Latest news with #Montanans'
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Montana Public Service Commission finally stands up to NorthWestern Energy
Electricity pylons (Photo by Getty Images). It's fair to say Montanans have been raked over the coals for electricity costs by the utility companies that have followed in the wake of the disastrous utility deregulation bill passed by the 1997 Legislature and signed into law by then-Gov. Marc Racicot. The faulty premise on which the measure was sold to the Legislature was that Montanans would enjoy lower electricity costs thanks to customers having 'choice' to shop among the various utilities that were supposed to materialize. But that didn't happen. The opponents to the measure cited the simple fact that Montana already had the lowest price for electricity in the region, thanks in large part because Montana customers had already paid the Montana Power Company, as a regulated monopoly, to build and maintain a series of hydroelectric dams. As one long-time lineman quipped 'you can't make electricity cheaper than water running downhill.' Driven by the Montana Power Company's intent to change from a utility to a telecommunications company, Touch America, the 200+ page bill was jammed through in the last weeks of the session with most legislators having no idea what was in it — nor the consequences of their actions. Yet the Republican legislative majorities voted to grant Montana Power's wish, bolstered by the Butte Democrats — except for brave Danny Harrington who didn't kow-tow to the utility. It was arguably the worst decision ever made by Montana's lawmakers and governor. First to go were the dams, which were sold to an out-of-state utility, Pennsylvania Power and Light. Next to go was the Montana Power Company itself, taking with it the pensions and stock holdings of Montanans who thought of it as 'our' power company. Then Touch America, headed by Bob Gannon, the former CEO of the Montana Power Company, went bankrupt. In the meantime, Montanans' electricity bills began their skyward climb as the dams were sold yet again, each time for a higher price, that was then loaded on customers. Realizing the extent of the damage caused by the deregulation debacle, the Legislature finally decided to re-regulate in 2001. NorthWestern Energy is now our 'regulated' electricity supplier since acquiring the system in 2000. It's fair to say Montana's Public Service Commission has not been diligent in holding down rates, which have gone from the lowest to the highest in the region. But here's the good news. Thanks to Brad Molnar, who was a commissioner from 2004-2012, was re-elected in 2024, and is now the new president of the Commission, NorthWestern has finally hit resistance to its unending requests for rate increases. In a tremendous article, Daily Montanan's deputy editor, Keila Szpaller, lays out in detail Molnar's firm stance against the increase. Citing a 50-year old law, NorthWestern claims the Commission did not take timely action and raised rates nearly 17% on May 25 without Commission approval. Molnar says the increase 'will be crushing to many low-income people, many of whom are simply elderly, that are being handed their butts every day in property tax increases, in utilities, insurance for their houses, insurance for their cars. You name it. This is a very, very bad time to be a poor person, and this will make it worse.' If the rate increase is unjustified, NorthWestern will have to refund the over-charge plus 10%. As Molnar put it: 'It is time for them to grow up and quit playing the victim and actually take responsibility for their actions.' We'll see what happens, but for now, Montanans owe a debt of gratitude to Commissioner Molnar for finally standing up to NorthWestern instead of rubber-stamping their endless rate increases.
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
The Gallatin River is crying, ‘Mayday, mayday, mayday!'
