(The Center Square) – What Gov. Tony Evers calls political harassment, one Republican state senator calls nothing more than following the law.
The Wisconsin Senate voted to reject Public Service Commission member Tyler Huebner.
He’s an Evers appointee who was first appointed in 2020, then appointed again in 2021.
Sen. Van Wanggaard, R-Racine, said Huebner never saw eye to eye with the Republicans who control the state legislature.
“I have met with Commissioner Huebner for several hours on several different occasions. Although he appears to be a nice man, his answers to questions were completely lacking in substance. At times he was evasive, and at times he outright lied,” Wanggaard said.
Wanggaard is the vice-chair of the Senate’s Committee on Utilities and Technology.
More specifically, Wangaard accused Huebner of breaking the law.
“He illegally authorized utility rates based on income, instead of usage, as required by law. He authorized a third-party solar arrangement in Stevens Point, despite a bill authorizing third-party solar arrangements being introduced and failing in the Legislature six or eight years in a row,” Wanggaard said. “Despite promising to recuse himself from decisions on which he had lobbied, he has not. He required utility companies provide diversity, equity and inclusion information to the Public Service Commission without any authority to do so.”
Evers said the move to reject Huebner is another example of Republican politics.
“Republicans’ ongoing efforts to harass, disparage, and fire dedicated public servants is a serious threat to the basic functions of our government and democracy in our state,” Evers said in a statement.
Huebner didn’t back away from Wanggaard’s accusation in his statement.
“I am proud of the work I put in and the decisions I made to balance safety, reliability and affordability in the delivery of utility services, get people connected to high-speed internet, remove lead service lines and ensure clean drinking water, and so much more,” Huebner said.
While the Republican-led Senate rejected Huebner, senators approved the appointment of new PSC commissioner Summer Strand.
“I believe Summer Strand and Tyler Huebner have two fundamentally different philosophies when it comes to their roles as Public Service Commissioners,” Wanggaard said. “Commissioner Strand has promised to follow the law. I spoke to her about these issues and more. Her answers were direct. She was straightforward. She criticized previous decisions and her reasoning for doing so. She is a Democrat, and I don’t expect to agree with all, or any, of her decisions. But I am confident she will follow the law. Unlike Commissioner Huebner who has demonstrated he would not follow the law.”
