Sen. Greg Lind, D-Missoula, and proponents of publicly owned utilities told the Senate Natural Resources and Energy Committee that Montana's energy consumers would be better off if the state owned NorthWestern Energy.
''Public power has strong support in Montana even though it doesn't have a long history,'' said Mike Kadas, the head of a group of cities that failed to buy the South Dakota-based energy company that sells electricity to more than 300,000 customers in Montana. ''It's time for the state to step up to this issue.''
Proponents of Lind's bill said a state-owned Northwestern would provide stability to electric and gas consumers and keep more money in Montana.
But John Fitzpatrick, a lobbyist for NorthWestern, urged the committee not to ''run head long into a social experiment using Montana's citizens as guinea pigs.''
As it stands, NorthWestern's shareholders shoulder the risks of the company failing, he said. But if a state-owned utility failed, customers would be the ones to ''feel the pain,'' Fitzpatrick said.
Lind countered that the return NorthWestern's shareholders demand would be used to improve the company's infrastructure.
Fitzpatrick added that Montanans actually would have no say in a publicly owned energy utility because all the financing for the purchase would be in loans.
''The bankers and investment companies will run the show,'' he said.
But proponents of Lind's bill said there are more than 2,000 public power systems in the United States with proven track records.
''It's not new. It's not an experiment,'' said John Miller, a director of public finance at Citigroup.
Montana has one of the lowest percentages of per-capita public power customers in the nation at 0.02 percent, according to the American Public Power Association.
Lind's bill is 558.
|
 |
 |
Add your comment now! Write your comment in the form below.
(Email address is for verification only. If you'd like to email a story, look for the link above)