collection of documents that are related to that case. If you know the utility ID of a specific docket you are looking for, you can type that in and find it quickly. You can also do an advanced search to look at all Environmental Impact Statements, applications, comments, and testimony on specific cases.
The public can submit public comments here. You can find all of the PSC’s active cases, summaries of each case, and tips on how to create a comment on their website. Even if you don’t see the particular case you’re looking for or want to submit a general comment, you can also file a complaint from that same page. There may even be live hearings found on their events calendar on the more significant cases where you can show up and give testimony. This can seem overwhelming or confusing at times, but this is just a great way for you to voice your opinion!
Written by Beto Spielvogel