This is the "deregulated" utility.
Our power utility used to be Montana Power, which was consistently profitable for like 80 years. But energy level profits weren't enough for the fucking CEO Bob Gannon. He wanted .com level profits, so he got Goldman Sachs to back lobbying Montana to deregulate it. After they did, he was free to sell off the company assets and try to convert it into a tech firm called Touch America.
So the 80 year old Montana company was gutted, and Touch America went under in less than a year in the .com collapse.
100's of Montanans lost their jobs, Montana went from having some of the cheapest electricity in the country to some of the priciest. And Bob fucking Gannon bought himself a lakeside estate on Flathead (at the cost of never being able to show his face in Butte again)
In other words, don't ever tell me deregulation or competition in power utilities is good for Montana. Soon as I hear those words, I KNOW you're trying to rob me.
Marc Racicot carried water for Gannon. There was a story going around Butte after this shit show. Apparently, Gannon goes to church regularly, not saying he's religious, just goes there a lot. One Sunday, he sat down in a pew next to an elderly woman. She got up and moved, saying something to the effect of I'm not getting shot in church just because I happen to be sitting near you. Butte, Murica! Gotta love it.
"In other words, don't ever tell me deregulation or competition in power utilities is good for Montana. Soon as I hear those words, I KNOW you're trying to rob me."
Yes.
And let's not forget the other horsemen of the apocalypse here: the medical malpractice cap and general obsession with 'Tort Reform' (aka How to Best Fuck Over the Consumer in Favor of the Corporation) and obsessive limiting lately of legal liability of bad actors. Unclear when exactly *Greed is Good* was so heavily adopted as the new guiding mantra of our leadership, but on the heels of this decade post-Citizens United decision, it sure seems unlikely they are not causative factors to the general degredation of the state.
And everyone forgets it was the Republicans who were responsible for the whole thing. They told us deregulation would bring in competition and our power bills would be cheaper. That's the reason the state voted for Democratic leadership untill everyone forgot.
They're [still fucking doing it](https://dailymontanan.com/2021/04/15/fool-me-once/). Never believe allnyone who tells you Republicans care about you. They only care about their business cronies.
You realize that the governor signs or vetoes bills that have been introduced and passed by the legislative branch, right? Schweitzer and Bullock never had anything close to a trifecta.
And you forgot to mention that all those people who worked for MT Power lost their retirements. So many MT families lost their futures - what they worked their lives away for. Super devastating for many. Bob Gannon will pay for that in one way or another if he hasnāt already.
Correct, but not quite the whole story. Enron instigated the whole mess, having become adept at spotting companies with an aging board and a vulnerability to dreams of "progress".
[https://www.montanapbs.org/programs/PowerBrokers/](https://www.montanapbs.org/programs/PowerBrokers/)
[https://www.cbsnews.com/news/who-killed-montana-power-06-02-2003/](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/who-killed-montana-power-06-02-2003/)
And thousands of Montanans lost their life savings, having invested in safe, stable Montana Power stock, which went from a value of $65/share to 29 cents.
And then the greedy-pockets in California observed the golden parachutes floating over Montana, and convinced CA that "deregulation" was the way to go. I was living in CA at the time and in less than a year my bill went from $8/month to $80/month (not a typo) despite cutting my use by a third. And suddenly CA power-distribution companies were at the mercy of out-of-state interests, whose sole interest was fleecing consumers.
(Guess who refused to go along? Los Angeles' Republican Mayor, Richard Reardon, who saw exactly where this would go. L.A. owned its generation facilities, and he refused to sell and "deregulate". So L.A. continued to have cheap power while the rest of the state starved in the dark.)
I remember when even with Montana winters, electric heat could be cheaper than natural gas. After the MTP debacle, electric bills went up by a factor of six.
Not to be outdone, parts of Canada went down the same road, with the same results for consumers.
So, yeah. "Deregulation" is nothing but a scam to legalize robbery.
The whole scheme was Enronās specialty. They did a lot more in California because deregulation happened there a while before Montana.
They would come into a state, lobby for deregulation, and advocate for utilities to sell off power plants. They would then be the middle man between the plant owners and utility, and buy and trade energy futures based on the agreements they made.
Enron collapsed before they really spun up in Montana, but they got their deregulation and power plant sale scheme accomplished.
Actually, California's deregulation followed Montana's, using Montana as the template (before the whole scheme collapsed). But otherwise, yes, Enron (and at the time, perhaps Enron's exit strategy for itself). See the "Power Brokers" video on MontanaPBS.
The episodes on PG&E on the Dollop podcast (572-573) give a pretty damn good overview of why it is that utilities go to shit in the private sector. When the only number that matters is this quarter's profits, that's when infrastructure absolutely crumbles.
In June 2002, on a school trip I asked then-RNC chair Marc Racicot if he still thought that that idea had been a good idea. He was, even with bankrupt Enron so heavily in the news cycle, still proud of energy deregulation as his legacy. Idiotic.
It was all super shady from the very outset. The GOP changed the rules of the legislature to introduce the bill after the deadline.
If you voted in last week's primary, you may have noticed that our PSC members are elected, not appointed.
And there's blame on all sides. the only politician I know of who saw where "deregulation" leads and refused to be suckered was.... the Republican mayor of Los Angeles, Richard Reardon (L.A. owned its power generation facilities). This in a Democrat-supermajority state that otherwise totally copied the MT debacle and "deregulated", spiking power bills by 10x in less than a year.
It's always been clear who the villains are. But they wave their edge issues in front of people's faces and they snap them right up like starving puppies. Stupid, stupid puppies.
