Chapter 183, Laws of 1931, renamed the Railroad Commission as the Public Service Commission. Comprehensive motor carrier regulation was added by Chapter 488, Laws of 1933. Securities regulation was transferred to the Banking Dept. in 1937. The Reorganization Act of 1967 continued the commission as an independent regulatory agency. Chapter 29, Laws of 1977, transferred transportation regulation to the Transportation Commission. The commission is responsible for the regulation of the public utilities as defined in Section 196.01, Wis. Stat., including those municipally owned and operated. The commission must review and evaluate the advance plans for proposed facilities filed biennially by all electric utilities (including cooperatives), and conduct research and sponsor demonstration projects relating to the forecasting of demand, pricing structure and power operation and supply. The commission reviews environmental impact statements and conducts studies of long-range energy requirements and supply. The Commission also has responsibility in the areas of telecommunications and natural gas and electric power with respect to emergency resource management.
The records in this series are closely related to those created by the Transportation Division of the Public Service Commission. The Transportation Division was formed in 1931. The division ceased operation from 1940 to 1954, and most of its functions were carried out by the Public Service Commission's Legal and Administration Division. In 1977, the division's functions were absorbed by the Office of the Commissioner of Transportation. In 1993, the Office of the
Commissioner of Transportation was abolished, and its functions divided between the Department of Administration, the Department of Transportation, the Public Service Commission, and the newly re-created Office of the Commissioner of Railroads (1993 Wis. Act 16, and 1993 Wis. Act 123). The Office of the Commissioner of Railroads is “attached” to the PSC, and receives some administrative support from that agency.
The primary function of the Transportation Division was to regulate rates and service of public transportation, including railroads, streetcars and motor carriers (buses, freight haulers, etc.). Before 1940, the division handled some engineering functions. After 1954, the division absorbed the functions of the Motor Carrier, Tariffs, and Statistics and Accounts sections of the PSC. The Motor Carrier section handled complaints and served as liaison between PSC departments; the Tariffs section investigated tariff rates and fares, maintained a rate file, and represented the state in ICC proceedings; the Statistics section audited and analyzed financial information of railroads and motor carriers, collected and maintained statistics, and prepared economic data.
