Democrats file in two of three open Montana Public Service Commission seats

Montana Public Service Commission (via PSC Twitter account).

One familiar Republican and a couple of new Democrats are among the candidates who hopped into the Public Service Commission races in the last few days before filing closed Monday.

Three districts are up for grabs. The primary is June 4.

Brad Molnar, a longtime Republican legislator and former Public Service Commissioner, put in a bid for a seat in District 2, generally south-central Montana. Molnar served two terms on the PSC, from 2005 to 2013.

Molnar will face off against Republican and former commissioner Kirk Bushman. Bushman served one term, from 2013 to 2016, but lost in 2016 to Commissioner Tony O’Donnell. Bushman works for mining company Sibanye-Stillwater, according to his LinkedIn page.

The Public Service Commission regulates monopoly utilities such as NorthWestern Energy, and currently, all five commissioners are Republicans.

The PSC has been in the public eye recently because commissioners have approved significant rate hikes requested by both NorthWestern and Montana-Dakota Utilities.

As a result, residential and business customers are seeing power bills soar, and at least one other request for an increase is already in the pipeline from NorthWestern.

This year, Sheila Hogan, head of the Montana Democratic Party, pledged members of her party would run in each of the three open districts, and Democrats filed in two of the three.

In District 2, Democrat Susan Bilo of Bozeman is running. Bilo teaches energy and sustainability for Gallatin College, according to her Montana State University biography. Her bio notes she is an energy professional who has worked for the state and federal energy offices.

In recent days, a Democrat also filed in District 3, southwest through central Montana.

Leonard “Lenny” Williams of Butte is a labor leader and Democrat, and MTN News reported in 2023 he was president of the Southwestern Montana Labor Council.

No new Republican candidates filed in District 3 in the last week.

Republicans in the race are state Sen. Jeff Welborn, of Dillon, who has served eight terms in the Montana Legislature and pledged to scrutinize utility rate increases; Rob Elwood, of Harlowton, a former councilman who ran for the PSC as an independent in 2020; and Suzzann Nordwick, of Butte, whose campaign website describes her as an engineer who wants to advance energy independence.

A new candidate also filed in District 4 in the last week. Only Republicans are running in the northwest Montana region.

Republican Al Dunlap of Saint Regis will compete against incumbent Commissioner Jennifer Fielder. Dunlap is a managing broker and owner of Coldwell Banker Regent Realty.

Fielder was first elected to the PSC in 2020 after serving in the state Senate. She was previously CEO of the American Lands Council, which lists her as acting CEO. The organization’s goals include “economic productivity on federally controlled public lands,” according to Fielder’s campaign.

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