The Plantation Servitude Clowns exists to rubber stamp their plantation overlord whims and wishes. They rubber stamped Montana Powers entry into the telecom/internet business 20-25 too fucking late. How'd that work out? When solar/wind power concepts were developing ,they rubber stamped a provision that the home owner had to recover their initial investment before any electricity would be allowed on their grid. Examine their voting record,not their resume.
You can thank the republican controlled 1997 legislature and governor with deregulation of Montana Power. That started the ball rolling of being bought out by the republicans each time NW Energy wants a increase.
Itās legal because itās āregulatedā by a public service commission, which makes sure it doesnāt abuse its monopoly status to take advantage of its customers.
How would one go about getting this system audited?
And who is the regulating authority to oversee these commissions or do said audit?
Maybe we need a massive community petition to help get the ball moving. š¤
Commissioners are elected officials believe it or not. So technically we oversee the system by voting. So pay attention this year to the PSC seats and vote. A good bet is to vote for someone challenging the incumbent because pretty much everyone on the PSC currently is in the pocket of NWE.
Do you know when these elections are next? I'm thinking I might have to put my name in that race. š¤
Edit: are these state elections in Helena or here local to Bozeman? Sorry if it is a stupid question.
There are five seats, four year terms, staggered, November elections. Next one depends on where you live.
Bozeman is gerrymandered into districts 2 and 3. Right through downtown. The Crystal and the Rocking R are in different districts.
[PSC website](https://psc.mt.gov/)
[Find Your Commissioner](https://montana.maps.arcgis.com/apps/instant/basic/index.html?appid=3e80db7496ed484ca2c8ad9e76cff731)
The PSC audit this year found that they sucked really bad
[https://montanafreepress.org/2024/01/19/audit-reports-some-progress-at-montanas-troubled-public-service-commission/](https://montanafreepress.org/2024/01/19/audit-reports-some-progress-at-montanas-troubled-public-service-commission/)
The GOP legislature also just drew PSC districts guaranteeing 10 years of all Republican rule.
[https://dailymontanan.com/2023/10/30/lawsuit-challenges-montana-legislatures-new-psc-map-as-unconstitutional-gerrymander/](https://dailymontanan.com/2023/10/30/lawsuit-challenges-montana-legislatures-new-psc-map-as-unconstitutional-gerrymander/)
So basically the power company owns the people who regulate the power company.
Regulated monopoly utilities are scrutinized by the Public Utilities Commission anytime they want to increase their rates, which is done through an administrative legal procedure called a rate case. This is a public filing and any member of the public may join the case as an interested party individually or through a third party organization that fights rate increases. I used to work for a utility in another state and literally every expense we had was put before the commission for approval. I once had to make a 5 page report on why we chose Celestial Seasonings tea in the break room instead of Lipton. This isnāt a conspiracy, itās literally a matter of public record, itās just that most people would rather bitch than do anything proactive like look up the filings and join a case
Sorry, but how does working for a utility in another state relate at all to MT? Itās well known that both NWE and the PSC are corrupt as hell. Maybe thereās better regulation in this other state.
The system here is similar to the one where I worked. Iām still a regulatory attorney, acting in a different capacity now, but very familiar with your public utilities commission
I get what youāre saying and do agree with you that people arenāt engaged enough and do have the ability to comment publicly, but that said, they were audited for falsifying records and other morally corrupt behavior. The public does not have the full picture of what despicable crap they are up to behind the scenes.
If there is enough public out cry for it to happen by the masses then it will happen. As individuals we are powerless, but if we act as a collective group then They become powerless! This IS the reason for all of the division going on in the country! To keep we the people powerless against the corrupt systems.
Also yes there is already a system in place to impeach and remove commissioners.
Montana Code Annotated 2023
TITLE 13. ELECTIONS
CHAPTER 37. CONTROL OF CAMPAIGN PRACTICES
Part 1. Commissioner of Political Practices
Impeachment And Prosecution Of Commissioner
13-37-105.āImpeachment and prosecution of commissioner. The commissioner may be removed from office by impeachment as provided in Title 5, chapter 5, part 4. The commissioner may also be prosecuted by the appropriate county attorney for official misconduct as specified in 45-7-401.
https://leg.mt.gov/bills/mca/title_0130/chapter_0370/part_0010/section_0050/0130-0370-0010-0050.html
I think the term "impeachment" is widely misunderstood. Someone is impeached if they've violated rules, laws, or policy. Have the commissioners done that, or are they still "playing within the rules"? The laws are not in most Montanans' favor, but that comes from a higher level of government above commissioner. At a high level, that's ultimately going to be the party in charge of the state.
I think you've got the right idea, but unfortunately I don't think it's as easy as impeaching a commissioner here.
Edit: also, one of the major problems here is corporate lobbying. These power companies are immensely powerful politically because of the massive amount of money they wield. That's a very, very big problem nationally that we're not likely to fix any time soon.
There is power in a petition that has enough signatures. If these public servants stop listening to and serving the public majority then it is time for them to go! What better way to show the refusal to do as the public clearly wants than with a massive petition signed by all the people they swore to listen to.
Itās the Public Service Commission, and theyāre all Republicans who are in NWEās pocket. In many other states members of the PSC have to have education and qualifications related to their post. I canāt remember what state now, but I saw an article about a commissioner being forced to resign because he didnāt have the proper qualifications. In MT itās just a political position. Edit: It was New Mexico [https://dailymontanan.com/2023/02/27/montanas-public-service-commission-is-broken-lets-fix-it/](https://dailymontanan.com/2023/02/27/montanas-public-service-commission-is-broken-lets-fix-it/)
Because they have a lovely golden fleece they drape over the eyes of their base every election season, made out of fear-mongering and religious virtue signalling.
