APR 9, 2013 PROGRAM: Our Energy Future: The Role of the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission

Posted by Sherry Howe 
on Apr 09, 2013
 
The Public Utilities Commission (PUC) must assure that all Minnesotans have safe, adequate reliable energy at fair, reasonable rates.  Focusing on electric service, Chair Heydinger will describe some of the challenges presented by incorporating conservation, energy efficiency and renewable energy into future planning, the development and operation of the regional transmission system, protecting the electric system from cyber attack, and the impact of change on customers’ rates.
 

Beverly Jones Heydinger was appointed Chair of the Public Utilities Commission by Governor Mark Dayton, effective July 2, 2012.  Commissioner Heydinger was an Administrative Law Judge, serving from 1999 until she was named to the Commission.  As an ALJ, she conducted mediations, rulemaking and contested cases for state and local agencies.  Among these were public utilities proceedings concerning certificates of need, routing, rates and telecommunications.

Prior to her appointment as an ALJ, Commissioner Heydinger served in the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office from 1978 to 1999, under Attorneys General Warren Spannaus and Hubert H. Humphrey, III.  From 1991 through 1999, she was Deputy Attorney General of the Public and Human Resources Section, supervising several divisions, overseeing state and federal court litigation, and serving on the Executive Committee.