The top recommendation from Gov. Greg Gianforte's energy task force is a significant one: Montana should consider scrapping its elected Public Service Commission in favor of an appointed body. The Governor's Office released the task force's findings Tuesday, and the PSC restructuring proposal leads a list of changes the group says are needed to stabilize and modernize the state's energy framework.
The PSC currently consists of five commissioners elected by district, a structure that has been in place for decades. Shifting to an appointed commission would represent one of the most consequential changes to utility oversight in Montana in recent memory, removing direct voter control over the body that sets electricity and natural gas rates for hundreds of thousands of residents, including those served by NorthWestern Energy here in Helena.
Beyond the PSC question, the task force also recommends that the Legislature and the Gianforte administration establish a formal coordinating body that would pull together leaders from multiple state energy agencies. The idea, as described in the released report, is to create unified executive-branch leadership on energy policy rather than leaving individual agencies to operate in silos. The task force did not specify which agencies would be included or who would chair such a group.
The recommendations now head to the Legislature, where they could surface as bill proposals in the next session. Any move to change how PSC commissioners are selected would require a statutory change at minimum, and depending on how the restructuring is framed, potentially a constitutional question as well. For Helena residents who heat their homes with natural gas and have watched utility rate cases move through the PSC in recent years, who sits on that commission — and how they get there — is not an abstract question.