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Montana Public Service Commission watches bill that cuts public participation • Daily Montanan

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Montana Public Service Commission watches bill that cuts public participation • Daily Montanan


The Montana Public Service Commission elected former and incoming commissioner Brad Molnar as its new president this week, and it discussed legislative priorities for the session, including a bill that would make “extensive” changes to the way utilities plan for energy resources.

Rep. Brad Molnar (Courtesy Montana Legislative Services).

Molnar, a former state Senator, previously served on the commission from 2004 through 2012. The Laurel Republican takes the leadership title from Jim Brown, former PSC president sworn in this week as State Auditor.

The Public Service Commission regulates monopoly utilities, and at its meeting Tuesday, the five commissioners discussed bills that were coming up in the 2025 Montana Legislature, ones they had proposed and ones that came out of legislative work between sessions.

At the meeting, PSC external affairs coordinator Trevor Graff gave a staff report on the bills, including House Bill 55, to change the way public utilities plan and acquire energy resource and speed up parts of the process.

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In part, Graff said, the “extensive” bill proposes a “quick turnaround” time of 120 days for energy planning processes, “significantly shorter” than the current nine months set in commission rules.

NorthWestern Energy currently has such an effort underway. It’s a matter of high public interest, and it entails a process under scrutiny by the public and advocacy groups.

The bill also would cut the minimum time for public comment from 60 days to 45 days.

As drafted, the Public Service Commission would be allowed to skip public comment on plans by utilities for their future energy portfolio. However, it asks utilities to potentially hold more meetings, four instead of two, but with the possibility to forego two if the PSC approves.

The bill came out of a select committee on energy resource planning, and its goal appeared to be to shift the public participation component of the process from the PSC to the utilities, Graff said.

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He said the idea from the legislative committee seemed to be to take off some of the burden of collecting public comment from the PSC, although he said it’s probably good for the PSC to hear from citizens for its own records.

“You still, under this bill, have the prerogative to do that (hold a hearing on a resource plan), and you aren’t required to do that at all if you so choose,” Graff said.

The draft raised other questions for the PSC as well, he said, including a call for a couple more regulatory analysts at the commission, but with half of the estimated funding for it, and with money that’s not in the agency’s permanent budget.

HB-55 will be up for a hearing Friday in House Energy, Technology and Federal Relations Committee.

In his staff report, Graff said bills in Senate Energy are getting pushed to next week given a slowdown in the Senate. A change in the rules shuffled the work and members in committees.

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Graff also reminded commissioners that their policies state the PSC will generally present a unified front before the public, the media and the legislature. In other words, commissioners who are stepping out on their own should be clear that’s the case.

At the meeting, the commission’s first order of business was electing new officers, and Vice President Jennifer Fielder broke a tie to continue to serve as vice president; she said it was extra work, but she also represented continuity in the role.

In a leadership role, Fielder said it was important to pay attention to operations, and the agency in the past had been left in “disarray” because of neglect.

“A great deal of that was because agency leadership was engaged in policy advancement, and that was wonderful, but nobody was here paying attention to the agency itself,” Fielder said, noting the importance of ensuring quality staff.

The PSC is made up five Republicans, and Commissioners Annie Bukacek and Molnar supported Fielder for vice president. Commissioners Randy Pinocci and Jeff Welborn supported Pinocci for vice president.

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Fielder, of Thompson Falls, Molnar, of Laurel, and Welborn, of Dillon and also previously a state legislator, took their oaths of office this week, Welborn for the first time.

Incoming Commissioner Welborn said he was excited to work on ensuring access to reliable and affordable utility services.

“Looking ahead to the next four years, I will prioritize strengthening our energy grid and producing more energy exports to lower rates for everyone,” Welborn said in a statement.

Molnar said he was humbled to have been selected with a unanimous vote, pleased Fielder would remain as vice president, and anticipated a smooth legislative session.

“With the governor’s budget restoring lost personnel, we expect to be able to better and more timely serve the families and employers that rely on us, as well as the utilities that serve us,” Molnar said in a statement from the PSC.

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The PSC also is tracking House Bill 103, to change railroad track inspection.

It’s following a couple of telecommunications bills, House Bill 45, a “rehash” of a telecommunications revision bill from the 2023 session, and Senate Bill 51, to adjust telecoms registration requirements.



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Christi Jacobsen enters race for Western House seat

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Christi Jacobsen enters race for Western House seat


Montana Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen is running for Montana’s Western Congressional District seat, entering the race a day after U.S. Rep. Ryan Zinke announced he would not seek reelection.

Jacobsen’s announcement sets up a new contest for the open seat after Zinke, a Republican, said he would seek reelection.

