FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Thursday, Jan. 9, 2014
CONTACT: Leah Mohr, deputy executive director, South Dakota Public Utilities Commission, (605) 773-3201 or (605) 280-4327

PUC commissioners pick Hanson as leader

PIERRE, S.D. - South Dakota Public Utilities Commissioner Gary Hanson will preside as chairman of the PUC in 2014. Commissioner Chris Nelson will serve as vice chairman. Both commissioners were elected to the posts at a Jan. 7 PUC meeting and will continue in the leadership roles they held in 2013. Kristie Fiegen is the third member of the commission.

This is Hanson's fifth time as chairman since first being elected to the commission in 2002. He is currently serving his second term as a statewide PUC commissioner.

Nelson focused on Hanson's past in nominating his fellow commissioner. "I appreciate Commissioner Hanson's experience and his demeanor," Nelson said. "He's done a fine job over the last year as commission chairman."

Hanson is a member of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners' Committee on Electricity and the Advisory Council for New Mexico State University's Center for Public Utilities and has held various leadership positions with other utility organizations during his tenure. Prior to joining the commission he was the mayor of Sioux Falls from 1994 to 2002 and a South Dakota state senator for three terms.

"I thank Commissioners Nelson and Fiegen for their assurances of my leadership as chairman," Hanson stated. "I am truly honored by their confidence and am eager to embark on another fascinating and challenging year in the utility arena."

Nelson was elected to the commission in November 2012, after serving nearly two years of an appointment to fill a vacancy on the PUC. He was the commission's chairman in 2012 and vice chairman in 2011 and 2013. Nelson is the chairman of NARUC's Committee on Telecommunications and is a member of NARUC's Task Force on Federalism and Telecommunications. He was the South Dakota Secretary of State from 2002 to 2010.

Fiegen supported the choices of Hanson and Nelson as chairman and vice chairman. "Gary and Chris are talented leaders and fair-minded utility commissioners," she stated.

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