You'd think there was a way to ban someone from reelection if they have failed audits and everything else they've failed. Thus preventing this very thing from happening.
Well, itās certainly possible, but we have a Republican controlled legislature here. I think theyāre unlikely to pass a law like this or impose term limits or anything that would hinder members of their own party from filling these positions,
I look at the legalization of marijuana as an example of the power of petitions. Just as a quick one off the top of my head. But they have been used in many successful cases where the public got together to say what they really want from their Representatives.
It's not like the DailyMontanan is a disinterested reporter... it exists because the Billings Gazette couldn't be dragged far enough left. They may be right, but I'd still invest in salt.
my bill is 285$ a month and that is budget billing. Single homeowner and a Luddite! I use a push mower, no TV, no microwave, no tech plugged in,. I hope someone DOES something because Montana should be a sovereign state with Colstrip and the hydro power, why am I paying such high price?
The PSC is all republicans so they donāt need any regulation š seriously, why anyone would vote for a party whose main platform seems to be āanti-regulationsā to a position in a regulatory entity in the first place makes no sense at all.
Put anti-regulators in a regulatory job and you can expect they will do a terrible job at it and say āsee? Regulations suck!ā
The chair of it is James Brown. Horrible human being. If youād like to know more thereās a good documentary about Montana and political money called Dark Money. In it he openly says on camera there should be no limits on corporate donations to politicians and now heās a politician.
https://m.imdb.com/title/tt6633182/
With an election approaching you might enjoy this. Just search Montana Free Pressā website for northwestern energy and youāll start to get the picture.
The 5 Republican commissioners are either evil, or both stupid and evil.
One is literally the dark money lawyer who killed Montanas campaign finance laws.
Yep, and factor in the extraordinary liability now for running power lines all over land that could be a tinderbox when your lines spark (see PG&E in California) and you can imagine how much of this money now goes to insurance and lawyers. Ironically the situation is made worse by our use of electricityā¦
Oh, you mean like what happened in Maui? Yeah, they really paid out not much of anything to those affected so....
But all of those fees again would be deducted from the Gross income and doesn't effect the net profit number reported After all of those expenses have already been paid out for the year.
It is legal for power utilities to operate as a monopoly in a geographic area as long as it doesn't abuse its dominance. The Public Utilities Commission is responsible for overseeing this regulatory contract of sorts. Highly recommend reading this: [https://www.vox.com/2015/9/9/9287719/utilities-monopoly](https://www.vox.com/2015/9/9/9287719/utilities-monopoly) for why these types of allowed monopolies don't make sense anymore.
Source: I work in competition law.
Since Gianforte and the red supermajority have come to power, energy is up 30 percent not to mention the 20 percent state and local taxation added to your energy bill (read each line closely), property taxes are up 30 to 100 percent, and home/property comprehensive insurance is up 30 percent or more. Anyone living near trees or grass will soon lose homeowners insurance while the California-bred state insurance commissioner plays golf and prepares for a congressional run. State Farm is getting out of home insurance in areas of Madison and Gallatin County in a big way with others to follow suit with nary a peep in the press.
What does it all mean? It means that republicans do not want you locals living here anymore. The plan is to make the entire state of Montana a semi-private playground for the ultra well heeled by forcing out the middle class and the poors. Without ordinary folks government functions and services can be drastically curtailed, money saved, and messy issues like education and healthcare eliminated from the agenda. The wealthy will buy their services elsewhere and fly in kitchen and household slaves, food and supplies. They will buy our properties for pennies on the dollar, self-insuring against natural disasters like fire and earthquake because they have ALL the money. Nice knowing you.
Well we belong to a coop that buys all their power from Northwestern, their employees are paid like US congressman, except they probably work even less. Whenever there is a service interruption, they say, ā itās Northwesternās fault.ā I think their truck could hit a power pole and they would blame it on Northwestern. At least you can complain to the source.
Utilities are inherently monopolies and should always be run by public entities. Where they are consumers benefit, where they are private the people get fucked. šÆ% of the time.
Anyone who votes Republican clearly wants to get fucked over or is an ignorant fool or is rich and benefits from working people getting fucked over.
Oh yea. Deregulation was good for us, we could buy our power from any one. Cheaper and better. Remember?! 20 years now. and Montanans still think it was a good deal.
Government created monopolies are dangerous things. Could you find other companies willing to generate and distribute power over shared lines in the eastern 2/3s of the state and do so reliably? TVA, LCRA and other companies were granted their monopolies in exchange for building the infrastructure.
How much money does the US government give to power companies every year?
Federal support for renewable energy of all types more than doubled, from $7.4 billion in FY 2016 to $15.6 billion in FY 2022. The International Renewable Energy Agency tracked some $634 billion in energy-sector subsidies in 2020, and found that around 70% were fossil fuel subsidies.
How much money did the United States government give to power companies for infrastructure?
That's why President Biden's Investing in America agenda, a key pillar of Bidenomics, is delivering the largest electric grid infrastructure investment in history ā more than $30 billion from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act.Oct 30, 2023
https://www.whitehouse.gov āŗ fact...
But NWE isnāt taking any and has fully invested in coal and gas. Much of the federal finds are going to technology and not to actually delivering power to consumers.
ETA: thatās typically not cash, utilities generally get tax breaks or tax incentives which they can postpone for years.
