Commissioner Johnson| previous page
Dustin “Dusty” Johnson was elected to the Public Utilities Commission in November 2004, becoming the youngest utilities commissioner in the nation. Since joining the commission, he has played a role in developing renewable energy resources, expanding broadband and wireless phone capabilities, keeping utility rates low and protecting consumers.
Dusty currently serves on the board of directors and the electricity committee of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners and on the Western Interconnection Regional Advisory Board. Prior to joining the PUC, Dusty served South Dakota Governor Mike Rounds as the senior policy advisor for economic development, energy, corrections and transportation issues. He has also worked for local governments in the Kansas City area and as a Truman Fellow for the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Washington, D.C.
Dusty has a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of South Dakota, a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Kansas, and in 1998 was named a Harry S. Truman Scholar. He is on the board of directors for the W.O. Farber Fund and for Abbott House (a residential treatment center for girls), and served on the Attorney General’s Open Government Task Force and as an adjunct professor at Dakota Wesleyan University.
He has a passion for economic development, public service, reading and sports, but nothing is more important to Dusty than his family. He, his wife Jacquelyn, and their sons Max and Benjamin make their home in Mitchell.
May 2008
