North Dakotans will lose a dedicated and competent elected official when Susan Wefald leaves the Public Service Commission. She said last month that she won't seek re-election.
Wefald's insistence on balance between the interests of regulated business and the people of her state has been a hallmark of her service. It sometimes got her into political trouble because regulated businesses and industry often were aligned with her political party, the Republicans. She has, however, been quite successful at staking out her independence and acting as a regulator who would not be influenced by political pressure.
In that regard, she's sometimes been a lone voice on the PSC. Her Republican colleagues on the commission, Tony Clark and Kevin Cramer, probably don't see it that way. But Clark and Cramer, both good commissioners, bring a slightly different philosophy to the PSC, which influences their attitudes about the conflict between regulated businesses and the public's priorities. There's nothing sinister in their approach to regulation. But Wefald's service reveals less hesitancy to challenge industry, ask uncomfortable questions and often put customers of regulated businesses first.
Recently Wefald sent an op-ed to North Dakota newspapers that surely had to raise eyebrows in the state's coal and energy sectors, industries that have worked for years to cultivate profitable relationships with Republican leaders. The op-ed was in keeping with the commissioner's reluctance to rubber-stamp a big project simply because it's supported by powerful special interests - both business and political, which in the energy sector can be the same.
Wefald's commentary (The Forum, Jan. 6) urged North Dakotans to pay attention to a coal gasification project near South Heart, N.D., 15 miles east of Theodore Roosevelt National Park. In addition to the plant, the project would require an adjacent lignite mine.
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She emphasized that the plant will affect more than South Heart. "It potentially affects all residents of this state and the whole nation," she wrote, "because of its location near (the park)." She urged North Dakotans to study the project and comment.
Reading between the lines is always risky, but it's not unreasonable to conclude that the commissioner herself has serious concerns about the gasification plant/lignite mine location and its environmental impacts. She pointedly noted that other locations had been considered and rejected by the developers. The South Heart site has the backing of the Lignite Research Council and the state Industrial Commission.
But, as yet, not the PSC. The commission has siting and permit jurisdiction over the mine and the plant. Wefald's cautionary commentary is a not-so-subtle red flag that the project might be in the wrong place. She's not running for
re-election, so her sensible voice will not be muted by political pressure, not that it ever was.
And when she leaves the PSC after 16 years of admirable service, that voice for regulatory balance will be missed.
Forum editorials represent the opinion of Forum management and the newspaper's Editorial Board.
PSC to lose dedicated regulator 20080120
