Draft bill to appoint Public Service Commissioners heading to 2027 session

State Sen. Gayle Lammers has been talking with Montanans about legislation to change the way the Public Service Commission is formed — to appoint members rather than elect them.

Some people worry about taking away the ability to vote for a commissioner, but they also see problems at the agency, Lammers said.

Recently, for example, one commissioner was suspended for professional misconduct.

Lammers said he opens up the newspaper and reads reports of one “fumble” after another by the agency, made up of five commissioners elected by district.

The 2027 Montana Legislature kicks off in January, and among draft legislation in the queue is LC0500, to change the PSC to an appointed body.

“I’ve been having a hard time finding people that don’t like this bill,” said Lammers, R-Hardin.

Lammers was a member of the Energy and Technology Interim Committee, which approved the plan for a draft bill.

The top recommendation from the Governor’s Energy Task Force also was to consider an appointed PSC.

The PSC regulates monopoly utilities such as NorthWestern Energy, and it is currently all Republican.

The 2027 session is still a couple of months away, but bills that come out of committee have momentum, at least to be introduced for debate.

As drafted, LC0500 would create a nomination committee, which would forward candidates to the governor, who would appoint commissioners. Appointees would be subject to confirmation by the Senate with a vote of at least three-fifths of the body.

The nominations committee would have seven members — one each appointed by the speaker of the House, House minority leader, Senate president, Senate minority leader, head of Department of Environmental Quality, head of Department of Commerce, and tribal representative appointed by the state director of Indian affairs.

The draft also would set qualifications that commissioners be “industry experts.”

Rep. Bob Carter, D-Missoula, also a member of the interim committee, said the draft bill is designed to put experienced professionals into office, people who are not politicians but have bipartisan support.

“These are highly qualified people,” Carter said. “These are not people who are running for office and therefore making promises that they can’t keep.”

In most states, utility regulators are gubernatorial appointments. Carter said just 10 states still elect commissioners, although a couple of states have a hybrid system.

“In the last 100 years, no states have gone from appointed to elected, but there have been many examples of states going from elected to appointed (commissioners),” Carter said.

Anne Hedges, with Montana Environmental Information Center, said her organization sees shortcomings with the current Public Service Commission, such as a lack of expertise.

“We need people to walk in the door and know what they’re doing as opposed to learning on the job,” Hedges said.

However, Hedges said she doesn’t believe the structure being proposed will be the best fix for the PSC. MEIC is a conservation and energy watchdog group in Montana.

Hedges said the process in the draft bill language allows “gamesmanship by the governor,” and it doesn’t ensure the PSC will be made up of professionals that will look out for affordability.

“We need people who are on the job from day one and see through the utility smokescreens,” Hedges said.

Gov. Greg Gianforte recently appointed a commissioner temporarily — for one year — after allegations of misconduct led the PSC to request he suspend Brad Molnar, an elected commissioner.

The PSC is an executive branch agency even though the commissioners are elected. The suspension was unprecedented — and followed unprecedented behavior, Gianforte said.

Gianforte selected a former PSC commissioner, Kirk Bushman, to serve during Molnar’s absence.

Kaitlin Timken, a spokesperson for Gianforte, didn’t comment on the draft bill to appoint the PSC, but she said the governor is proud of the work of his energy task force.

In response to a proposal to change the way the PSC was made up in 2025, Gianforte said it’s important to have a regulatory climate that offers predictability and stability for consumers and producers.

But previous proposals to modify the formation of the PSC never got far enough to land on his desk.

In a phone call Monday, Lammers said the energy industry is complex, with new nuclear options, coal, transmission issues, and data centers all in play.

“We really gotta get a Public Service Commission that’s up for these 21st-century issues that are coming up in Montana,” Lammers said.

As he sees it, a change to an appointed PSC wouldn’t be taking away people’s ability to vote for a commissioner, it would be giving the public a PSC that does its job well.

“You’ve got to have a Public Service Commission that’s functional,” Lammers said.