Husband’s health scare gives Kristie Fiegen’s PUC campaign a new perspective

(South Dakota News Watch) – It’s safe to say that the past year has been one of the most challenging of Kristie Fiegen’s career.

The chairwoman of the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission has weighed in on energy policy as concerns grow about electricity transmission reliability and constraints on the national grid.

Fiegen has also taken information and public comments on carbon pipelines, while Summit Carbon Solutions is seeking regulatory approval to move its project through eastern South Dakota in the interest of ethanol development.

At the same time, the 62-year-old Republican has campaigned for another term on the three-member PUC, which regulates electricity, natural gas and telephone utilities and issues permits for energy projects and pipelines.

During a campaign swing in the Black Hills on September 27, Fiegen and her family faced their biggest challenge yet. She was at her brother’s cabin near Hermosa, about 20 miles south of Rapid City, when her husband, Tim, became unwell as they prepared for a political event.

“I was just about to go to a banquet,” Fiegen told News Watch. “Tim was getting ready at the same time and said to me, ‘I’m going to sit on the bed, I’m not feeling well.’ At that point I knew something was wrong because it was time for it to get going and he is my campaign driver. He loves going to these events.”

Knowing that Tim had survived a heart attack in 2017 and had a stent in one of his arteries, she didn’t take any chances.

“I decided to call 911 while he was still conscious,” she said. “I said my husband was having a heart attack and the dispatcher asked, ‘Is he conscious?’ I went back and looked again, but he wasn’t there. He suffered a cardiac arrest. His heart stopped and he stopped breathing and I started CPR.”

Almost tragedy in the election campaign

What happened next was a whirlwind of emergency response, fortuitous timing, and copious prayers. A fire crew was stationed half a mile from the cabin and arrived within four minutes to provide CPR and use a defibrillator.

Fiegen called her sons Alex and Jackson, who quickly began the 350-mile drive from southeast South Dakota to the Black Hills with their wives.

“They told me later that they were going to Rapid City to support their mother,” Fiegen said. “After hearing my voice on the phone, they didn’t think they would ever see their father.”

Emergency responders arrived from Keystone and worked to revive Tim in a small bedroom in the cabin, shocking his heart five times. Kristie paced outside the room for more than an hour, calling friends and family to prayer, not knowing whether her husband was dead or alive.

As they got Tim breathing and sent him by helicopter to Monument Health Rapid City Hospital, good news came. There were no new blockages, just scar tissue from his previous stent. His brain activity was normal after a period without oxygen and he showed signs of his typical sense of humor.

Once, after waking up in the hospital, he elicited a smile from his wife by asking, “What kind of place is this?” Where are my underwear?”

Tim, a retired associate professor of education at Dakota State University in Madison, is recovering at home in Sioux Falls, surrounded by family and encouraged by messages of support from across the state.

The priority is to “keep the lights on”

While her husband is on the mend, Kristie Fiegen’s PUC campaign, which began 20 months ago and spanned more than 50,000 miles nationwide, will look different over time as volunteers and family members do some of the legwork complete.

She plans to monitor his recovery as she runs against Libertarian Party candidate Gideon Oakes and Democrat Forrest Wilson.

Fiegen, a Chancellor native who served in the South Dakota House of Representatives from 1994 to 2001, was appointed to the PUC by former Gov. Dennis Daugaard in 2011 and was elected to new terms in 2012 and 2018.

She holds leadership positions in the Southwest Power Pool, a nonprofit organization that manages electric transmission for portions of 14 states, including South Dakota.

Collaboration between regional transmission organizations was critical during Winter Storm Gerri, which brought brutally cold air and snowstorms to much of the Midwest in January.

“During this storm we got 7,000 megawatts (of power) from the east to keep the lights on,” Fiegen told News Watch. “If we didn’t get that, we would have had the lights out the first week of the (legislative) session in January.”

Similar problems occurred during a 2021 winter storm that rocked Texas and knocked out power.

“Since these events, we have spent a lot of time on the adequacy of resources,” said Fiegen, who serves on the PUC along with fellow Republicans Chris Nelson and Gary Hanson. “We believe in clean energy, but our ultimate goal as commissioners in South Dakota is to provide reliable, affordable electricity to our customers.”

A pipeline issue continues to hover over PUC

The pipeline issue also contributed to Fiegen’s busy schedule.

Summit Carbon Solutions is pushing for a $5.5 billion, 2,500-mile pipeline that will transport liquefied carbon dioxide gas from more than 50 ethanol plants in Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota and store it deep underground in North Dakota should.

The South Dakota PUC voted 3-0 to reject Summit Carbon’s application in 2023, based on an attorney’s assessment that the project could not proceed without overriding county setbacks, violating state law in the process violated.

Fiegen withdrew from this application process because the pipeline would cross part of her family’s property. She was replaced by State Treasurer Josh Haeder.

Asked by News Watch if she would decline again if she is re-elected and the matter comes up, Fiegen said she would review the request, “and we would make a legal decision based on that information.”

Oakes calls for “fresh perspective”

Oakes, the Libertarian candidate, is a small business owner in Keystone who was twice elected to that Black Hills community’s city council.

He doesn’t see Fiegen’s experience or that of her PUC colleagues as an impenetrable force in this election, adding that new voices could add value to regulatory decisions.

“I believe elected office should be a calling, not a career,” Oakes said. “Yes, experience is a valuable asset for every decision maker. But given the three incumbent commissioners’ combined tenure of nearly half a century, I believe it is time to give the space a fresh perspective.”

The 39-year-old said he believes South Dakota can develop alternative energy sources such as solar, wind, hydro and nuclear power while maintaining energy reliability.

“To keep up with increasing energy demands, we need to figuratively add as many arrows to our quiver as possible,” Oakes said. “If elected, I will work wherever I can to remove barriers to new energy technologies, including those in nuclear energy, where amazing breakthroughs are being made. By breaking down barriers, we can enable market demand and innovation to drive energy production.”

Fiegen pointed to a state law that limited her ability to testify by declining to directly address Referral Bill 21, which was passed in 2024 as part of a legislative package called the Landowner Bill of Rights to address potential carbon pipeline negotiations.

But Oakes said he would vote to repeal the law.

“Because I believe the best government is the one closest to the people, I will vote to keep responsibility for the carbon pipeline location with the local elected officials who live, work, shop with the people and celebrate services that directly affect their decisions,” he said.

The Democrats are running for Wilson for the PUC

The Democratic candidate for PUC is Wilson, club director of the Boys and Girls Club of Lead-Deadwood. He attended Northwest College in Wyoming and received his Associate of Arts degree from Chadron State College in Nebraska.

Wilson lists his policy priorities as protecting the rights of landowners, improving coverage for grain sellers and securing statewide emergency services.

“South Dakotans deserve a public utilities commissioner who will stand up for everyday utility ratepayers,” he said in a statement. “Right now we don’t have that.”

Neither Oakes nor Wilson attended a Vote South Dakota forum held Sept. 19 at Dakota Wesleyan University and televised by South Dakota Public Broadcasting. Fiegen took the stage alone to answer questions from students and journalists.

After a family health crisis changed the pace of her campaign, Fiegen said she remains confident about her professional performance. Should she actually win on election night, the events of the past year would make the moment even more meaningful, she said.

“I love this state and the people in it and I love working hard for them,” she said. “The emotional part will be that at the end of the day they were there for me and our family through prayers and support.”

This story was produced by South Dakota News Watch, an independent, nonprofit news organization. Read more in-depth stories at sdnewswatch.org and sign up for an email every few days to receive stories as they are published. Contact investigative reporter Stu Whitney at [email protected] .

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