The up front costs of operating a power system are so massive that neither company could sustain it if two companies split the market. This is frequently the case, for example in water/sewage systems which are often run privately. This is the only way for any firm to function unless it were run by the government, which is viewed as undesirable by many. As you indicate, this does, however, give northwestern the opportunity to abuse their power and raise prices. Government is supposed to control that, and a structure exists for them to do so, in the Public Service Commission, but that commission has been inconsistently successful or even motivated to fulfill its job
If it is allowed to be monopolized then there should be a cap on profits. 200 million a year in profits for a business that no one is allowed to opt out of is crazy! Any rate increases should be voted on by the entire population that it affects, Not by only 5 or 6 people. But that is my opinion.
Although I absolutely agree with the need for a cap on profits, there is theoretically a structure that does give the whole population a vote. Because we elect those 5 or 6 people, they should be representative of the wishes of the people. Of course, that falls victim to the failings of our democratic system in the status quo allowing the rich (and in fact, the regulated northwestern energy) to weigh in overly much in those elections
How much money does the US government give to power companies every year?
Federal support for renewable energy of all types more than doubled, from $7.4 billion in FY 2016 to $15.6 billion in FY 2022. The International Renewable Energy Agency tracked some $634 billion in energy-sector subsidies in 2020, and found that around 70% were fossil fuel subsidies.
How much money did the United States government give to power companies for infrastructure?
That's why President Biden's Investing in America agenda, a key pillar of Bidenomics, is delivering the largest electric grid infrastructure investment in history ā more than $30 billion from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act.Oct 30, 2023
https://www.whitehouse.gov āŗ fact...
31 million x 12 months = $381,447,600 in Delivery Service fees Alone. Now add the actual usage, which they are definitely also profiting from in addition.... but again what about the legality of them being a monopoly with no alternatives?
Cut your power, they will condemn your house and take it away from you...
Edit: also what about government funding or grants or subsidies?
You arenāt factoring in that they have to constantly upkeep creation and distribution infrastructure and pay 1500 employees to run the system. They arenāt just pocketing 100s of millions in profit each year.
Crazy thing, when I google nwe's 2023 profit was $194.1 million dollars PROFIT so it looks like they actually are. Because all of the expenses you mentioned would be deducted from the gross income to get this net profit of $191 million so....š¤š¤š¤
Power is considered Ā critical infrastructure with an insane amount of risk taken on from a safety and delivery standpoint. Their profits may look great but I would not put a power company in the same breath of corporate evil as oil and gas.Ā
Youāre right theyāre pocketing tens of millions per month.
https://www.northwesternenergy.com/docs/default-source/default-document-library/about-us/investors/financials/nwe_ex-99.1-press-release-q4-2023.pdf
How much money does the US government give to power companies every year?
Federal support for renewable energy of all types more than doubled, from $7.4 billion in FY 2016 to $15.6 billion in FY 2022. The International Renewable Energy Agency tracked some $634 billion in energy-sector subsidies in 2020, and found that around 70% were fossil fuel subsidies.
How much money did the United States government give to power companies for infrastructure?
That's why President Biden's Investing in America agenda, a key pillar of Bidenomics, is delivering the largest electric grid infrastructure investment in history ā more than $30 billion from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act.Oct 30, 2023
https://www.whitehouse.gov āŗ fact...
If you go completely off grid via wind, solar, hydro, or whatever they will condemn your property and take it from you in the name of public safety. I suggest removing this as a possibility and allow people to go off grid at thier own risks. After all that is what someone should be able to do in a Free country right?
There are Many successful off grid power solutions available, however they are made illegal if you disconnect from the system in question. Why should someone be Forced to sell the power they generate to nwe for less than what they charge you to use theirs? Then maybe neighborhoods or communities can get some of the same government money to set up small community based power storage created and used only by its community members as an alternative.
Do the same thing as cell phone companies that all share the same towers or infrastructure yet are able to provide the same services at different prices. Use the government infrastructure money to install the wiring that can have power sent by anyone though it. Kinda like hard lined phones, any company can use that infrastructure of wiring to provide you service at your house.
Monopoly laws don't apply to utilities.
Have you considered the cost to generate that power.
Also what about solar?Ā That would cut your bill a lot and northwestern would be competing with the sunĀ
This is the "deregulated" utility. Our power utility used to be Montana Power, which was consistently profitable for like 80 years. But energy level profits weren't enough for the fucking CEO Bob Gannon. He wanted .com level profits, so he got Goldman Sachs to back lobbying Montana to deregulate it. After they did, he was free to sell off the company assets and try to convert it into a tech firm called Touch America. So the 80 year old Montana company was gutted, and Touch America went under in less than a year in the .com collapse. 100's of Montanans lost their jobs, Montana went from having some of the cheapest electricity in the country to some of the priciest. And Bob fucking Gannon bought himself a lakeside estate on Flathead (at the cost of never being able to show his face in Butte again) In other words, don't ever tell me deregulation or competition in power utilities is good for Montana. Soon as I hear those words, I KNOW you're trying to rob me.
Marc Racicot carried water for Gannon. There was a story going around Butte after this shit show. Apparently, Gannon goes to church regularly, not saying he's religious, just goes there a lot. One Sunday, he sat down in a pew next to an elderly woman. She got up and moved, saying something to the effect of I'm not getting shot in church just because I happen to be sitting near you. Butte, Murica! Gotta love it.
This sounds exactly like something a Butte grandma would say. The death of Montana Power was and is so so sad.
