Public Service Commission urges budget increases as committee reviews House Bill 1008

Public Service Commissioner Randy Christman told the Appropriations - Government Operations Division that the Public Service Commission (PSC) needs additional resources in its 2025–27 biennial budget to sustain regulatory functions across utilities, mining reclamation and abandoned mine lands, pipeline safety and weights-and-measures enforcement. He said the engrossed version of House Bill 1008 covers some costs but does not fully fund every PSC request.

Christman, who presented the PSC’s budget request, said the agency regulates a broad portfolio including utility rate cases, siting of transmission and pipeline projects, coal mining reclamation and abandoned mine-land remediation, interstate and intrastate pipeline safety, enforcement of the one-call law, commercial scales and other measuring devices, and railroad safety. “These are literally saving lives,” Christman said when describing abandoned-mine remediation work addressing sinkholes and high-wall hazards.

The budget request and committee discussion matter because the PSC oversees infrastructure and safety programs with statewide effects—energy reliability, consumer rates, mine reclamation and rail and pipeline safety—and because HB1008 would determine which of the commission’s base and one-time needs receive legislative funding.

Christman summarized program activity and costs the PSC reported to the committee: during the current biennium the commission has permitted nearly 340 miles of pipelines, nearly 70 miles of electric transmission lines and more than 460 megawatts of wind generation (he described that renewable development as representing about $5 billion in statewide investment). The commission cited roughly 37,000 acres permitted for mining with more than 6,000 acres added this biennium and said six active surface coal mines operate in the state. PSC data in the hearing record show nearly 19,000 acres have received final bond release historically for reclaimed mine lands.

On abandoned mine lands (AML), Christman said the PSC completed eight projects and filled 183 dangerous sinkholes in the past two years at a reported cost of $137,000, and that the federal Office of Surface Mining, Reclamation and Enforcement has rated the state program positively under the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA). He added that the PSC’s weights-and-measures program oversees more than 20,000 commercial measuring devices and has inspected over 4,600; the compliance division answered 47 complaints and processed 27, collecting about $38,000 in fines deposited to the state general fund. The rail and public-safety teams reported more than 500 inspections and 23 community interventions on rail matters this biennium.

Christman outlined the PSC’s budget composition and specific requests. He told the committee the PSC’s salaries and wages total about $10.9 million—roughly 51.4% of the agency’s budget—and that the AML line is about $6 million and 100% federal-funded. He described a longstanding $900,000 appropriation the legislature keeps available for rail-rate complaint litigation and enforcement.

On the agency’s requests, Christman said the engrossed House Bill 1008 restores funding for previously removed vacant FTEs and covers North Dakota ITD rate increases and the cost-to-continue salary increases, items the PSC had sought. The PSC asked for additional base funding for participation and interventions in federal proceedings (including FERC and other agencies) because those matters can require rapid legal and technical contracting; the commission requested a $380,000 base increase but the engrossed HB1008 provides one-time funding of $250,000, leaving an unmet request of about $130,000.

Christman also described one-time and equipment requests: the PSC had requested $20,000 previously to buy a small drone but instead pursued a larger, Department of Defense–approved drone and LiDAR imaging under a federal grant opportunity tied to the bipartisan infrastructure law. He said the federal notice allocated roughly $300,000 to North Dakota, and the PSC’s share of state funding for the package is small (Christman said about $5,000). The engrossed bill included the federal capital-asset allowance that would let the PSC use the federal grant to purchase a DoD-cleared drone and LiDAR payload.

Remaining unmet requests the PSC emphasized to the committee include a $25,000 base increase for professional development, $40,000 targeted for equity adjustments for hard-to-fill positions, and one full-time large-scale inspector for weights and measures (Christman said the inspector position would cost about $356,000 for salary, benefits and operating). Those three items were not included in the House’s recommendation, Christman said, and the commission continues to press for them.

Committee members questioned the PSC’s concerns about the new central “new and vacant FTE” pool for state budgets. Christman said the agency expects to be staffed for most of the biennium and that a formula-based reduction removed about $113,000 from the PSC budget; he urged a process that would let elected officials recover funding for positions once filled without triggering a public “deficiency appropriation.” OMB staff (identified in the hearing as Brady) explained the pool reduction is an estimate based on salaries and allocated FTEs rather than actual vacancies.

Senators on the committee also asked Christman and Commissioner Sherry Haugenhofer about broader energy questions raised during the hearing—regional transmission organizations, interconnection cost allocation, and nuclear energy studies—and received cautious, exploratory remarks. “I’m a big believer” in nuclear as a generation source but noted concerns about long-term spent-fuel storage, Christman said; Commissioner Sherry Haugenhofer said she strongly supports a legislative nuclear study.

The committee did not record a formal committee vote on the PSC’s requests in the transcript. Christman said he would provide committee staff a schedule of upcoming PSC siting hearings and other planned commitments to help lawmakers plan oversight and hearings.

The Appropriations - Government Operations Division will continue reviewing the PSC’s budget requests as the Legislature moves toward final budget decisions and possible conference committee action on HB1008.