Senate looks to take down Anderson as PUC Commissioner
The Minnesota Senate is expected to reject Gov. Dayton's appointment of Ellen Anderson to chair the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission. Deputy Senate Majority Leader Julianne Ortman said today the senate will vote on Anderson's confirmation Monday. If the senate rejects her, Anderson is effectively fired from the job. Ortman said Anderson's policies are unfriendly to businesses and ratepayers and are not in line with the views of most Minnesotans.
"She's got a tough record for job providers, job creators, the ratepayers," Ortman said. "Her work has created some controversy. It makes it very difficult to confirm a commissioner who is as controversial as she has been."
Anderson is a former DFL senator from St. Paul who sponsored the state's renewable energy standard. Gov. Dayton said Anderson has been a good chair and done has nothing wrong.
DFL Governor Mark Dayton says Ellen Anderson has been a good chair of the Public Utilities Commission, and he's not happy that Senate Republicans appear ready to fire her.
"People of Minnesota want better than this," Dayton said. "The people of Minnesota -- they want us to work together. They want us to reconcile our differences. They want us to compromise as we'll have to because we're coming from different perspectives. And they want us to get about jobs and other things. They don't want us to be involved in petty revenge for something that happened four years ago."
Anderson would be the first of Gov. Dayton's appointments that would be rejected by the Senate.
Democrats in control of the Minnesota Senate rejected two of former Gov. Tim Pawlenty's commissioners. The Senate rejected Cheri Yecke as Education Commissioner in 2004 and former Lt. Gov. Carol Molnau as Transportation Commissioner in 2008.
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