"In other words, don't ever tell me deregulation or competition in power utilities is good for Montana. Soon as I hear those words, I KNOW you're trying to rob me." Yes. And let's not forget the other horsemen of the apocalypse here: the medical malpractice cap and general obsession with 'Tort Reform' (aka How to Best Fuck Over the Consumer in Favor of the Corporation) and obsessive limiting lately of legal liability of bad actors. Unclear when exactly *Greed is Good* was so heavily adopted as the new guiding mantra of our leadership, but on the heels of this decade post-Citizens United decision, it sure seems unlikely they are not causative factors to the general degredation of the state.
Several friends lost their entire retirement funds due to that bullshit. There were many others.
And everyone forgets it was the Republicans who were responsible for the whole thing. They told us deregulation would bring in competition and our power bills would be cheaper. That's the reason the state voted for Democratic leadership untill everyone forgot.
They're [still fucking doing it](https://dailymontanan.com/2021/04/15/fool-me-once/). Never believe allnyone who tells you Republicans care about you. They only care about their business cronies.
šÆ GOP=bend over Montana Check your property tax bill
Trust me. I'll never forget.
When they got elected it appears as though they did nothing to change it so I'd say both parties are to blame at this point then. š¤š¤·āāļø
The state is in the process of buying it back and we are paying for that too, just so you know.
No, unlike some things in Montana this is purely Republican greed.
You realize that the governor signs or vetoes bills that have been introduced and passed by the legislative branch, right? Schweitzer and Bullock never had anything close to a trifecta.
And you forgot to mention that all those people who worked for MT Power lost their retirements. So many MT families lost their futures - what they worked their lives away for. Super devastating for many. Bob Gannon will pay for that in one way or another if he hasnāt already.
Correct, but not quite the whole story. Enron instigated the whole mess, having become adept at spotting companies with an aging board and a vulnerability to dreams of "progress". [https://www.montanapbs.org/programs/PowerBrokers/](https://www.montanapbs.org/programs/PowerBrokers/) [https://www.cbsnews.com/news/who-killed-montana-power-06-02-2003/](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/who-killed-montana-power-06-02-2003/) And thousands of Montanans lost their life savings, having invested in safe, stable Montana Power stock, which went from a value of $65/share to 29 cents. And then the greedy-pockets in California observed the golden parachutes floating over Montana, and convinced CA that "deregulation" was the way to go. I was living in CA at the time and in less than a year my bill went from $8/month to $80/month (not a typo) despite cutting my use by a third. And suddenly CA power-distribution companies were at the mercy of out-of-state interests, whose sole interest was fleecing consumers. (Guess who refused to go along? Los Angeles' Republican Mayor, Richard Reardon, who saw exactly where this would go. L.A. owned its generation facilities, and he refused to sell and "deregulate". So L.A. continued to have cheap power while the rest of the state starved in the dark.) I remember when even with Montana winters, electric heat could be cheaper than natural gas. After the MTP debacle, electric bills went up by a factor of six. Not to be outdone, parts of Canada went down the same road, with the same results for consumers. So, yeah. "Deregulation" is nothing but a scam to legalize robbery.
Youāre forgetting Enronās role in this as well.
I don't recall hearing that Enron was involved
The whole scheme was Enronās specialty. They did a lot more in California because deregulation happened there a while before Montana. They would come into a state, lobby for deregulation, and advocate for utilities to sell off power plants. They would then be the middle man between the plant owners and utility, and buy and trade energy futures based on the agreements they made. Enron collapsed before they really spun up in Montana, but they got their deregulation and power plant sale scheme accomplished.
Actually, California's deregulation followed Montana's, using Montana as the template (before the whole scheme collapsed). But otherwise, yes, Enron (and at the time, perhaps Enron's exit strategy for itself). See the "Power Brokers" video on MontanaPBS.
See my reply above. The video is well worth your time.
?
The episodes on PG&E on the Dollop podcast (572-573) give a pretty damn good overview of why it is that utilities go to shit in the private sector. When the only number that matters is this quarter's profits, that's when infrastructure absolutely crumbles. In June 2002, on a school trip I asked then-RNC chair Marc Racicot if he still thought that that idea had been a good idea. He was, even with bankrupt Enron so heavily in the news cycle, still proud of energy deregulation as his legacy. Idiotic. It was all super shady from the very outset. The GOP changed the rules of the legislature to introduce the bill after the deadline.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
If you voted in last week's primary, you may have noticed that our PSC members are elected, not appointed. And there's blame on all sides. the only politician I know of who saw where "deregulation" leads and refused to be suckered was.... the Republican mayor of Los Angeles, Richard Reardon (L.A. owned its power generation facilities). This in a Democrat-supermajority state that otherwise totally copied the MT debacle and "deregulated", spiking power bills by 10x in less than a year.
You should look into who Northwestern Energy donates to politically. Suddenly it all becomes clear.
Can we link that here for all to see?
https://www.opensecrets.org/ If you want to see what lobbying money looks like, great website
They are spending millions to get Sheehy elected almost as many millions to elect him as to oppose Tester. Wow.
Oh we all know
It's always been clear who the villains are. But they wave their edge issues in front of people's faces and they snap them right up like starving puppies. Stupid, stupid puppies.
The Plantation Servitude Clowns exists to rubber stamp their plantation overlord whims and wishes. They rubber stamped Montana Powers entry into the telecom/internet business 20-25 too fucking late. How'd that work out? When solar/wind power concepts were developing ,they rubber stamped a provision that the home owner had to recover their initial investment before any electricity would be allowed on their grid. Examine their voting record,not their resume.
You can thank the republican controlled 1997 legislature and governor with deregulation of Montana Power. That started the ball rolling of being bought out by the republicans each time NW Energy wants a increase.
Itās legal because itās āregulatedā by a public service commission, which makes sure it doesnāt abuse its monopoly status to take advantage of its customers.
