All too often, secrecy and confidentiality carry the day in proceedings of state and local government.

In one recent case, the name “Microsoft” on a state Public Service Commission filing was redacted – blocked from public view – along with pages and pages of other information. The redactions served no purpose, as the company’s role in the former Racine County site formerly known as FoxConn , had been announced publicly in 2024 by then President Joe Biden and widely reported.

PSC statutes indicate that utilities can keep only certain items from the public and for very discrete reasons – for instance, to protect competitive information or trade secrets. But in practice, secrecy is extended to a wide range of records.

This is something I encountered in my reporting on utilities fo

See Full Page