In an election where Governor Walker's central theme was that a vote for Mary Burke would be a vote for higher fees and taxes, literally the first action taken by his appointees following the election was to approve a plan that allows Wisconsin's electric utilities to nearly double the service fees they charge their customers.
By a 2-1 vote, only two days after the election, the Wisconsin Public Service Commission began a series of approvals that are letting every one of Wisconsin's electric and natural gas companies nearly double the service fees they charge their customers. Humorously, it was the two Walker appointees that supported the massive fee hikes and the only vote in opposition has been a commissioner appointed by former Democratic Governor, Jim Doyle.
You see, Wisconsin utitility companies-- AKA legalized monopolies-- need the increased fees to augment their already sky-high profit margins. Wisconsin Energy, for example, raked in 752 million in profits this past year-- up from 685 million the previous year. Walker's PSC thought a 67 million profit increase just wasn't quite enough.
And keep in mind that of the 12 states in the U.S. Energy Information Administration's North Central region, Wisconsin already has the second highest electricity rates. For example, while Wisconsin customers pays an average of 14.26¢/KWH, while neighbor Minnesota pays 12.85¢ and Illinois pays a mere 11.95¢.
Should we really be all that surprised? After all, this is the same Governor Walker who promised, prior to the 2010 election, that he would keep state aid to public schools "intact" and that he would negotiate with unions representing public workers. After that election, the first thing he did was to kill public sector unions and make the biggest cut to education in state history.