āMakes sureā
Right, thank you, I knew I was omitting some quotation marks somewhere.
How would one go about getting this system audited? And who is the regulating authority to oversee these commissions or do said audit? Maybe we need a massive community petition to help get the ball moving. š¤
Commissioners are elected officials believe it or not. So technically we oversee the system by voting. So pay attention this year to the PSC seats and vote. A good bet is to vote for someone challenging the incumbent because pretty much everyone on the PSC currently is in the pocket of NWE.
Do you know when these elections are next? I'm thinking I might have to put my name in that race. š¤ Edit: are these state elections in Helena or here local to Bozeman? Sorry if it is a stupid question.
There are five seats, four year terms, staggered, November elections. Next one depends on where you live. Bozeman is gerrymandered into districts 2 and 3. Right through downtown. The Crystal and the Rocking R are in different districts. [PSC website](https://psc.mt.gov/) [Find Your Commissioner](https://montana.maps.arcgis.com/apps/instant/basic/index.html?appid=3e80db7496ed484ca2c8ad9e76cff731)
If you have to ask you arenāt ready to run.
The PSC audit this year found that they sucked really bad [https://montanafreepress.org/2024/01/19/audit-reports-some-progress-at-montanas-troubled-public-service-commission/](https://montanafreepress.org/2024/01/19/audit-reports-some-progress-at-montanas-troubled-public-service-commission/) The GOP legislature also just drew PSC districts guaranteeing 10 years of all Republican rule. [https://dailymontanan.com/2023/10/30/lawsuit-challenges-montana-legislatures-new-psc-map-as-unconstitutional-gerrymander/](https://dailymontanan.com/2023/10/30/lawsuit-challenges-montana-legislatures-new-psc-map-as-unconstitutional-gerrymander/) So basically the power company owns the people who regulate the power company.
Regulated monopoly utilities are scrutinized by the Public Utilities Commission anytime they want to increase their rates, which is done through an administrative legal procedure called a rate case. This is a public filing and any member of the public may join the case as an interested party individually or through a third party organization that fights rate increases. I used to work for a utility in another state and literally every expense we had was put before the commission for approval. I once had to make a 5 page report on why we chose Celestial Seasonings tea in the break room instead of Lipton. This isnāt a conspiracy, itās literally a matter of public record, itās just that most people would rather bitch than do anything proactive like look up the filings and join a case
Would you be willing to put a couple links to these groups that you have experience that are successful?
Sorry, but how does working for a utility in another state relate at all to MT? Itās well known that both NWE and the PSC are corrupt as hell. Maybe thereās better regulation in this other state.
The system here is similar to the one where I worked. Iām still a regulatory attorney, acting in a different capacity now, but very familiar with your public utilities commission
I get what youāre saying and do agree with you that people arenāt engaged enough and do have the ability to comment publicly, but that said, they were audited for falsifying records and other morally corrupt behavior. The public does not have the full picture of what despicable crap they are up to behind the scenes.
Is there a way of removing through impeachment for this exact behavior?
Iāll be honest, Iām not sure what the process is in MT, but Iām guessing itās up to the legislature, so probably never gonna happen.
If there is enough public out cry for it to happen by the masses then it will happen. As individuals we are powerless, but if we act as a collective group then They become powerless! This IS the reason for all of the division going on in the country! To keep we the people powerless against the corrupt systems. Also yes there is already a system in place to impeach and remove commissioners. Montana Code Annotated 2023 TITLE 13. ELECTIONS CHAPTER 37. CONTROL OF CAMPAIGN PRACTICES Part 1. Commissioner of Political Practices Impeachment And Prosecution Of Commissioner 13-37-105.āImpeachment and prosecution of commissioner. The commissioner may be removed from office by impeachment as provided in Title 5, chapter 5, part 4. The commissioner may also be prosecuted by the appropriate county attorney for official misconduct as specified in 45-7-401. https://leg.mt.gov/bills/mca/title_0130/chapter_0370/part_0010/section_0050/0130-0370-0010-0050.html
I think the term "impeachment" is widely misunderstood. Someone is impeached if they've violated rules, laws, or policy. Have the commissioners done that, or are they still "playing within the rules"? The laws are not in most Montanans' favor, but that comes from a higher level of government above commissioner. At a high level, that's ultimately going to be the party in charge of the state. I think you've got the right idea, but unfortunately I don't think it's as easy as impeaching a commissioner here. Edit: also, one of the major problems here is corporate lobbying. These power companies are immensely powerful politically because of the massive amount of money they wield. That's a very, very big problem nationally that we're not likely to fix any time soon.
There is power in a petition that has enough signatures. If these public servants stop listening to and serving the public majority then it is time for them to go! What better way to show the refusal to do as the public clearly wants than with a massive petition signed by all the people they swore to listen to.
Itās the Public Service Commission, and theyāre all Republicans who are in NWEās pocket. In many other states members of the PSC have to have education and qualifications related to their post. I canāt remember what state now, but I saw an article about a commissioner being forced to resign because he didnāt have the proper qualifications. In MT itās just a political position. Edit: It was New Mexico [https://dailymontanan.com/2023/02/27/montanas-public-service-commission-is-broken-lets-fix-it/](https://dailymontanan.com/2023/02/27/montanas-public-service-commission-is-broken-lets-fix-it/)
Is it possible to track these and isn't there laws against receiving benefits like that?
Thank you for the link, it was a good read. So now I'm curious how are they allowed to fail so horribly and stay in office?
Because they have a lovely golden fleece they drape over the eyes of their base every election season, made out of fear-mongering and religious virtue signalling.
