Wisconsin’s GOP-controlled Senate voted Jan. 16 to reject Public Service Commissioner Tyler Huebner’s nomination to the commission — nearly four years into his time at the regulatory agency.

Until Tuesday, Huebner had been performing duties unconfirmed. Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers (D) first appointed Huebner in 2020 to fill former Commissioner Mike Huebsch’s unexpired term. Huebner’s first term came and went in 2021 without a confirmation or hearing vote, and Evers re-enlisted Huebner to a new term ending in early 2027. The Senate’s confirmation of Huebner subsequently was pushed into the 2023-2024 legislative session.

The 21-11 vote mostly along party lines to fire Huebner appeared to hinge on Republican senators’ unease with Huebner’s support for determining rates on customers’ ability to pay and cutting carbon emissions. Some said his aims veered from strictly regulatory into policymaking.

During testimony, Sen. Julian Bradley (R) said it was a problem that Huebner used his position to be “an activist” and said state law doesn’t allow the PSC the authority to enact income-based ratemaking.

Last week, the Senate Utilities and Technology Committee voted 3-2 against confirming Huebner after they questioned him in the fall over a 2022 water utility decision that established a subsidy pilot program for low-income customers and the PSC’s Strategic Energy Assessment Plan, which modeled an 80% reduction of CO2 emissions in the state’s energy production by 2039.

Sen. Jeff Smith (D) said the vote to remove Huebner is “such a head-scratcher at a time when Wisconsin is experiencing an unprecedented expansion of renewable energy.” He said Huebner brought valuable experience to the table.

“It is shortsighted [and] leaves us less prepared for the challenges ahead,” Smith said.

Huebner is a former executive director of RENEW Wisconsin, a nonprofit dedicated to accelerating the clean energy future.

The vote throws the three-person Wisconsin PSC into upheaval. Last week, Chairperson Rebecca Cameron Valcq announced her departure from the commission effective Feb. 2 after five years. At the time, Valcq said it was the “right time for me to pass the baton as I leave the agency in very capable hands.” She said the PSC had become “more transparent and accessible” during her tenure.

The exits leave freshly confirmed Commissioner Summer Strand as the sole Wisconsin regulator beginning next month unless Evers is swift with new appointees. The Wisconsin Senate confirmed Strand’s April 2023 appointment 27-5 in the same Jan. 16 session following the vote to oust Huebner. Strand is set to succeed Valcq as chair.

In a statement released by the Wisconsin PSC, Huebner said he was “proud” of the decisions he made as a state regulator and “especially grateful” to be involved with Wisconsin’s energy planning and reliability direction through his involvement with the Organization of MISO States (OMS).

“I am moving forward, and I plan to build on my work at the commission and throughout my career to tackle some of the big challenges of our times in a different capacity,” Huebner said.

The Senate vote disrupts OMS leadership. In 2023, the OMS Board of Directors unanimously elected Huebner to serve as the 2024 OMS president.

Current OMS Vice President and Iowa Utilities Board Commissioner Josh Byrnes is now considered OMS president. According to OMS Bylaws, in the event of a vacancy in the office, the organization’s vice president will succeed the presidency until the next annual election occurs.

OMS Executive Director Marcus Hawkins said the OMS community “will sorely miss Tyler’s expertise and credibility.”

“The high quality of his character, intellect and work ethic were a rare and powerful combination that made every OMS discussion better. His departure is a significant loss for Wisconsin and for the state regulatory community as a whole,” Hawkins said in an emailed statement to RTO Insider.

In a press release, Evers said Huebner’s dismissal continues a trend of legislative Republicans terminating appointees without grounds or leaving them unconfirmed indefinitely. Senate Republicans in October rejected seven of Evers’ appointees to the Wisconsin Natural Resources Board, Wisconsin Elections Commission, Wisconsin Medical Examining Board and the Governor’s Council on Domestic Abuse.

“Commissioner Huebner is an exemplary public servant who’s dedicated to serving the people of Wisconsin and building the sustainable future we want for our state. The decision by Senate Republicans to fire him today defies justification and logic,” Evers said in a Jan. 16 press release. “It’s my job to appoint the best and most qualified people to serve our state — that’s what I have been and will continue doing, regardless of the apparent Republican position that every appointee must agree with them 100% of the time to earn their support.”

Evers said state 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.”