Montana
Public Service Commission

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Ken Toole

BBI in rough financial straits
By MIKE DENNISON of the Missoulian State Bureau

HELENA - A year after state regulators rejected an Australian investment group's offer to buy Montana's largest utility, the company is in financial turmoil - and regulators are relieved they said no.

Commissioner Ken Toole, D-Helena, said one reason he voted “no” on the NorthWestern buyout last year is because Babcock & Brown's business model relied too much on “acquiring and leveraging” other companies.

“There was a real question in my mind if that was sustainable,” he said. “This idea that free-market economics and constant expansion are the dominant way to do everything, including delivering utility service, is questionable. I think we dodged a bullet.”
Read the rest of the story HERE

Qwest offers 16 Million Bill Reduction.
HELENA, Mont. (AP) Qwest Communications is offering a $16 million reduction in customers' bills
to settle a complaint that it was overcharging Montana consumers.
The settlement stems from a complaint current Public Service Commissioner Ken Toole filed in 2006 when he was running for office. It must still be approved by the commission.
Read the rest of the story HERE.

State needs political will on PPL

By KEN TOOLE - Your Turn - 01/25/08

It is easy to be cynical these days. A case in point is the recent flap about Pennsylvania Power and Light including political concessions in its contract negotiations for power purchases with NorthWestern Energy.

But before we get to that we need a re-cap. The Legislature deregulated the old Montana Power Company. As a result, Montana Power sold the dams on our rivers and its interest in the coal-fired power plants to Pennsylvania Power. In the new, deregulated environment the only restriction on the price Pennsylvania Power could charge us was competition from other suppliers in the market place ... there aren’t many. Consumers in Montana have seen dramatic price increases while purchasing the bulk of our power from the deregulated Pennsylvania Power. Read the rest of the story HERE

No law broken in Green Taxi decision
January 18, 2008
By KEN TOOLE

“Fatuous and piffling”! Holy cow! These are the words used by Montana Public Service Commissioner Doug Mood in describing my vote in the Green Taxi proceeding before the Public Service Commission (guest column, Jan. 11).
Read the rest of the story HERE

PSC commissioner says PPL acted 'unethically'

By The Associated Press - 01/18/08

Montana Public Service Commissioner Ken Toole says PPL Montana tried to pressure NorthWestern Energy into accepting the company's legislative agenda.

Toole called it ''unethical'' for PPL to seek such a guarantee as part of its 2006 price negotiations with NorthWestern. NorthWestern buys much of its energy from PPL then markets it to consumers.

''To negotiate contracts using their economic position of power in order to extract political concessions in the legislative arena is unethical,'' Toole told the Great Falls Tribune.
Read the rest of the story HERE

Montana PSC member concerned by reports of Alberta spying.
The Associated Press
EDMONTON, Alberta — A member of Montana’s Public Service Commission says he’s concerned about allegations that Alberta’s Energy and Utilities Board spied on landowners opposed to a massive power line.
Read the rest of the story HERE.

NorthWestern announces Montana-Idaho transmission line.

PSC Commissioner Ken Toole said the project could face stiff resistance from people who don't want a power line running near their homes in western Montana.

He said it's unclear whether it will impact ratepayers served by the utility.

"My impression is that this is a power line that is predominantly about export and making money on bulk transactions," Toole said.

Toole said ratepayers should be protected by "ring-fencing" if the proposed transmission line proves to be a financial disaster for NorthWestern.

Toole said it's possible the transmission line, along with a separate line proposed between Great Falls and Alberta, could help electricity customers by making the regional grid more efficient.
Read the entire story HERE

St. Mary’s project and the wind

By KEN TOOLE - 06/01/07

One of the biggest public works projects Montana has seen in years is the rehabilitation of the St. Mary’s canal. The canal takes water from high in the mountains of the Blackfeet Reservation to the Milk River drainage to the east. This project is vital to the economic health and well being of communities across the Hi-Line. Most people think about St. Mary’s canal as a water project for irrigators and municipalities. There are other potential benefits in the project as well. More on this story go HERE

PSC shows favoritism to exclusive Yellowstone Club

A Yellowstone Club’s request that essentially bars meter readers and power line workers from unannounced access to its exclusive gated community was approved by Montana’s Public Service Commission on Thursday, but not without a caustic dissent by Commissioner Ken Toole on the culture of private communities.
More on this story HERE

My Dissent re. Yellowstone Mountain club request.

Increasingly, Montana is addressing the impacts of being considered a “play ground” state. Many Montanans find themselves locked out of their traditional recreational areas because those places have been bought by people who restrict public access. Places to hunt are getting harder to find as outfitters enter agreements with land owners to reserve prime hunting areas for their wealthy, out-of-state clients. Access to rivers for fishing is being rationed by permits as fisheries see more and more pressure from hopeful anglers.

One of the more disturbing aspects of this kind of growth in our state is the presence of people with profound wealth who build opulent, often part-time, residences and then move to insulate themselves from the rest of the community.
Read the complete document HERE

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