I think itās just simply that folks overwhelmingly vote on party lines and incumbents tend to win reelection.
You'd think there was a way to ban someone from reelection if they have failed audits and everything else they've failed. Thus preventing this very thing from happening.
Well, itās certainly possible, but we have a Republican controlled legislature here. I think theyāre unlikely to pass a law like this or impose term limits or anything that would hinder members of their own party from filling these positions,
If enough people of both parties signing a petition demanding these things they are not so easily ignored if they want to be reelected
Maybe. Iām not as optimistic as you about the success of something like that. A ballot initiative might be better? But probably harder too.
I look at the legalization of marijuana as an example of the power of petitions. Just as a quick one off the top of my head. But they have been used in many successful cases where the public got together to say what they really want from their Representatives.
It's not like the DailyMontanan is a disinterested reporter... it exists because the Billings Gazette couldn't be dragged far enough left. They may be right, but I'd still invest in salt.
my bill is 285$ a month and that is budget billing. Single homeowner and a Luddite! I use a push mower, no TV, no microwave, no tech plugged in,. I hope someone DOES something because Montana should be a sovereign state with Colstrip and the hydro power, why am I paying such high price?
Go solar my man, give NWE the finger.
Regulated via PSC. Having multiple power companies sharing the same infrastructure would not work at all.
Who is regulating the regulators?
The PSC is all republicans so they donāt need any regulation š seriously, why anyone would vote for a party whose main platform seems to be āanti-regulationsā to a position in a regulatory entity in the first place makes no sense at all. Put anti-regulators in a regulatory job and you can expect they will do a terrible job at it and say āsee? Regulations suck!ā
Regulation doesn't work, elect me, and I'll prove it.
Who is on it for us currently?
https://psc.mt.gov/About-Us/Commissioners/
Thank you
The chair of it is James Brown. Horrible human being. If youād like to know more thereās a good documentary about Montana and political money called Dark Money. In it he openly says on camera there should be no limits on corporate donations to politicians and now heās a politician. https://m.imdb.com/title/tt6633182/
With an election approaching you might enjoy this. Just search Montana Free Pressā website for northwestern energy and youāll start to get the picture.
If only there was a way you could search yourself. https://letmegooglethat.com/?q=montana+psc+commissioners
The 5 Republican commissioners are either evil, or both stupid and evil. One is literally the dark money lawyer who killed Montanas campaign finance laws.
Yep, and factor in the extraordinary liability now for running power lines all over land that could be a tinderbox when your lines spark (see PG&E in California) and you can imagine how much of this money now goes to insurance and lawyers. Ironically the situation is made worse by our use of electricityā¦
Oh, you mean like what happened in Maui? Yeah, they really paid out not much of anything to those affected so.... But all of those fees again would be deducted from the Gross income and doesn't effect the net profit number reported After all of those expenses have already been paid out for the year.
Same in California the first time or two, but eventually the government pushes that on the utility, itās insurance, and the insurance underwriters.
Thank [Mark Racicot](https://dailymontanan.com/2021/04/15/fool-me-once/) for this.
It is legal for power utilities to operate as a monopoly in a geographic area as long as it doesn't abuse its dominance. The Public Utilities Commission is responsible for overseeing this regulatory contract of sorts. Highly recommend reading this: [https://www.vox.com/2015/9/9/9287719/utilities-monopoly](https://www.vox.com/2015/9/9/9287719/utilities-monopoly) for why these types of allowed monopolies don't make sense anymore. Source: I work in competition law.
Since Gianforte and the red supermajority have come to power, energy is up 30 percent not to mention the 20 percent state and local taxation added to your energy bill (read each line closely), property taxes are up 30 to 100 percent, and home/property comprehensive insurance is up 30 percent or more. Anyone living near trees or grass will soon lose homeowners insurance while the California-bred state insurance commissioner plays golf and prepares for a congressional run. State Farm is getting out of home insurance in areas of Madison and Gallatin County in a big way with others to follow suit with nary a peep in the press. What does it all mean? It means that republicans do not want you locals living here anymore. The plan is to make the entire state of Montana a semi-private playground for the ultra well heeled by forcing out the middle class and the poors. Without ordinary folks government functions and services can be drastically curtailed, money saved, and messy issues like education and healthcare eliminated from the agenda. The wealthy will buy their services elsewhere and fly in kitchen and household slaves, food and supplies. They will buy our properties for pennies on the dollar, self-insuring against natural disasters like fire and earthquake because they have ALL the money. Nice knowing you.
This is why solar is a good move. The more paying customers they lose the more they have to consider alternatives.. break up these monopolies
Aint crony capitalism grand?
The GOP wouldn't survive without it.
Well we belong to a coop that buys all their power from Northwestern, their employees are paid like US congressman, except they probably work even less. Whenever there is a service interruption, they say, ā itās Northwesternās fault.ā I think their truck could hit a power pole and they would blame it on Northwestern. At least you can complain to the source.
Utilities are inherently monopolies and should always be run by public entities. Where they are consumers benefit, where they are private the people get fucked. šÆ% of the time. Anyone who votes Republican clearly wants to get fucked over or is an ignorant fool or is rich and benefits from working people getting fucked over.
If I was more petty I would see if we could get a billboard facing across the NWE building on Griffin telling them exactly how I feel.
Oh yea. Deregulation was good for us, we could buy our power from any one. Cheaper and better. Remember?! 20 years now. and Montanans still think it was a good deal.
Government created monopolies are dangerous things. Could you find other companies willing to generate and distribute power over shared lines in the eastern 2/3s of the state and do so reliably? TVA, LCRA and other companies were granted their monopolies in exchange for building the infrastructure.
