By Peg Brownlee, Ravalli Republic
In a seemingly small but important way, the Public Service Commission is seeking a rule change at their hearing on August 2 to limit the ability of the public (the “P” in PSC) to participate in the decisions made by the PSC. (see Tom Lutey’s Missoulian article June 30, “PSC Wants to Clamp Down on Public Participation”) For instance, input from organizations such as the Montana Environmental Information Center could be minimized or eliminated completely.
The PSC is a small but powerful government agency composed of elected individuals. It controls utility rates and is supposed to “balance the interests of ratepayers with the need to maintain financially sound utilities” (see psc.mt.gov).
