MONTANA PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION

ISSUES

On April 26, 2023, Governor Greg Gianforte signed into law Senate Bill 109 which put in place a new PSC map for the upcoming election. The new map does away with decades of precedent determining Montana’s PSC districts, and instead divides communities without any explanation for how the configuration represents voters’ interests. The map splits every major municipality in the state other than Butte, splits 14 counties, and does away with the traditional redistricting goal of preserving communities of interest – effectively guaranteeing noncompetitive elections.

Why does this matter?

Noncompetitive elections mean that politicians are far more likely to get re-elected and far less likely to listen to their constituents. For powerful positions like PSC Commissioners, who just gave Northwestern the green light to increase electric rates by 28%, that is a huge problem. What incentive do they have to listen to Montanans instead of the lobbyists and campaign donors at the utilities? Very little. Previous PSC maps preserved counties and communities of interest, however, the gerrymandered map created by SB 109 not only divides almost all of Montana’s counties but also six of the state’s seven major municipalities (Billings, Bozeman, Missoula, Great Falls, Helena, and Kalispell) in an effort to dilute the voices of Montanans who live in these communities. It makes no effort to preserve communities of interest, breaking the rules to silence thousands of Montanans and take away their right to representation. The map drawn by SB 109 also guarantees a single party will continue to hold all five PSC seats.

We need a public service commission that has the best interest of montana in mind.

Montana Conservation Voters has endorsed Independent candidate Elena Evans for PSC District 4. Elena believes that the purpose of the PSC is to safeguard Montanans against monopoly power and guarantee reliable energy. Instead of safeguarding us against monopolies, all five commissioners recently rubber-stamped a 28% rate hike for consumers, giving Northwestern Energy another $100 million from our paychecks. And instead of planning for the future, the PSC has rejected common sense, cost-saving measures to improve our energy infrastructure. Elena has spent her career as a public servant working alongside Montanans to develop and implement solutions to our current energy, economic, and conservation problems and will continue to do so as the Public Service Commission for District 4.