18 April 2022 — 0655 mdt
Repke has the résumé utility executives fear
Why Flathead Memo supports John Repke for the Democratic nomination for District 5 MT Public Service Commissioner
By James Conner
John Repke, a man with decades of experience in high level corporate finance, is by far the better qualified of the two Democrats seeking their party’s nomination for the District 5 seat on Montana’s Public Service Commission.
First, a brief review of utility regulation in Montana. Then, why Democrats should vote for Repke.
Utility regulation in Montana
According to Trevor Graff, writing in September, 2019, for the Montana Legislature’s Energy & Telecommunications Interim Committee:
Public utility regulation began in Montana with the founding of the 3-member Board of Railroad Commissioners. The legislature created the board in 1907, before later expanding the jurisdiction of the commission to include public utilities. Prior to the legislature’s 1974 expansion of the commission, 3 commissioners were elected statewide to 6-year staggered terms. In 1974, the legislature expanded the commission to its current 5-members serving 4-year terms, elected from regional districts. The commissioners elect their own chairman every other year. Today, the PSC regulates the rates and service quality for investor owned electric, natural gas, water, waste-water, and legacy telecommunication companies. The PSC also oversees rail and pipeline safety regulations in the state and certain motor carriers, including garbage trucks and passenger carriers.
The PSC does not regulate Montana’s rural electric cooperatives, the largest of which serves the Flathead.
Most states appoint utility regulators. Because the job deals with highly technical and complicated issues of energy and energy economics, and involves the execution, not the making, of law, most states appoint their utility regulators. Appointed utility regulators usually possess advanced degrees in relevant subjects.
Montana, however, is one of just 13 states that elects its utility regulators.
Candidates for the MT PSC must live in the district they represent, and probably must be qualified electors, meaning they must be at least 18 years old and registered to vote. As I read the law, a high school dropout, or a person expelled from high school, a person with no formal education, even an illiterate, is legally qualified to serve on the Montana Public Service Commission.
According to the market intelligence firm S&P Global reports:
Commissioners serving at 35 state-level utility regulatory agencies nationwide are selected by the state’s governor; in Washington, D.C., commissioners are selected by the mayor. The U.S. president selects the members of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. In two jurisdictions, Massachusetts and Tennessee, commissioners are appointed by individuals other than the chief executive of the jurisdiction.
The commissioners at seven agencies are selected through statewide direct voter elections, while commissioners in six jurisdictions are elected by district. Commissioners in two jurisdictions, South Carolina and Virginia, are elected by the General Assembly.
Montana should appoint its PSC commissioners. I believe Montana’s constitution should be amended to require that (a) PSC commissioners be appointed by the governor with senate confirmation, and (b) formal educational and experience requirements for serving on the commission be set by Montana’s legislature. That would not be a foolproof system, but it would put a stop to termed out legislators using the PSC as a place to take down 100 grand trying to do a job for which they are not qualified.
Why Democrats should vote for Repke
John Repke has a masters degree in finance and four decades of experience in high level corporate finance. Repke is the only Democrat seeking the PSC-5 nomination whose professional credentials would meet what would be required of an appointed commissioner.
Repke can read a balance sheet, a highly technical staff report, a utility’s devious application for a dubious rate increase. No fast talking utility executive will bamboozle him. He will know what questions to ask, how to ask them, and won’t be distracted by red herrings. His résumé is exactly what utility executives fear in a utility regulator.
Finally, as a Whitefish resident, Repke is not part of the political establishment in Helena. He’s an honest man stepping forward to represent ratepayers and to clean up the mess at the PSC. If he’s the Democrat’s nominee, many Republicans will vote for him if their nominee is Derek Skees or Ann Bukacek. I do not believe that can be said for Helena’s Kevin Hamm, Repke’s primary opponent.
Repke’s website is http://www.repke4psc5.com. He needs all the help you can provide.