New group put more than $500K into Montana Public Service Commission race

Montana Public Service Commission (via PSC Twitter account).

In one Public Service Commission race this week, incumbent Republican Jennifer Fielder walloped her challenger despite an infusion of cash by an independent committee for her opponent late in the campaign.

Independent Elena Evans, who criticized Fielder for supporting recent steep rate increases the PSC approved, had raised significantly more money than Fielder on her own.

Then, an independent committee, the Montana Ratepayers Association, reported raising nearly $500,000 for the race to support Evans and defeat Fielder.

Evans lost her campaign anyway, but the windfall of six figures is an anomaly in these races.

Neither the Montana Ratepayers Association nor its dark money funder, American Jobs and Energy Security, returned requests for comment from the Daily Montanan.

However, a political analyst said the big money may be an attempted warning to the Public Service Commission to reconsider its energy priorities — and a state senator and newly elected PSC member said he fears it is and could affect future campaigns.

State Sen. Brad Molnar, a Republican who also previously served on the PSC, noted the push of money in the race in a news release last week.

He said he wanted to alert Montanans that a "moneyball" awaits commissioners who don't support the agenda of the funders, citing another donor, the Climate Cabinet Action.

Based in San Francisco, the organization identifies itself as using a "moneyball" approach — identifying and supporting under-the-radar politicians who back climate initiatives. Records show it gave $20,000 to the Montana Ratepayers Association.

The American Jobs group then gave $475,000.

"We do not know the donors' motives in funding the Montana Ratepayers Association, but plainly it is not open/fair elections or consumer protection," said Molnar, himself a previous and future Public Service Commissioner, in a statement.

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The Public Service Commission, made up of five commissioners elected by district, has been criticized for approving high rate increases for energy utilities.

Detractors also argue the PSC, currently all Republican, has been slow to encourage more affordable and sustainable power sources for Montana consumers.

Earlier this year, a coalition of 40 businesses and other organizations submitted a formal request asking the Public Service Commission to consider the adverse impacts of greenhouse gas emissions in utility regulation.

The climate petition is pending.

Most of the late push of more than half a million dollars into the race came from the American Jobs and Energy Security group, which lists its purpose as to support clean energy candidates and initiatives.

The group could not be reached for comment through phone numbers and an email address on file with its registration with the Commissioner of Political Practices.

American Jobs and Energy Security reported sending $475,000 later in September and $40,000 later in October to the Montana Ratepayers Association, plus additional in-kind contributions.

The Montana Ratepayers Association reported spending part of the money on "creative testing," or polling research, and the bulk of it on digital and print advertising to support Evans.

In an interview last Friday, political analyst Lee Banville said large infusions of dark money are unusual in down-ballot races in Montana. However, he said they have taken place before, such as in Montana Supreme Court races.

"We saw it in the ballot initiative to get marijuana legalized," said Banville, journalism professor and head of the School of Journalism at the University of Montana, of the 2020 effort. "There was a single group that funded the entire thing that we know almost nothing about."

In this case, Banville said funders might be those who are frustrated by the lack of transition to renewable energy, which the PSC has not been pushing. The money may be a way to "change the conversation," but be a warning to other commissioners and hopefuls as well.

"'Maybe you should be taking renewables more seriously,'" Banville said of the possible message.

Prior to the election, however, Banville said Fielder had the advantage in the race regardless, being a Republican with incumbency and plenty of name recognition as a former state legislator.

But Banville also said he wanted to know the true purpose of the Montana Ratepayers Association: "Are they a real organization doing things to protect ratepayers? Or are they serving as a pass-through for money that is otherwise dark?"

The Montana Ratepayers Association is not registered with the Secretary of State's Office. It did not respond to an email last week from the Daily Montana or a request for comment in a form submitted through its web portal.

The only information on its website is about recent PSC rate hikes, and the only candidates it mentions are Evans, whom it supported, and Fielder, whom it accused of "corporate cronyism."

In a phone call the day after the election, however, Fielder said she suspects the funds spent to oppose her are "corporate money from entities that tend to profit from PSC decisions."

But Fielder said she did not know for sure, and regardless, she didn't see the expenditure as a threat from those who want the PSC to respond to the harmful effects of climate: "I don't operate that way."

"I do what is right under the law and in the public interest," Fielder said. "I do my best, and fortunately, the people have tended to agree with that kind of thinking and have sent me back to continue working for them."

Fielder had earned 55% of the vote to Evans' 45%, according to the election results on the Montana Secretary of State's elections site Thursday.

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In an email to the Daily Montanan about the Montana Ratepayers Association, Evans said she learned about the group from people in her district who received its mailers and shared them with her.

Although she lost, she said she was "overwhelmed" by the response from Montanans — "Trump voters and Harris voters" — who wanted to see change on the PSC.

In a public statement after the election, Evans said she would not stop advocating for "forward-thinking" energy sources and "a better future for our children."

Besides Fielder and Molnar, one other Republican won his race for the Public Service Commission this week. State Sen. Jeff Welborn, a moderate from Dillon, had 62% of the vote Thursday to Leonard Williams' 38%.

Welborn said when it comes to energy sources, reliability is key for the people he has talked to during his campaign — to keep refrigerators cold and hospitals open, for instance — even if consumers have to pay a little bit more.

But he said it's hard to raise money for Public Service Commission races, more so than for legislative races, and the six-figure contribution is striking.

Four- and five-figure campaigns are more commonplace for the PSC.

"​​I'm here to tell you that it is a big effort to raise even $5,000 one check at a time from donors," Welborn said.

The groups didn't insert themselves in his campaign, but Welborn said big money won't change the way he approaches his decisions regardless: "I'm not going to be bullied or pushed around by any organization."

Still, he said, the fact that some entity can drop even $100,000 on a PSC candidate — "exponentially" more than candidates can raise on their own — and help them buy 20 times the name recognition is significant. And he said it raises questions.

"What is that expectation for the return on investment?" Welborn said. "And at whose feet does that expectation fall?"

Support, direct and indirect

The groups behind the half a million dollars for PSC candidate Elena Evans, separate from her candidate campaign, did not return calls or emails for comment from the Daily Montanan.

American Jobs and Energy Security lists an address at a Delaware building with a business that registers companies and helps make sure others "stay out of your business."

It couldn't be reached by phone last week or this week.

Montana Conservation Voters political director Molly Bell said her organization supported Evans, and it received indirect help from the groups.

In August, a consultant with Ship Creek Group, a creative and political agency in Alaska, contacted Montana Conservation Voters to see if it wanted to pool resources in conjunction with a poll , Bell said.

Ship Creek received support from the Montana Ratepayers Association, funded mostly by American Jobs and Energy Security, according to campaign finance reports.

The consultant on the project did not return a request for comment from the Daily Montanan.

Late last week, Bell said she didn't know much about the groups that were also wanting to support Evans and clean energy, although she was pleased to hear they shared similar goals.

Bell had hoped to see Evans declare victory, but she said the aim from her organization is a PSC that supports new energy and commissioners who won't be a "rubber stamp" for the fossil fuel industry.