One of my priorities as a public utilities commissioner has been to close the broadband gap in South Dakota. It’s commonly called the rural/rural divide. Citizens in portions of our state enjoy world class broadband while their neighbors living on the other side of a gravel road may have no internet access of any kind. […]
As a public utilities commissioner I am a member of a national association of my counterparts from around the country called the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners or NARUC. In 2013 our national president appointed me chairman of the association’s Committee on Telecommunications. The chairmanship involves the typical responsibilities of organizing biweekly conference calls […]
One doesn’t have to travel very far in rural South Dakota during the month of July to find the countryside abuzz with combines, grain carts, and trucks bringing in the wheat harvest. In fact South Dakota ranks sixth for wheat production in the United States. What does the wheat harvest have to do with the […]
Just months after I became a PUC commissioner while attending an event in Custer, a man approached me with a problem. He explained that his business relied primarily on phone contacts coming from outside South Dakota and that many of these telephone calls from existing and prospective customers weren’t ringing through to his office. He […]
The term “stray voltage” has a variety of definitions, some loosely fitting and others technical in nature. Under state law stray voltage is voltage or current between two cow contact points such as the ground and a water tank or feed bunk. Stray voltage can become an inhibitor to dairy production and in some instances […]
There are three types of electric service providers in South Dakota: investor own utilities (IOUs), municipal electrics, and rural electric cooperatives. The PUC has significant regulatory authority relating to IOUs. PUC authority for municipals and rural cooperatives is limited to service quality and territory boundary issues. In municipalities the governing body or an appointed utility […]
February through May is the “Lincoln Day Dinner” circuit for Republican candidates in South Dakota. These dinners are sponsored by county Republican Party organizations across the state as a fundraiser for the county parties, as a chance for voters to meet and hear directly from the candidates, to build support for the party, and of […]
There are three types of electric service providers in South Dakota: investor own utilities (IOUs), municipal electrics, and rural electric cooperatives. The PUC has significant regulatory authority relating to IOUs. PUC authority for municipals and rural cooperatives is limited to service quality and territory boundary issues. In municipalities the governing body or an appointed utility […]
There are many reasons Republican candidates are successful at the ballot box in South Dakota. One of those reasons are the many dedicated ladies who have come together to form Republican women’s groups across the state. From my first statewide race in 2002 through today I am continually amazed at the level of support generated […]
Chris Nelson announced today that he will be a candidate for reelection to the Public Utilities Commission in 2016. Chris made the announcement to a crowd gathered for the Hughes County Lincoln Day Dinner in Pierre. Nelson said, “The complexities of the utility business demand commissioners who are dedicated to advocating for consumers, are able […]
