Hanson elected chair of South Dakota Public Utilities Commission
Commissioner Gary Hanson was recently elected chairman of the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission (PUC).
Commissioner Chris Nelson was elected vice chairman. The third member of the panel is Commissioner Kristie Fiegen.
This will be Hanson’s sixth time serving as the commission’s chair. He previously held the position in 2014, 2013, 2011, 2008 and 2005.
“I enjoy serving the public in this role very much. It’s extremely interesting and rewarding,” Hanson said. “I am very, very proud of the work my fellow commissioners and I have done in the last year. I appreciate their confidence in me,” he stated.
Hanson is currently serving his third, six-year term on the commission. He was first elected to the PUC in 2002 and was re-elected in 2008 and 2014. He also serves on the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners’ Committee on Electricity and is vice president of the Mid-America Regulatory Conference.
Gov. Dennis Daugaard appointed Nelson to the PUC in 2011, and voters elected him to continue his service for the remaining four years of his term in 2012 and elected him to a full, six-year term in 2016. Nelson served as the PUC’s chairman in 2012, 2015 and 2016. He currently serves on the board of directors for the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners and the National Regulatory Research Institute and was appointed to the Federal-State Joint Board on Universal Service by the Federal Communications Commission.
“I’m looking forward to continuing to serve South Dakotans alongside Commissioners Hanson and Fiegen,” Nelson said. “I’m excited about the opportunity for us to do good work for the people of our state.”
Fiegen was also appointed to the commission in 2011 by Gov. Daugaard. She was elected to her first full term in 2012 and was re-elected in 2018. Fiegen was commission chair in 2017 and 2018 and currently serves as secretary and treasurer of the Southwest Power Pool’s Regional State Committee and serves on several committees relating to natural gas and public safety.
Fiegen commented on Hansen’s contributions to the commission. “Not only does he bring a wealth of knowledge and wisdom to the commission, but he has earned the respect of South Dakotans by being re-elected over and over,” Fiegen said. “It is a delight to work with this team.”
