New law protects utility customers’ privacy

Gov. Scott Walker signed into law a new privacy measure for customers of Wisconsin’s municipal utilities, including Waterloo Utilities, on July 5.

The state Assembly and Senate passed the Protecting Municipal Utility Customer Information bill in early May, under the leadership of Rep. Mark Honadel, R-South Milwaukee, and Sen. Paul Farrow, R-Waukesha.

Wisconsin’s municipally owned utilities protect customer information as required by Public Service Commission rules. However, because they are public entities, some have received requests for municipal utility customer information under the state’s open records law. By contrast, customers of investor-owned utilities in the state, which are not subject to the open records law, have clear protection of their information under the PSC rules.

The Protecting Municipal Utility Customer Information legislation resolves the ambiguity between PSC code and open records law and prevents third parties from accessing private information about municipal utilities’ customers.

[pullquote align=”right”]We understand that customers demand and expect that their privacy will be protected,” according to Eugene Weihert, Waterloo superintendent. “Municipal utility leaders from across the state advocated on their customers’ behalf to ensure that consumer data remains confidential.[/pullquote]

“We understand that customers demand and expect that their privacy will be protected,” according to Eugene Weihert, Waterloo superintendent. “Municipal utility leaders from across the state advocated on their customers’ behalf to ensure that consumer data remains confidential.”

Representatives from Municipal Electric Utilities of Wisconsin (MEUW), the trade association that supported the bill, and WPPI Energy attended the bill signing.

Municipal electric utilities serve more than 280,000 homes and businesses in Wisconsin and account for more than 11 percent of electricity used in the state, according to MEUW.