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“As your Secretary of State, I’ve stood up to Washington overreach, defended election integrity, and delivered real results for Montanans. In 2020, voters gave me a mandate to clean up our elections, grow Montana business, and push back against radical liberal special interests. I delivered. Now it’s time to take that same results-driven, America First leadership to Congress.”



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Montana Lottery Powerball, Lotto America results for March 2, 2026

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The Montana Lottery offers multiple draw games for those aiming to win big.

Here’s a look at March 2, 2026, results for each game:

Winning Powerball numbers from March 2 drawing

02-17-18-38-62, Powerball: 20, Power Play: 2

Check Powerball payouts and previous drawings here.

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Winning Lotto America numbers from March 2 drawing

03-08-17-24-34, Star Ball: 06, ASB: 02

Check Lotto America payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Big Sky Bonus numbers from March 2 drawing

06-12-19-29, Bonus: 11

Check Big Sky Bonus payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Powerball Double Play numbers from March 2 drawing

21-28-58-65-67, Powerball: 25

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Check Powerball Double Play payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Millionaire for Life numbers from March 2 drawing

28-41-42-50-55, Bonus: 02

Check Millionaire for Life payouts and previous drawings here.

Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results

When are the Montana Lottery drawings held?

  • Powerball: 8:59 p.m. MT on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
  • Mega Millions: 9 p.m. MT on Tuesday and Friday.
  • Lucky For Life: 8:38 p.m. MT daily.
  • Lotto America: 9 p.m. MT on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
  • Big Sky Bonus: 7:30 p.m. MT daily.
  • Powerball Double Play: 8:59 p.m. MT on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
  • Montana Cash: 8 p.m. MT on Wednesday and Saturday.
  • Millionaire for Life: 9:15 p.m. MT daily.

Missed a draw? Peek at the past week’s winning numbers.

This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a Great Falls Tribune editor. You can send feedback using this form.

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Apparent AI Glitch in Filing by Montana Public Defender, Recent Congressional Candidate

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Apparent AI Glitch in Filing by Montana Public Defender, Recent Congressional Candidate


Everyone makes mistakes, even experienced professionals; a good reminder for the rest of us to learn from those mistakes. The motion in State v. Stroup starts off well in its initial pages (no case law hallucinations), but is then followed by several pages of two other motions, which I don’t think the lawyer was planning to file, and which appear to have been AI-generated: It begins with the “Below is concise motion language you can drop into …” language quoted above.

Griffen Smith (Missoulian) reported on the story, and included the prosecutor’s motion to strike that filing, on the grounds that it violates a local rule (3(G)) requiring disclosure of the use of generative AI:

The document does not include a generative artificial intelligence disclosure as required. However, page 7 begins as follows: “Below is concise motion language you can drop into a ‘Motion to Admit Mental-Disease Evidence and for Related Instructions’ keyed to 45-6-204, 45-6-201, and 4614-102. Adjust headings/captions to your local practice.” Page 10 states “Below is a full motion you can paste into your pleading, then adjust names, dates, and styles to fit local practice.” These pages also include several apparent hyperlinks to “ppl-ai-file-upload.s3.amazonaws,” “ppl-ai-fileupload.s3.amazonaws+1,” and others. The document includes what appears to be an attempt at a second case caption on page 12. It is not plausible on its face that any source other than generative AI would have created such language for a filed version of a brief….

There’s more in that filing, but here’s one passage:

While generative AI can be a useful tool for some purposes and may have greater application in the future, when used improperly, and without meaningful review, it can ultimately damage both the perception and the reality of the profession. One assumes that Mr. Stroup has had, or will at some point have, an opportunity to review the filing made on his behalf. What impression could a review of pgs. 12-19 leave upon a defendant who struggles with paranoia and delusional thinking? While AI could theoretically one day become a replacement for portions of staff of experienced attorneys, it is readily apparent that this day has not yet arrived.

The Missoulan article includes this response:

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In a Wednesday interview, Office of Public Defender Division Administrator Brian Smith told the Missoulian the AI-generated language was inadvertently included in an unrelated filing. And he criticized the county attorney’s office for filing a “four-page diatribe about the dangers of AI” instead of working with the defense to correct her mistake.

“That’s not helping the client or the case,” Smith said, “and all you are doing is trying to throw a professional colleague under the bus.”

As I mentioned, the lawyer involved seems quite experienced, and ran for the Montana Public Service Commission in 2020 (getting nearly 48% of the vote) and for the House of Representatives in Montana’s first district in 2022 (getting over 46% of the vote) and in 2024 (getting over 44%). “Его пример другим наука,” Pushkin wrote in Eugene Onegin—”May his example profit others,” in the Falen translation.

Thanks to Matthew Monforton for the pointer.



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