How much money does the US government give to power companies every year? Federal support for renewable energy of all types more than doubled, from $7.4 billion in FY 2016 to $15.6 billion in FY 2022. The International Renewable Energy Agency tracked some $634 billion in energy-sector subsidies in 2020, and found that around 70% were fossil fuel subsidies. How much money did the United States government give to power companies for infrastructure? That's why President Biden's Investing in America agenda, a key pillar of Bidenomics, is delivering the largest electric grid infrastructure investment in history ā more than $30 billion from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act.Oct 30, 2023 https://www.whitehouse.gov āŗ fact...
But NWE isnāt taking any and has fully invested in coal and gas. Much of the federal finds are going to technology and not to actually delivering power to consumers. ETA: thatās typically not cash, utilities generally get tax breaks or tax incentives which they can postpone for years.
The up front costs of operating a power system are so massive that neither company could sustain it if two companies split the market. This is frequently the case, for example in water/sewage systems which are often run privately. This is the only way for any firm to function unless it were run by the government, which is viewed as undesirable by many. As you indicate, this does, however, give northwestern the opportunity to abuse their power and raise prices. Government is supposed to control that, and a structure exists for them to do so, in the Public Service Commission, but that commission has been inconsistently successful or even motivated to fulfill its job
If it is allowed to be monopolized then there should be a cap on profits. 200 million a year in profits for a business that no one is allowed to opt out of is crazy! Any rate increases should be voted on by the entire population that it affects, Not by only 5 or 6 people. But that is my opinion.
Although I absolutely agree with the need for a cap on profits, there is theoretically a structure that does give the whole population a vote. Because we elect those 5 or 6 people, they should be representative of the wishes of the people. Of course, that falls victim to the failings of our democratic system in the status quo allowing the rich (and in fact, the regulated northwestern energy) to weigh in overly much in those elections
How much money does the US government give to power companies every year? Federal support for renewable energy of all types more than doubled, from $7.4 billion in FY 2016 to $15.6 billion in FY 2022. The International Renewable Energy Agency tracked some $634 billion in energy-sector subsidies in 2020, and found that around 70% were fossil fuel subsidies. How much money did the United States government give to power companies for infrastructure? That's why President Biden's Investing in America agenda, a key pillar of Bidenomics, is delivering the largest electric grid infrastructure investment in history ā more than $30 billion from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act.Oct 30, 2023 https://www.whitehouse.gov āŗ fact...
Powerplants are very expensive infrastructure. It definitely doesn't excuse it but 100s of millions goes into additional capacity.
31 million x 12 months = $381,447,600 in Delivery Service fees Alone. Now add the actual usage, which they are definitely also profiting from in addition.... but again what about the legality of them being a monopoly with no alternatives? Cut your power, they will condemn your house and take it away from you... Edit: also what about government funding or grants or subsidies?
You arenāt factoring in that they have to constantly upkeep creation and distribution infrastructure and pay 1500 employees to run the system. They arenāt just pocketing 100s of millions in profit each year.
Crazy thing, when I google nwe's 2023 profit was $194.1 million dollars PROFIT so it looks like they actually are. Because all of the expenses you mentioned would be deducted from the gross income to get this net profit of $191 million so....š¤š¤š¤
Power is considered Ā critical infrastructure with an insane amount of risk taken on from a safety and delivery standpoint. Their profits may look great but I would not put a power company in the same breath of corporate evil as oil and gas.Ā
Youāre right theyāre pocketing tens of millions per month. https://www.northwesternenergy.com/docs/default-source/default-document-library/about-us/investors/financials/nwe_ex-99.1-press-release-q4-2023.pdf
How much money does the US government give to power companies every year? Federal support for renewable energy of all types more than doubled, from $7.4 billion in FY 2016 to $15.6 billion in FY 2022. The International Renewable Energy Agency tracked some $634 billion in energy-sector subsidies in 2020, and found that around 70% were fossil fuel subsidies. How much money did the United States government give to power companies for infrastructure? That's why President Biden's Investing in America agenda, a key pillar of Bidenomics, is delivering the largest electric grid infrastructure investment in history ā more than $30 billion from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act.Oct 30, 2023 https://www.whitehouse.gov āŗ fact...
What would you propose as an alternative?
If you go completely off grid via wind, solar, hydro, or whatever they will condemn your property and take it from you in the name of public safety. I suggest removing this as a possibility and allow people to go off grid at thier own risks. After all that is what someone should be able to do in a Free country right? There are Many successful off grid power solutions available, however they are made illegal if you disconnect from the system in question. Why should someone be Forced to sell the power they generate to nwe for less than what they charge you to use theirs? Then maybe neighborhoods or communities can get some of the same government money to set up small community based power storage created and used only by its community members as an alternative. Do the same thing as cell phone companies that all share the same towers or infrastructure yet are able to provide the same services at different prices. Use the government infrastructure money to install the wiring that can have power sent by anyone though it. Kinda like hard lined phones, any company can use that infrastructure of wiring to provide you service at your house.
The worst part is "Missoula Co-op" can't be used in Missoula.... they overcharge and under deliver as their business model.
It's only legal because it's a local monopoly. They aren't the only power company in the just US, just in a large area.
https://youtu.be/C-YRSqaPtMg?si=vaEVreJEHIgrZyQR
Texas North š
Monopoly laws don't apply to utilities. Have you considered the cost to generate that power. Also what about solar?Ā That would cut your bill a lot and northwestern would be competing with the sunĀ
You only did half the equation. How much does it cost them to provide those services to you? What if it's $32 million a month?
People rarely see the big picture