MATT GOURAS Associated Press Writer HELENA
The newest member of the state Public Service Commission says the sale of NorthWestern Energy is only one piece in the biggest energy debate facing Montana in decades. Much more is at stake than proposed sale to Australia’s Babcock & Brown Infrastructure Ltd., said Democrat Ken Toole. The Legislature will decide early next year whether to re-regulate the state’s largest utility, hoping to add stability to energy prices not seen since the days of the old Montana Power Co. At the same time, the governor is touting the state as the potential home for new energy technologies, such as wind power and turning coal into gas. None of it is likely to get Montana ratepayers the same cheap power they had under Montana Power, but the decisions will dictate for years the shape of Montana’s energy policy, Toole said. “If there’s any silver lining it is that we are putting ourselves in a position where we can build a newer and better system,” said Toole, who last week won a tight election in a recount of votes cast for him and for Republican Mike Taylor. The question remains whether, and where, the different energy decisions overlap. Will utility ratepayers pick up the tab for construction of any of the new power plants? Will NorthWestern, if reregulation is approved, be forced to pay for construction of new power plants? “If private financial markets won’t invest in it, why should ratepayers?” Toole said. Greg Jergeson, chairman of the PSC, said he expects the commission will hold final hearings in March on the proposed NorthWestern sale. At the same time, he will be working with the Legislature on re-regulation efforts. Gov. Brian Schweitzer’s plans are different from the utility debates. He envisions Montana as an exporter of energy to other markets, developing Montana’s coal to fuel as cutting-edge power for everything from jet airplanes to the power-hungry homes of the Southwest. He has been out in front on the ideas, leaving audiences impressed with such ideas as pumping intermittent wind power into giant, natural underground chambers to create a constant energy source from the stored pressure. “I think the governor is absolutely doing the right thing by being the big-idea guy,” Toole said. “The details will be up to everyone else.” The re-regulation question could overlap the energy development debate if the PSC approves the NorthWestern sale and lawmakers agree to let the company own the power generation it is currently barred from building, under the deregulation laws of the late 1990s. The new company could become a player in the new energy plants that technologies such as coal gasification offer. Toole said he will resist efforts to have ratepayers guarantee a market for the energy, something that would protect NorthWestern from risk. “I really think the pre-approval schemes will put ratepayers at risk,” Toole said. “Ratepayers should not be bankers and investors.” Jergeson said pre-approval could be necessary to give the company assurance before it makes billion-dollar bets on energy plants. But he said he will push to make sure the PSC has the time it needs to evaluate proposed projects fully. “We really are at a pretty interesting point in time,” Toole said. “The good news is there is a lot of potential for good things.”
