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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.