Bob Lake is Montana’s last chance to have a practical, experienced voice
on the PSC. Bob is a man of integrity, a business man who owned and
operated Lakeland feeds in Hamilton. He knows what it is like to manage
utility expenses. I served on the Commission with Bob. We both pledged an
oath to uphold the laws that are there to protect the customers of Montana
utilities.
Recently, I read an “Opinion” article by Gail Gutsche. Although she is
entitled to her own opinion, she is not entitled to her own facts. She is
a self-proclaimed activist who’s previous work experience includes Planned
Parenthood and NARAL. She has a history of sacrificing Montana ratepayers
in the name of high-cost renewables. Ms. Gutsche is deceiving voters about
the solar projects she speaks of. These small solar projects are gaming
federal laws and will litter the landscape of Montana at 5-6 times the
market price for the next 25 years! Northwestern Energy (NWE) has already
testified that this exceeds the utility cost by $150 million. Montanans
like clean, renewable energy, but at a reasonable price! Both MDU and
Northwestern Energy have developed renewable projects this year at
reasonable prices.
Colstrip Unit 4 generation is among the cheapest power available. The
claims made by Ms. Gutsche are intentionally misleading. She shows her
true colors when she faults NWE for the outage. NWE was not even the
operator of the plant. This issue is in court and will likely be
overturned costing the ratepayers the original cost plus additional legal
cost. I would take $8.2 million for base-load generation over $150 million
for intermittent solar any day. The CU4 decision was very telling and
demonstrates how Commissioner Bob Lake’s thoughtfulness and vision make
him a much better candidate for the PSC.
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