An algal bloom in the Gallatin River (Photo courtesy of Upper Missouri Waterkeeper). 'Mayday, mayday, mayday' is not a celebration of the first day of May, but 'an emergency procedure word used internationally as a distress signal' for a life-threatening emergency. And right now, it's the once-pristine Gallatin River crying 'mayday' as it faces the life-threatening emergency of being further — and most likely permanently — degraded by the Big Sky area's sewage and nutrients. How bad is it? Well, the Department of Environmental Quality just approved yet another application for a 45-condo development using septic systems within a quarter mile of the already-hammered river. Mind you, this is after the Gallatin was formally declared 'impaired' last year due to nutrient overload which now feeds the neon green algae blooms in this once gin-clear river downstream from Big Sky. The state agency is obviously ignoring the fact that putting even more nutrients in the Gallatin will only exacerbate its 'impaired' status — the exact opposite of what 'regulatory' agencies are supposed to do to uphold Montanans' 'inalienable right to a clean and healthful environment' (according to the state's constitution, Article II, Section 3), as well as the constitutional mandate that 'the state and each person shall maintain and improve a clean and healthful environment in Montana for present and future generations.' (Article IX, Section 1) It's tough to find any other interpretation of those plain language constitutional guarantees than if there's already an environmental pollution problem, the onus is on the state to 'maintain and improve' the environment, not approve and allow even more pollution. Gov. Greg Gianforte, a religious man, swore an oath on the Bible to uphold the Constitution — but that obviously doesn't mean much when the big money at Big Sky wants yet more overdevelopment and more pollution. This is the second phase of the Quarry development which, as reported by Brett French, wants '136 single-family condos, 130 multifamily condos and 11 mixed-use buildings.' Yet, that's just a tiny fraction of the 1,354 additional homes the Big Sky Resort Area District says it will need in the next three years as housing for their underpaid workers. What's even more shocking is the fact this decision comes only days after the release of a hydrogeologic study by Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology that compared the undeveloped side of the Gallatin with the Big Sky side. Their conclusion? The aquifer is 'shallow, unconfined, and vulnerable to contamination.' In other words, the septic effluent has a short trip from the drain field to the aquifer to the Gallatin. In the meantime, DEQ is claiming that most of the nitrogen polluting the Gallatin is 'natural' — and that septic effluent is only a minor input. Which begs the question: How was it possible that the Gallatin ran clear and clean for thousands of years before Big Sky, the Yellowstone Club, and the ever-growing cluster of real estate developments started dumping their waste on the mountain and in the river? It's no mystery where the nutrients causing the algae blooms are coming from — and no, it's not from the bison in Yellowstone National Park. It's from the pollution emanating from this bizarre enclave of the wealthy stuffed into a narrow canyon with nowhere for their waste to go but down to the Gallatin. In short, what we're seeing is an abject failure of Montana's so-called 'environmental regulatory' agency — aided and abetted by the Gallatin County Commissioners who, when the rich say 'jump,' they jump to approve. As for a 'clean and healthy environment for present and future generations of Montanans' — without enforcement that prescient mandate of our Constitution is just words on paper as the Gallatin River cries 'mayday, mayday, mayday' to deaf ears.
Yahoo
11-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Gianforte poll numbers steady in second term
Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte gives his inauguration address at the Montana State Capitol on Jan. 6, 2025. (Micah Drew/Daily Montanan). Most Montanans have a positive view of Gov. Greg Gianforte in the early months of his second term in office, according to new poll data released Thursday. Morning Consult surveys conducted from January through March of this year show Gianforte has a 56% approval rating among Montanans, with 34% of respondents disapproving of his job performance. The Montana Republican Party congratulated Gianforte's numbers, saying it indicated 'strong standing with Republicans, reflecting the trust Montanans have placed in his leadership following his re-election.' 'Montanans' strong approval of Governor Greg Gianforte reflects their continued support for his commitment to conservative Republican principles like cutting taxes, supporting small businesses, and protecting our Montana way of life,' Montana GOP Chairman Don 'K' Kaltschmidt said in a statement. 'The Montana GOP stands in strong support of Governor Gianforte and his pro-jobs, pro-growth, pro-family agenda.' The governor's proposals have met some resistance in the legislature from more conservative members of his party, while Republican legislators more closely aligned with his agenda were recently censured by the state GOP. Since being elected in 2020, Gianforte's approval rating reached a high of 61% during 2021, and hit lows of 49%, most recently during the third quarter of 2024 leading up to his re-election. Gianforte won his second term in November 2024 over Democrat Ryan Buysse by 22 points. Morning Consult, a political research firm, tracks approval ratings for all 50 state governors throughout their tenure and releases quarterly results. Gianforte has the 16th highest approval rating among all governors, and seventh highest among Republicans. Phil Scott, the Republican governor of Vermont, has the highest approval rating from state residents, at 75%, while Kim Reynolds, a Republican from Iowa, has the highest disapproval rating from residents, at 49%. The Morning Consult's reported results for gubernatorial approval tracking is based on a three-month roundup of daily surveys, with the latest release reflecting surveys conducted from January through March of 2025. Margins of errors among registered voters vary by state.
