Independent candidate Elena Evans cleared to run for PSC

Political newcomer Elena Evans of Missoula has qualified to appear on the November ballot as an independent candidate for the Public Service Commission, which weighs the interests of monopoly utilities against the concerns of customers.

Secretary of state spokesperson Richie Melby confirmed Thursday that Evans collected enough signatures to appear on the general election ballot for PSC District 4, which includes much of Missoula, the far northwestern corner of Montana and the northern portion of the Bitterroot Valley. In an email to Montana Free Press, Melby said the secretary of state’s office has verified more than 5,000 signatures. The threshold for appearing on the ballot is 3,050 signatures.

Evans will face District 4’s incumbent commissioner Jennifer Fielder, the commission’s vice president.

Evans, Missoula County’s environmental health manager, said she was inspired to run for the seat after the commission voted to approve a 28% increase in rates for NorthWestern Energy’s residential electricity customers. Evans argues that voters should have options on the commission, particularly as they “figure out how to make their budgets work and stretch in this kind of economy.”

“It’s disappointing that folks who get a really decent salary to fulfill this job aren’t necessarily participating to the fullest extent,” said Evans, a Wisconsin native who moved to Montana to earn a master’s degree in geology from the University of Montana. 

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The week before the Public Service Commission was set to hold a hearing on NorthWestern Energy’s proposed $120 million electricity and natural gas rate increase, the utility company announced it had reached a settlement agreement with four parties previously opposed to its proposal. As a result, Montana’s elected, all-Republican utility board spent much of last week reviewing that settlement agreement in an occasionally tense public hearing rather than combing through the details of NorthWestern’s initial proposal to raise residential electricity rates by 25% and natural gas base rates by about $14 million, as previously planned.

by Amanda Eggert 04.17.202304.17.2023

Evans said inadequate oversight of shareholder-owned utility companies like NorthWestern Energy has widespread repercussions, even for individuals who aren’t their customers, since they may be purchasing goods or services that are more expensive due to rising electricity costs. She added that Montana’s competitiveness, or lack thereof, on the electricity front has economic consequences that ripple throughout the state. 

“There seems to be a kind of anti-technology sentiment, and I think that’s something that isn’t serving the citizens of Montana,” she said. “It drives what businesses are interested in coming to the state and setting up shop.”

While three of the commission’s five seats will be decided in November, Fielder is the lone incumbent appearing on general election ballots. She did not respond to a request for comment on Evans’ candidacy. 

Fielder’s campaign website describes her as someone who brings professionalism and an independent, “liberty-leaning” orientation to the commission. Fielder argues that her oversight of complex regulatory matters before the PSC has saved Montana utility customers millions of dollars.

Fielder says she spearheaded the agency’s strategic planning initiatives, modernized the agency’s software and overhauled its internal policies and procedures. “All of which,” she wrote on her website, “have created higher standards of service, performance and conduct throughout the agency.”

Like her colleagues on the commission, Fielder voted to approve NorthWestern Energy’s rate increase in 2023, a decision that has drawn criticism from some NorthWestern customers. Fielder defended that vote in a later proceeding that upheld the rate increase.

​​“I wish that prices across the board were not up so high in this country the way they are, but I believe the commission did its best that it could with the parameters that have been given to us under the law,” Fielder said.

Evans said she’s been personally impacted by the rate hike: She said she decided to put her family on NorthWestern Energy’s budget billing program — which averages out electricity usage over the course of a year to shield ratepayers against seasonal spikes when electricity requirements surge — after the January cold snap that set records for electricity demand.

Asked about a petition 41 businesses and nonprofits submitted to the commission asking it to incorporate climate impacts into its regulatory oversight of utilities, Evans said she supports petitioners’ right to make the request, but declined to say whether she would vote to support it.

“I think the clear thing is right now the way in which the commission is engaging with NorthWestern … isn’t helping people out,” she said. “I don’t know if this is the path for that or not. It’s a very specific path.”

Evans said she’s looking forward to continuing conversations with her would-be constituents as a continuation of the signature-collecting effort that involved more than 150 volunteers. 

“I’m really excited about the possibility of representing western Montana and getting around and talking to folks from Eureka, Superior and everywhere in between,” Evans said.

The election is Nov. 5, 2024.