The executive director of the regional organization that represents utility regulators in more than a dozen Midwestern states has been appointed to Wisconsin’s three-member utility regulation commission, Gov. Tony Evers announced Thursday.
Marcus Hawkins’ appointment is effective April 8. He takes over the term previously held by former commissioner Tyler Huebner, who was fired in January by the Republican-controlled state Senate. Hawkins’ term is set to end March 1, 2027.
“I’m so excited to be joining the Commission during such a critical time of rapid change in the utility industry,” Hawkins said in a statement. “Throughout my career, I’ve had the opportunity to work alongside many dedicated and inspiring utility commissioners from Wisconsin and around the country. I’m very humbled to be stepping into this role myself and hope to follow the excellent examples that have been set before me.”
Hawkins has spent the last five years as executive director of the Organization of MISO States, OMS, which represents regulators in the 15 states and the Canadian province of Manitoba within MISO, an independent nonprofit organization established in 2001 to operate electricity markets and oversee regional planning.
Before joining OMS in 2016, Hawkins spent time as a senior engineer at the PSC, program manager and engineer with Wisconsin Energy Conservation Corp. and as an energy capital markets analyst with PA Consulting Group in Denver, Colorado.
Hawkins’ experience with utilities and previous work within Wisconsin “have well prepared him to take on the role of commissioner,” Evers said in a statement.
“We have important work ahead of us at the PSC, from expanding access to high-speed internet to building 21st-century clean energy infrastructure across our state, and I’m glad to have Marcus’ expertise back at the PSC and know that he will serve the people of Wisconsin well,” Evers continued.
Hawkins received a bachelor’s degree in nuclear engineering and a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from UW-Madison. He also holds certificates in technical communication and energy analysis and policy.
Hawkins’ appointment to the utility regulation commission comes after Republicans in the state Senate voted to fire Huebner, who joined the agency in 2021.
Hawkins will join commission chairperson Summer Strand, who joined the agency last March, and commissioner Kristy Nieto. Strand was named chair of the agency in January following the resignation of Rebecca Cameron Valcq. Nieto was appointed in January to fill the seat left vacant by Valcq’s departure.
The state Senate, which wrapped up the most recent legislative session earlier this week, will have final say on Hawkins’ appointment. Senate Republicans have fired 21 of Evers’ appointees since 2019, including picks to the Department of Natural Resources policy board, Wisconsin Elections Commission, UW Hospital Board and the PSC.
Today in history: March 14
1794: Eli Whitney
1879: Albert Einstein
1951: Korean War
1962: Edward M. Kennedy
1964: Jack Ruby
1967: President John F. Kennedy
1990: Mikhail S. Gorbachev
2011: Neil Diamond
2012: British Prime Minister David Cameron
2015: Robert Durst
2017: Mitch Seavey
2017: Robert Neller
2018: Stephen Hawking
2021: Brian Sicknick
2021: Drew Brees
Republicans in the state Senate have fired 21 of Gov. Tony Evers' appointees since 2019.