Yahoo
04-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Who does our Congressional delegation stand with? Montana or Trump?
Sen. Tim Sheehy, R-Montana, speaks to Kaitlan Collins on CNN about the Trump tariffs, confirming that Americans will feel economic pain (Screenshot CNN). There's no other way to put it — the insane global tariff war Donald Trump started will have disastrous consequences for our country and international trade across the globe, a flood of which have already begun. Yet, despite the widely-predicted impacts to many, if not all, of Montana's economic and social sectors, our all-Republican congressional delegation somehow thinks their partisan loyalty to an arguably deranged president is more important than taking care of their constituents. Let's see, do Reps. Ryan Zinke and Troy Downing, Sens. Steve Daines and Tim Sheehy, think the crashing global stock market is a wonderful thing for Montanans' retirement investments? The crashing is indisputable — the DOW dropped a stunning 1,600 points at its first opening after Trump's tariff tragedy struck. Yet, all four of these mighty MAGA warriors are as quiet as church mice, hiding in their Congressional offices instead of exercising their Constitutionally-established function as a separate-but-equal branch of government providing checks and balances on executive excesses. And make no mistake, this executive is setting new records for abuse of power and lack of respect for and adherence to the Constitution. Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution vests the power to lay and collect tariffs with the Oval Office. Which begs the question — why oh why would Montana's congressional delegation willingly give up that authority when dire consequences for their own constituents are at stake? Given that a huge chunk of Montana's economy is directly dependent upon agricultural production — and the ability to sell those products internationally — who would ever cede control over that complex web of global trade to a guy whose apparent understanding of agricultural production is: 'Groceries. It's such an old-fashioned term, but a beautiful term: groceries. It sort of says a bag with different things in it.' Or, in his more detailed explanation: 'The word 'grocery,' it's a sort of simple word. But it sort of means, like, everything you eat.' For someone who doesn't even understand what groceries are, how can we expect him to understand that almost everything in every hardware and appliance store in the U.S. is 'Made in China' when he slaps a 34% tariff on those imports? When do you figure the last time Trump bought a garden hose, a dishwasher, refrigerator or even a screwdriver? 'Never' would be the right answer. And that says nothing about parts for your cars, trucks, tractors, backhoes, appliances…you know, the necessities of life, particularly in a rural state like Montana. It's worth remembering that our GOP delegation has made cutting taxes one of their primary goals. Yet, according to economists, the new tariff war will be the single largest tax increase on Americans in the last 30 years and 'will cost American importers about $2.1 trillion in additional taxes over the next decade, costs that are passed along to consumers, according to a Tax Foundation estimate.' GOP Sen. Rand Paul has already predicted the tariffs will result in the 'decimation' of the Republican Party. If Montana's congressional delegation won't stand up for their constituents as the mass layoffs, price increases, market crashes and economic uncertainty ravage the nation, maybe they'll at least act to preserve their own political party. The Trade Review Act of 2025 has already been introduced in reaction to the Trump tariff disaster. Montana's Congressional delegation must cease silently kneeling at the MAGA throne and support this bill to restore limits on a president's ability to impose unilateral tariffs without congressional approval — or give up the phony charade of protecting the future for Montanans and our nation.
