No Doyle influence found in nuclear plant sale

By Patrick Marley
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

The state Department of Justice interviewed numerous people and reviewed thousands of pages of documents but found no evidence that Gov. Jim Doyle had improperly influenced decisions on the sale of a nuclear power plant, records released this morning show.

Investigators couldn't find anyone involved in the sale who believed the Democratic governor or his aides acted improperly.

Bert Garvin, who served on the Public Service Commission at the time the sale of the Kewaunee nuclear power plant was approved, told investigators that "in no way, shape or form" did he believe Doyle influenced the commission. Garvin was appointed to the commission by Doyle's predecessor and political rival, Republican Gov. Tommy G. Thompson.

Assistant Attorney General Eric J. Wilson wrote last July that emails and other documents did not show any signs of impropriety.

"Without any documentary proof, we would need to rely on testimonial evidence from a cooperating witness to prove a case," Wilson wrote. "But we have no such evidence."

The investigation was started by then-Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager in October 2005 and closed by Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen in July 2007.

Utility executives contributed more than $43,000 to Doyle's campaign around the time the commission approved the sale of the Kewaunee plant by Green Bay-based Wisconsin Public Service Corp. and a subsidiary of Madison-based Alliant Energy Corp. to Virginia-based Dominion Resources Inc.

The donations included money raised by Wisconsin Public Service the night before a commission meeting on the sale in November 2004. The commission denied the sale at that meeting, but approved it at another meeting four months later.

Wilson said the timing of the fund-raiser appeared to be a coincidence because it was scheduled before anyone knew when the commission would meet.

The records were released today to the Journal Sentinel and others, nearly a year to the day after they were requested under the state's open records law.