The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources is asking Enbridge to stop work on a temporary Line 5 bypass near the site of last month’s natural gas liquids leak in Iron County.
Source: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Tom Tiffany accepted political donations from Enbridge, voted to weaken approval process as Line 5 faces new scrutiny
Sep 12, 2026, 12:04 PM CT
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As Enbridge faces new scrutiny for practices in Wisconsin, Republican candidate for governor Tom Tiffany voted to weaken the approval processes for utilities while accepting thousands in political donations from the energy company.
Last year, Tiffany voted for two bills, H.R. 4776 and H.R. 3062, which would weaken the approval processes for electric transmission lines, while also complaining about the Bad River Tribe’s efforts to shut down Enbridge’s Line 5 natural gas pipeline, which runs through northern Wisconsin.
In a Sept. 9 letter sent to Enbridge, DNR Secretary Karen Hyun said she and Gov. Tony Evers remain “deeply concerned and incredibly frustrated” by Enbridge’s decisions and actions in Wisconsin, and asked the company to halt work.
Hyun first raised those concerns in an Aug. 27 letter to the company following a natural gas leak near Saxon.
“Since that time, Enbridge has continued to add to the growing list of environmental concerns and violations, demonstrating disregard for the environment, human health, and the statutory authority of the department,” Hyun wrote.
In an email to Civic Media, Enbridge spokesperson Juli Kellner said the company is continuing to work with the DNR on relevant permitting and separately on environmental conditions at the site.
In 2022, Tiffany testified at a hearing before the DNR in favor of the Line 5 project. “The Line 5 pipeline is vital to Wisconsin and our country,” he said. “The completion of this project is important for affordable energy, public safety and jobs.”
In 2021, Tiffany cosponsored H.R. 684, to authorize the Keystone XL Pipeline.
In 2016, Tiffany voted for a state budget that gave Enbridge the power of eminent domain to take private land.
And in 2015, Tiffany “expressed frustration” after the Dane County board held up an Enbridge pipeline project over oil spill insurance requirements and claimed, “I hope that people with an ideological bent aren't going to impede” the pipeline.
In the last five years, Tiffany has accepted $10,000 from Enbridge. While running for governor, he accepted $5,000 earlier this year, according to campaign finance reports. In 2020, Tiffany took $2,500 from Enbridge PAC. In 2022, Tiffany took another $2,500 from the PAC.
His campaign didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Maddie Schaffer contributed to this report.
Drake Bentley is the general assignment reporter for the Milwaukee Courier, covering politics, sports and the community. He is an award-winning investigative journalist who has worked for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Wisconsin State Journal, Newsweek, Heavy and The Sporting News. He is a northside Milwaukee native, former political staffer and graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater and the University of Nebraska.
