WisBusiness: Garvin says state no longer in energy crisis mode

Robert “Bert” Garvin, who recently left the Public Service Commission, says the state is in better energy shape than it was six years ago.

In a new WisBusiness.com interview, Garvin, now with the Foley & Lardner law firm in Madison, says the state still faces challenges in having enough power plants and transmission lines but concludes: “We are no longer in a crisis mode.”

Garvin, while one of three PSC commissioners, was the primary author of many of the PSC’s major orders and regulatory decisions that have resulted in the construction of over $4 billion of new transmission and generation facilities in Wisconsin.

Garvin called his time on the PSC productive and said he was supportive of reforms by the Legislature that have streamlined the process of siting power plants and transmission lines. As a result, he said, the state is in the midst of a “building boom or at least a major building cycle” by the state’s utilities.

“We were in crisis,” recalled Garvin, who acknowledged that many of the decisions he and fellow commissioners made were controversial.

One of the most controversial was the PSC decision to sell the Kewaunee nuclear power plant, a transaction that has drawn the interest of law enforcement because of donations to Dem Gov. Jim Doyle’s re-election campaign. Asked if he thought the sale of the Kewaunee nuclear power plant was handled properly, Garvin, a Republican appointee, said: “There is nothing at all that I am aware of that was unusual about our review of that application or any other application while was on the commission. … I was involved in the regulatory review of that sale. I supported it both times. I dissented the first time and approved it the second time after changes were made to their application.”

Garvin’s PSC tenure was interrupted by a 16-month absence that included a year in Iraq as an Army staff judge advocate. He stepped down from the PSC in February and recently joined the Foley & Lardner law firm, where he will focus on energy regulation.

WisBusiness editor Brian Clark recently interviewed Garvin at his new offices, where he has worked for less than a month.

Listen to excerpts from the interview: