Second Recusal Motion

CHAIR OF PSC MUST STEP DOWN BECAUSE SHE IS BIASED IN FAVOR OF THE ARROWHEAD-WESTON TRANSMISSION LINE

From: Save Our Unique Lands (SOUL)
Date: July 6, 2001

CONTACT: Tom Kreager (President of SOUL) 715-693-3143
Ed Garvey or Pam McGillivray (Attorneys for SOUL) 608-256-1003

Re:  Arrowhead Weston Transmission Line

Save Our Unique Lands (SOUL), the grassroots organization opposed to the 250-mile transmission lineproposed for northern Wisconsin, has asked the Public Service Commission to disqualify its Chairperson, Ave Bie, from presiding over the review and deliberation of the proposed power line on
the grounds that Chairperson Bie cannot possibly be impartial in the matter.  Her disqualification is necessary to prevent a violation of due process in the contested case over the proposed power line for the following reasons:
 
On June 24, 2001, the same day that the Wisconsin State Journal and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel printed that the Governor endorsed the Arrowhead-Weston transmission line as a “top priority” of his new energy policy, the Chair accompanied the Governor to a press conference to support the Governor’s energy policy.
 
The Chair has been strongly affiliated with the Republican political agenda under Governor Thompson and now under Governor McCallum.  She provided a partisan speech at the Republican National Convention in 2000 in support of the Republican “national energy policy.”  Thompson chaired that
convention.
 
Chairperson Bie considers herself a member of the cabinet of the sitting Republican Governor.  This is in conflict with her role as the Chair of the independent regulatory agency, the PSC.  The Chair has acted as a public advocate for the Governor’s endorsement of the proposed line and as an
advocate for the utilities in support of this line.  Her actions constitute per se violations of due process.

The proposed transmission line matter is now pending before the PSC; it is up to the PSC to make a decision based only on the facts and arguments presented in the record.  Governor McCallum’s statement that the Arrowhead-Weston line is “needed” is based on political considerations, not the evidentiary record.  The Chair’s support of the Governor demonstrates that she has prejudged the matter based on matters outside the evidentiary record in violation of her role as an impartial decision-maker.

The decision in this case significantly affects individual private property rights, the community’s interests in ensuring low-cost, reliable power to Wisconsin’s ratepayers, and to the broader public interest of the whole state.  Such a far-reaching decision must be made with full public confidence in the decision-maker.  The Chair’s actions have marred public confidence in the PSC’s ability to come to a fair and impartial decision.

Just as it would be impermissible for a circuit court judge to appear at a press conference with the Governor after he has endorsed one party to a case pending before the judge, it is a violation of due process for the Chair to do so in this matter.

CALL 256-1003 FOR A COPY OF THE MOTION AND BRIEF FILED TODAY BY SOUL.

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