Public Service Commissioner Candidates Share Platforms

SEELEY LAKE - The Seeley Lake Community Council hosted two candidate forums, Sept. 19 and Sept. 26, at the Seeley Lake Community Hall. Candidates for state and local races answered questions from moderator and Council Chair Klaus von Sutterheim and the audience.

All candidates that will appear on the ballot including Republicans, Democrats and Libertarians, were invited.

This week the Pathfinder features the candidates for Superintendent of Public Instruction and Public Service Commissioner.

Visit http://www.seeleylake.com for coverage of the Governor/Lieutenant Governor; U.S. Congress; Secretary of State; State Attorney General; Montana Supreme Court and State Auditor candidates. Look for the Montana State Senate District 46 and Montana House District 92 coverage in the next issue.

Absentee voters will receive their ballots Oct. 14. The general election is Nov. 8.

Public Service Commission (PSC): The PSC is a five-member board responsible for regulation of energy, telecommunications, water/sewer, transportation and pipeline utilities in the state. Commissioners are elected to four-year terms and are limited to serving two terms (or eight years) in any 16-year period.

Former Commissioner Gail Gutsche (D) is challenging incumbent Bob Lake (R), who unseated her in 2012, in the general election. Both were in attendance at the forum.

Gail Gutsche (D) is from Missoula and has lived there for 24 years. She served four terms in the Montana House of Representatives from 1999 to 2005 and was elected Democratic Whip.

Gutsche served a term on the PSC from 2009 to 2012 including two years as vice chair. She was very active in the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners, specifically in the energy resources and environmental committees at the national level.

While on the PSC, Gutsche worked hard to bring more conservation and renewable energy to Montana's portfolio. She continues to run on that platform and thinks it's really important that all the resources available to Montana are utilized.

"It's nice to have so many home-grown Montana resources however we are moving into a new energy future. We are transitioning now and we have to be prepared for that future and PSC has a say in that portfolio," said Gutsche.

Gutsche said that in the last few years, Montana has seen a shift toward renewable energy. She noted that the impending closure of Colstrip Unit 1 and 2 was not as a result of the Montana PSC but the result of Washington and Oregon mandating cleaner energy sources.

Montana can provide that cleaner energy and should continue to be an energy exporter. Using solar and wind it will bring jobs into the state.

Bob Lake (R) was born in Ronan, Mont. and now lives in Hamilton, Mont. He spent 38 years in the animal feed farm supply business, Lakeland Feeds. The business was sold in 2000. Lake and his wife Faith recently celebrated their 58th anniversary.

Seeley Lake has a warm spot in his heart because he served in the army with Seeley Lake resident Roger Johnson. Both Lake and Johnson were dating their future wives at the time and would make trips as often as they could from Fort Lewis, Wash. to Seeley Lake.

Lake said the PSC is obligated by statute to look out for both the consumer and the utility. While the consumer needs reliable, dependable, predictable and high quality energy, the utility needs to have enough revenue to continue to operate and maintain their system as well as attract investors in order to grow.

Lake feels that the PSC job requires someone who understands business. They must understand balance sheets so they can look at what the utilities are bringing to the commission and determine what is in the best long-term interest for Montana.

What distinguishes you from your opponent?

Lake: The regulation of utilities should not be political. Lake said he is driven by a basic business philosophy not by an ideology.

"Our job is to take care of the consumer and take care of the utility," said Lake.

Lake also said he has the time and dedication to do the job. For example he said the recent purchase of Montana's hydro dams by Northwestern Energy involved more than 36,000 documents for the PSC to review.

Gutsche: Energy conservation is one of her priorities along with renewable energy. Energy that is conserved and not used is the cheapest energy.

Gutsche said there are a couple of votes Lake has recently made with which she disagrees. Lake voted to allow Northwestern Energy the opportunity to collect $8.2 million from its customers to repair a generator at Colstrip. She feels that the need was due to a poor business plan on the part of Northwestern and shouldn't have been granted.

Gutsche disagrees with Lake's vote to suspend the rate for solar development in Montana. She acknowledged that the rate may have needed changing but she felt that it should have been done in a full rate case, not just at the request of Northwestern Energy.

What does it mean to suspend the rate for solar development?

Gutsche: The PSC hears a lot of cases where utilities has to change the rates they charge consumers. The PSC must decide what a fair and just rate is.

"A fair and just rate does not necessarily mean an inexpensive rate," said Gutsche.

Northwestern Energy recently asked to suspend the rate in which they must pay to solar companies for energy. Northwestern claimed that it was too high.

The PSC decided it was an emergency, agreed with Northwestern and suspended the rate without doing a full rate case. This put hundreds of solar companies doing business in Montana in limbo. They don't know what they will get paid for their energy so they don't know if they can continue to invest in development.

Lake: There are some facts about that case that needed to be addressed. There is a Qualified Facilities rate that is supposed to be kept up-to-date. However, the rate hasn't been updated in several years.

The Qualified Facilities solar rate was $66.25 but the average rate in today's market is around $33.

To further complicate the issue, a recent legislative change in the definition of the Qualified Facilities opened the door to the number of solar energy producers that would get the higher rate.

"Northwestern came to us. They had something in excess of 300 megawatts of generation that was going to be forced into the rate base for the people of Montana," said Lake. "It would have been an absolute disaster for 25 years to come. These come in 25 year contracts."

Lake felt that if the solar rate were correct it wouldn't have been an issue.

By encouraging development for solar and wind that aren't guaranteed producers you have to also have backup power sources. Aren't you forcing the rates to go up?

Lake: Yes, this is an issue. Lake cited the week before last Thanksgiving when it got well below zero all across the state as an example. He said that week there was zero wind generation and required other base load generation and that cost a lot to build.

"Intermittent [generation], when it's forced into the supply channels, comes in, forced in and you cannot shut it down. The Montana ratepayers are forced to have to pay that higher rate," said Lake.

Gutsche: Northwestern Energy's portfolio currently has hydro energy at $55 per megawatt hour, coal at $65 and wind between $32 and $40.

"It's not true that solar and wind are more expensive than legacy power. That's not true; they are in fact less expensive. We do of course have to have base power," said Gutsche.

When Gutsche was on the PSC they approved a natural gas generator near Anaconda to help provide base power. That helps balance the wind energy.

How does the PSC encourage conservation?

Gutsche: When she was on the PSC they encouraged a lot of conservation and Northwestern Energy acquired about six percent efficiency. They do this though various upgrade programs on both the utility and consumer side of the meter. The PSC can encourage participation in those programs. In some other states, PSCs require conservation to be done before allowing more expensive sources to be bought.

Lake: Conservation should result in lower bills for consumers not simply moving the money into someone else's pocket.

"You better see it as a reduction in your bill. We don't want to bring the bills up while we are paying somebody else to not produce. This is not conservation in anything other than making somebody feel good because we aren't using as much," said Lake.

Closing Statements

Lake: To be a good commissioner, Lake feels you must represent everyone in Montana, not any particular group. Lake says he likes solar and wind but feels that we really need base power for stability.

"My real big concern, is that we are going to get ourselves in a position when we have wind here and home mounted solar but there is a point in time that we are going to run out of money to keep that line charged and pay for the upkeep on that line to get any generation to your house," said Lake.

Gutsche: "Our baseline responsibility is to make sure that you get the utilities, the power, the resources you need at a cost that's fair and just and reliable, safe service," said Gutsche.

Where that energy comes from makes a difference. Renewable energy can provide good jobs and Montana can continue to export power.

The PSC shouldn't be made up of all Republicans and should have more balance. Gutsche wants to go back to the commission to bring back that balance.