Cheryl Bergian

place of birth: Jamestown, ND

date of birth: October 2, 1961

spouse: Jacques Boucher

children: One stepchild at home, Lori Boucher, age 17 Four adult stepchildren

religion: Unitarian Universalist

education: Bachelor of Arts, Political Science Major, University of North Dakota, 1985, summa cum laude

Juris Doctorate, University of North Dakota School of Law, Order of the Coif

professional experience: Executive Director of the North Dakota Human Rights Coalition (six years)

Attorney with Legal Services in eastern North Dakota & northwestern Minnesota (14 years)

platform statement: The North Dakota Public Service Commission exists to protect the public interest and regulate utilities, mining companies, and licensees in a fair, efficient, responsive, cooperative manner.


I believe that the Public Service Commission is failing in its mandate to protect the public interest in regulation of the monopolies that exist in our state – especially the utilities and railroad companies.


The Public Service Commission should be much more involved in protecting the public interest in the developing energy policies in our state – both traditional energy resources (oil and gas, and coal), and renewable energy sources (wind and bio-energy resources). I know the value of our energy resources in North Dakota, and I believe I can bring to the Public Service Commission a progressive view for further energy development in North Dakota .

The Public Service Commission should be in the forefront of addressing the increasing cost of energy, including natural gas and gasoline, for our state’s residents, including farmers.

Part of the role of the Public Service Commission is to establish a fair, reasonable, safe, efficient and workable framework so that the transition from monopoly utility services to competitive utility services can evolve. That transition is not complete, and the public’s interests need to be protected as the energy industry changes in the coming decades. The Public Service Commission needs to cooperate with energy initiatives to make sure that interests of North Dakota consumers are being protected.


The Public Service Commission controls the routes of and safety consideration of oil and natural gas pipelines across the state. The Public Service Commission has not fulfilled its responsibility to ensure that the communities and residents along proposed pipeline routes are involved in the decision-making process so that they can ensure the safety of their residents and homes, and protect their water sources.


The Public Service Commission is responsible for the siting of new power plants, including coal-fired plants, coal gasification plants, ethanol plants, and large wind farms. The Public Service Commission must balance the desires of energy industries with the rights of property owners in the vicinity of those plants, and with the natural resources of the residents of the state (i.e., the forests and vistas of the Pembina River Gorge or the Sheyenne River Valley ).


The Public Service Commission is also responsible for the siting of power transmission lines, for newly constructed power production facilities and for new transmission lines that may be planned across the state. Again, the Public Service Commission must balance the desires of these energy industries with the rights of property owners in the vicinity of the planned transmission routes, and with the natural resources of the residents of the state.


There are continuing problems with railroads. We need fair shipping rates for family farmers. Eighty percent (80%) of grain shipped out of North Dakota is on one railroad, BNSF. Our farmers, who are captive shippers, deserve a strong voice in ending unfair shipping rates.


And railroad derailments are a safety issue, both for injuries to people and property. The derailment in Minot in January, 2002 released anhydrous ammonia that killed one person and injured thousands. Legal recourse has been incredibly slow, although Canadian Pacific Railway admitted liability for the injuries. Because to this, many families who have been injured have not been compensated for their injuries, some of which have developed into chronic and permanent injuries. The Public Service Commission should be taking a prominent role in ensuring that these kinds of injuries do not happen again in North Dakota.

The Public Service Commission is also responsible for ensuring the accuracy of all commercial weighing and measuring devices in North Dakota, including gas pumps.