EAP Alum Mikhaila Calice Recruited to Public Service Commission of Wisconsin (PSC) by Fellow EAP Alum Marcus Hawkins
By: Michael Kamp
Energy Analysis and Policy (EAP) alumna Mikhaila Calice describes herself as an energy nerd. Calice weaved energy throughout her studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison – first during a Master of Public Affairs at the La Follette School (’19) with the EAP certificate and then throughout her PhD studies in the Department of Life Sciences Communication (’23).
In April, she was appointed by Marcus Hawkins, the newest member of the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin (PSC), to serve as his Executive Assistant, advising him on all matters. Commissioner Marcus Hawkins is also an EAP alum (’12). Calice gives the EAP program a lot of credit for its role in her career path, given that she and Commissioner Hawkins first met through EAP.
Before starting graduate school and enrolling in the EAP program, Calice worked for a local Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) company in Richmond, Virginia called James River Air Conditioning. It was this first professional position that sparked her interest in energy. Through the exposure from the LEED Green Associate accreditation and learning about building design and construction and energy efficiency on the job, Calice was impressed by the role the built environment plays in energy use.
Inspired by this work, Calice looked for graduate programs that focused on energy. “I applied originally to the La Follette School of Public Affairs because of the EAP Program, so I was looking for programs that had energy policy as a focus,” Calice said. After visiting UW-Madison and attending one of renowned policy expert Greg Nemet’s classes, Calice was hooked.
During the EAP program, Calice learned the ins and outs of energy policy and analysis through rigorous coursework. While Calice acknowledges the importance of the essential material she learned from experienced professors, she expressed how “the most valuable thing that the EAP has provided me at this point in my career has been the invaluable network of alumni and other supporters of the EAP program.”
Calice met fellow energy nerds at events like the EAP Chicago trip, through the EAP capstone projects, and at energy happy hours around Madison. One of the EAP alumni Calice met was Commissioner Marcus Hawkins. In fact, they met several times as Commissioner Hawkins was, and continues to be, an active member of the EAP alumni community. As she noted, “I can’t pinpoint the exact moment or event where we met each other, but we just kept meeting each other at these events.”
On March 14, 2024, Marcus Hawkins was appointed as the newest PSC commissioner by Governor Tony Evers. Commissioner Hawkins recruited Calice to come work for him as his Executive Assistant, where she serves as his advisor on all matters.
The PSC is the state agency responsible for regulating more than 1,100 public utilities in the state of Wisconsin, including electric, natural gas, and water utilities. The PSC also houses the Office of Energy Innovation and the Wisconsin Broadband Office. The PSC is composed of three commissioners who are first appointed by the governor and then must be confirmed by the state senate. The commissioners serve as the lead decision-makers on a wide range of utility cases, such as customer rates and utility construction projects.
In this new role, Calice supports Commissioner Hawkins with various tasks depending on what is needed. A large part of Calice’s responsibilities involves prepping for weekly open meetings. As Calice described, “every Thursday there’s an open meeting where the commissioners make decisions on a set number of cases. Basically, you get a stack of cases to review and analyze ahead of the open meeting.”
To prepare for the decisions, Calice studies legal documents and is briefed by expert PSC staff. Additionally, due to what are known as ‘ex parte’ rules which prohibit commissioners from communicating about open cases with involved stakeholders, Calice is responsible for meeting with these stakeholders. Calice explained, “the Executive Assistants often also meet with various stakeholders that are involved in these cases and that have a position that they want to advocate for or provide more context about.”
In her former role as a social scientist conducting research as a member of the Science Communication Incubator Lab at the Morgridge Institute for Research, Calice gained extensive experience exploring how people perceive science and technology issues, specifically related to the energy transition. With this background, it is no surprise that she is “interested in understanding the different visions that these stakeholders have for the energy transition and local energy futures in Wisconsin because, as we know, there are many different perspectives across this space.”
Despite learning mountains of new information each week, Calice felt prepared for her role thanks to the EAP Program. “The EAP program really provided me with a solid foundation of the ways in which all of these different issues connect together and how the policy making process works,” Calice said. With the knowledge she gained through coursework and a strong EAP network, Calice has started to unravel the complex web of the energy transition in Wisconsin.
For an energy nerd like Calice, she is happy she found her way to the PSC. “This job is like a dream come true, but a dream I didn’t know I had,” Calice said. We are excited to see what Calice and Commissioner Hawkins do next as they work forward through energy issues in Wisconsin.