Yahoo
03-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Poll: Montana voters highly supportive of conservation initiatives
A motorcyclist enjoys the view from Bird Woman Falls Overlook along Going-to-the-Sun Road. (Photo via Glacier National Park) A poll released last month confirmed support for conservation policies is high among Montanans and a majority of voters are concerned over the future of public lands, clean air and water — positions at odds with actions taken by many of Montana's elected officials. However, Montanans' views on climate change have drastically shifted over the last year, with the percentage saying climate change is not a problem at its highest level since 2020. That's according to the 15th-annual Colorado College's Conservation in the West Poll, which surveyed the views of Montanans and voters in seven other western states — Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming. The bipartisan survey was conducted by Republican pollster Lori Weigel of New Bridge Strategy and Democratic pollster Dave Metz of Fairbank, Maslin, Maullin, Metz & Associates. Results from the poll show high overall support for conservation initiatives across the West, with many stances crossing state, partisan and demographic lines. Of the Montanans surveyed, 40% of respondents self-described as conservative, 41% self-described as moderate, and 18% as liberal. 'The consensus favoring public lands conservation remains consistent and strong in the West,' Katrina Miller-Stevens, former director of the State of the Rockies Project, which runs the annual poll, said in a statement. 'Westerners do not want to see a rollback of national monument protections, and there is no mandate for oil and gas development. Voters from all political ideologies are united in support of public land conservation in the West.' Following the 2024 election, which put Republican President Donald Trump in office with a GOP-controlled Congress, pollsters asked voters how they view conservation issues around clean air, clean water, public lands and wildlife compared to other key issues like oil and gas development and the economy. Across the spectrum, 72% of voters said they prefer their elected officials in Congress place more emphasis on protecting water, air quality, wildlife habitat and recreation opportunities rather than maximizing domestic energy development — the highest percent in poll history. In Montana, 68% of voters responded the same way, a single-point drop from the 2024 survey, and the lowest of all western states except Wyoming. On specific policy proposals, Montanans overwhelmingly favored pro-conservation initiatives, including requiring oil and gas companies pay for clean-up and land restoration costs (95%); putting conservation on a higher priority level than oil and gas drilling (78%); allowing private landowners to create conservation easements (92%); opposing reducing protections for species listed under the Endangered Species Act (63%); and letting career professionals such as rangers, scientists and firefighters make decisions about public lands, water, and wildlife rather than newly appointed officials (86%). However, Montanans' views on climate change have shifted from last year, with only 63% of respondents saying climate change is an issue, a 10% drop from 2024, and the lowest level since 2020. Roughly the same portion — 65% — of Montanans said they support reducing carbon pollution that contributes to climate change. Last year, the Montana Supreme Court ruled to uphold a decision in the Held v. Montana court case that found Montanans' right to a 'clean and healthful environment' included a right to a stable climate system. In response, a series of bills is currently passing through the Montana Legislature aimed at altering the Montana Environmental Policy Act, some which would limit state agencies from basing permitting decisions on environmental analyses. Several questions related to policy proposals have been spotlighted by the federal government in recent weeks. Thousands of federal workers have been laid off by the Trump administration since Valentine's Day, including many working at public lands agencies. But respondents to the poll showed overwhelming support and approval for agencies tasked with overseeing national forests, parks, and other public land. Voters overwhelmingly approve of the work done by the National Park Service (86%), U.S. Forest Service (79%), the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (75%) and the Bureau of Land Management (62%). Three quarters of all voters said they oppose cutting funding for those agencies. A majority of all voters — 83% of Republicans and 97% of Democrats — said national monuments should keep existing protections. During President Trump's first term, he reduced the size of two monuments in Utah, and federal officials last month announced a review of national monument boundaries. Another question asked whether voters support expanding commercial logging operations by private companies on national forest and other public lands. Fifty-five percent of Montanans — 60% of all western respondents — opposed expanding logging operations. But over the weekend, President Trump signed an executive order directing federal agencies to examine ways to bypass environmental regulations, including endangered species protections, to ramp up timber production across 280 million acres of national forests and other public lands, according to the New York Times. Among all those surveyed, one in 10 reported visiting national public lands in the last year, with 42% visiting at least six times. 'This is something that really makes this region of the country unique,' pollster Dave Metz said during a press call. 'The large amount of public lands and its accessibility to areas of all the population centers in these states really makes it something that is not just an abstract concept to voters in the west, it's something that's part of their day to day lives and it's a central part of what they enjoy about living in the west.' The 2025 Colorado College Conservation in the West Poll surveyed at least 400 registered voters in each of the eight western states — 404 Montanans — for a total sample size of 3,316 voters, which included an over-sample of Black and Native American voters. The survey was conducted between Jan. 3 and Jan. 17. The poll's effective margin of error is +2.46% at the 95% confidence interval for the total sample, and, at most, +4.9% for each state. The poll is funded by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. The full survey and individual state surveys are available on the State of the Rockies website.
