Filing a Comment with the Public Service Commission

Wisconsin’s Public Service Commission regulates electric, natural gas, and water utilities. Utilities must have PSC approval before they build or before they change rates [1]. A public comment is how you put your opinion in front of the Commission on a case it is deciding.

It is worth the twenty minutes for one reason. Comments filed during the comment period become part of the official record [3], and the Commissioners can only use evidence on the record as the basis for a decision [1]. No account, no fee, and no lawyer are required to comment.

Docket numbers

A docket number identifies a case. Everything you file has to carry one, and a comment that does not name a docket has no case to go into.

You find the number on the Commission’s public comments page, which lists every case currently taking comment [3]. The dockets that were open when this was written are at the end.

What a comment is allowed to contain

This rule surprises people.

“A comment may consist of the writer’s personal knowledge or personal opinions only. A reference document, newspaper article, professional journal article, white paper, study or any other prepared material not written by the person commenting is not considered a public comment, but may be referenced in a person’s comment.” [4]

So you cannot paste in a study and call it a comment. You can cite the study, name it, and say what you draw from it, in your own words. The comment has to be yours.

Only one comment per person is accepted per comment period [1][5]. Send a complete finished comment, not a first pass you plan to supplement.

Keep the language clean. Profane, obscene, or inappropriate language can get a comment redacted or kept out of the record entirely [3].

Filing online

Go to the Commission’s public comments page, find the case in the list, and click “File a comment” [3]. Every comment filed this way is posted to the PSC’s Electronic Records Filing System, or ERF, which is public [3].

The form asks for four things: your name, your city, your state, and the comment itself [4]. There is no login, no account, and no email address required. A CAPTCHA sits at the bottom [4].

Compose in a text editor and paste. The form strips bold and italic, and it removes the characters < and > when you submit [4]. Write your arguments in plain text to survive losing all formatting.

Before submitting your comment, you check a box affirming two things [4]:

• The comments are true and correct to the best of your knowledge.
• You understand the comment is a public record that will appear on the Commission’s website.

Your name and city go up with it.

Filing by mail

Write to the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin, P.O. Box 7854, Madison, WI 53707 [1].

Put the docket number in the comment itself. A mailed comment without one does not get added to the case record [2].

Those are the only two routes. The Commission accepts comments through ERF and through U.S. mail, and comments sent by email or fax are not accepted [6]. Filings that do not meet the requirements may be rejected outright [6].

Speaking at a hearing

When a docket holds a public hearing, testifying takes the place of writing.

1. Read the Notice of Hearing first. It carries the time and location, the Zoom link for participating virtually, the YouTube link for watching, and links to the case documents and schedule [1].
2. Fill out an appearance slip. Slips are at the PSC staff table near the entrance, available starting 30 minutes before the hearing [1]. Hand it back to staff.
3. Wait to be called. An Administrative Law Judge, or ALJ, runs the hearing. The ALJ calls people in the order slips came in and will not move anyone forward, so if you have to leave early, file electronically or leave a written comment with staff [1]. When people are waiting both in the room and on Zoom, the ALJ alternates between them [1].
4. Testify under oath. You swear or affirm the statement is truthful, state your name, and comment [1]. Bring notes. Speak slowly into the microphone, because the court reporter is building the record from what you say [1]. Expect a two to five minute limit [1].

Attending does not require speaking [1]. You can watch.

What makes a comment count

The Commission publishes four suggestions [1][6].

1. Identify yourself and your relation to the docket. Are you a customer of the affected utility? Do you live in the project area? Do you operate a business the case will affect?
2. Be specific about your concern. Not “environmental effects” but who or what would be harmed, and in what way. Not “financial impact” but how it affects you and what you would have to change.
3. Explain the basis for your opinion and knowledge. Have you consulted similarly situated members of the public, done research, seen a comparable outcome elsewhere, or trained in the subject? Say which.
4. Propose an alternative. If you object to a planned site, propose a modification that reduces the impact. If you object to an effect, propose a way to reduce it.

The fourth does the most work. An objection with no alternative gives the Commissioners nothing they can adopt.

You may cite reference materials and include a list of what you cited [6]. Citing is allowed; attaching is not.

Aim at numbers already on the record: a cost allocation percentage, a retirement date, a demand forecast. Those are checkable, and a comment that disputes one of them with a stated basis is doing work that a comment expressing a general position cannot.

Comments move cases, and there is a record of it. In the We Energies Very Large Customer tariff case, docket 6630-TE-113, Commissioner Marcus Hawkins credited public engagement with a change in the utility’s position on transmission costs:

“I’d also like to acknowledge the attention the issue of transmission costs has gotten from intervenors and the public. Without the large and loud engagement on this topic, I doubt we would have seen the movement we have from the applicant and ATC to evaluate creative solutions to this issue.” [7]

ATC is the American Transmission Company, which owns the high-voltage lines in most of eastern Wisconsin. The Commission’s final decision in that docket is PSC REF# 591873 [8]. That is the shape of a comment that works. It was aimed at one allocation question.

After the deadline

Comments arriving after the deadline are not accepted into the record [1]. Deadlines are enforced to keep cases from slipping. Early is no better: comments filed before the period opens are not accepted either, because a filing outside the official window never becomes part of the docket record [6].

The ALJ reviews the comments and adds them to the record, which holds public comments, expert witness testimony, and the case specifications, and which is the only thing the Commissioners may decide from [1]. Commissioners review it individually, then deliberate at an open meeting in Madison. The public may observe an open meeting but does not comment at it [1]. Commissioners who did not attend a hearing still review every comment in the record, whether it was taken down by the court reporter, filed online, or mailed [1].

