Gary Hanson Elected Chairman of SD PUC

by KDLT News
January 16, 2013 2:16 PM


Commissioner Gary Hanson has once again been elected as the chairman of the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission. This is Hanson’s fourth time in the chair’s seat, having previously served in the post in 2011, 2008 and 2005. Commissioner Chris Nelson was elected as vice chairman.

The vote was held among the panel’s three commissioners – Hanson, Nelson and Commissioner Kristie Fiegen – at a regular meeting of the commission on Jan. 15, 2013, in Pierre, S.D.

Hanson is serving his second six-year term on the commission. He was first elected in 2002 and re-elected in 2008. Hanson is a member of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners’ Committee on Electricity and the Advisory Council for New Mexico State University’s Center for Public Utilities and has held various leadership positions with other utility organizations during his tenure. Prior to joining the commission he was the mayor of Sioux Falls from 1994 to 2002 and a South Dakota state senator for three terms.