Republicans have swept the Montana Public Service Commission election, winning each of the three seats open this cycle and maintaining the GOP’s domination of the commission.
Commissioners are tasked with balancing the financial health of investor-owned utilities with the interests of their customers, who cannot shop for other providers.
During this election cycle, voters in many of Montana’s largest cities — Billings, Missoula, Bozeman, Butte and Helena — were asked to choose between seasoned Republican politicians and political newcomers.
Major campaign issues ranged from recent electricity rate hikes authorized by the current commission to the fate of Colstrip’s coal-fired power plant amidst uncertainty surrounding federal pollution regulations to how the commission should approach a petition asking the PSC to incorporate climate impacts in its regulatory role.