Commenting is not intervening

A comment is an opinion in the record. Intervening makes you a party to the case, which lets you present evidence through witnesses, question other parties’ witnesses and PSC staff, and file briefs [2].

The line between them is expert testimony. Expert testimony is scientific, technical, or other specialized knowledge given at the technical hearing by a witness qualified by knowledge, skill, training, experience, or education, and it is subject to cross-examination. Only a party may give it [6]. So if what you have is analysis rather than opinion, a public comment is the wrong instrument.

Anyone whose substantial interests may be affected by the Commission’s decisions, or who will promote the proper disposition of the issues, can request to intervene. You do it by written request to the Commission’s Administrative Law Judge [6].

Organizations that intervene in Wisconsin energy dockets include RENEW Wisconsin, Clean Wisconsin, and the Citizens Utility Board.

Each case also lists a Case Coordinator who answers questions about that docket [3]. The Commission’s general information line is (608) 266-5481, toll free (888) 816-3831 [3].

The dockets open now

Current as of August 2026. Nothing above depends on this section.

5-UR-112, the We Energies rate case. Comments are open July 31 through September 18, 2026 [5]. This is the binding one. It sets what you pay and it decides how much of the cost of new generation the very large customers carry.

Two details about 5-UR-112 that catch people out. The applicants are Wisconsin Electric Power Company and Wisconsin Gas LLC [5], so it covers electric, natural gas, and steam rates together. And there are two public hearings, September 1 at 1:00 p.m. and again at 6:00 p.m. [10]. Comments in this docket are being accepted in lieu of testimony at those hearings, under the Notice of Hearing the Commission issued [5], and only the first comment a person submits in lieu of testifying can be accepted into the record [5]. The Commission’s requirements describe the written comment as submitted in lieu of testifying and do not say a person may do both, so if you intend to speak, ask the Case Coordinator before you file.

The Case Coordinator for 5-UR-112 is Kain Coronado [5].

5-ES-113, Strategic Energy Assessment 2026-2032. Comments are open June 25 through September 28, 2026 [4]. The SEA is the Commission’s biennial assessment of whether Wisconsin’s electricity supply, transmission, reliability, and rates are adequate. It decides nothing directly, and it is the framing document the binding cases get argued against.

The hearing is Thursday, August 20, 2026 at 10:00 a.m. Central [9]. You can attend a noticed physical location, join Zoom at https://us02web.zoom.us/my/pschearings, or dial in by telephone if you have no adequate internet connection. It is also livestreamed on the Commission’s YouTube channel. Watching is not the same as commenting: to comment you attend, not stream. If you would rather write than attend, written comments are due no later than Monday, September 28, 2026 [9].

The Case Coordinator for 5-ES-113 is Eric Stein [3].

References

1. Public Service Commission of Wisconsin, What To Expect at a PSC Public Hearing (last updated July 3, 2025): https://psc.wi.gov/Documents/WhattoExpectataPublicHearing.pdf.
2. Public Service Commission of Wisconsin, “Public Participation”: https://psc.wi.gov/Pages/CommissionActions/PublicParticipation.aspx.
3. Public Service Commission of Wisconsin, Case Management System, “Public Comments”: https://apps.psc.wi.gov/APPS/dockets/publicComment.aspx.
4. Public Service Commission of Wisconsin, file-comment form and docket detail, Docket 5-ES-113: https://apps.psc.wi.gov/ERF/ERF/comment/filecomment.aspx?util=5&case=ES&num=113 and https://apps.psc.wi.gov/APPS/dockets/content/detail.aspx?id=5&case=ES&num=113.
5. Public Service Commission of Wisconsin, file-comment form and docket detail, Docket 5-UR-112: https://apps.psc.wi.gov/ERF/ERF/comment/filecomment.aspx?util=5&case=UR&num=112 and https://apps.psc.wi.gov/APPS/dockets/content/detail.aspx?id=5&case=UR&num=112.
6. Public Service Commission of Wisconsin, Public Testimony & Public Comments in Lieu of Testimony (“Requirements for Public Comments”) and How to Prepare Effective Public Testimony or Public Comment (“Suggestions for creating an effective comment”): https://apps.psc.wi.gov/APPS/dockets/refers/Requirements%20for%20Public%20Comments.pdf and https://apps.psc.wi.gov/APPS/dockets/refers/Suggestions%20for%20creating%20an%20effective%20comment.pdf.
7. Public Service Commission of Wisconsin, press release, April 24, 2026 (Docket 6630-TE-113, Very Large Customer and Bespoke Resources Tariffs): https://psc.wi.gov/Documents/PressReleases/04.24.2026PressRelease.PDF.
8. Public Service Commission of Wisconsin, Docket 6630-TE-113, Final Decision, signed and served May 21, 2026, PSC REF# 591873: https://apps.psc.wi.gov/ERF/ERFview/viewdoc.aspx?docid=591873.
9. Public Service Commission of Wisconsin, Docket 5-ES-113, Notice of Hearing, PSC REF# 596316, served June 30, 2026.
10. Public Service Commission of Wisconsin, Commission Calendar, “Additional Calendar Items, Meetings and Hearings”: https://psc.wi.gov/Pages/CommissionActions/CommissionCalendar.aspx. Read August 19, 2026. Source of the two 5-UR-112 public hearing sessions on September 1, 2026 at 1:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m., the September 15 party session, and the August 20 hearing in 5-ES-113.