Two Republican state senators — Brad Molnar of Laurel and Jeff Welborn of Dillon — are positioned to win primary elections for open seats on Montana’s utility board.
If elected in the general election in November, Molnar and Welborn will regulate monopoly utility companies to balance their financial health with the interests of ratepayers, who cannot secure power, water, or garbage service from alternative providers.
On Wednesday morning, the Associated Press called the District 2 race for Molnar, who secured approximately 1,300 votes more than Kirk Bushman, a mechanical engineer from Billings.
The three-way primary for District 3 will be decided by a few hundred votes. As of 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, the election still had not been called with Welborn leading his closest competitor, Suzzann Norwick, a metallurgical engineer from Walkerville, by 377 votes with 97% of the votes counted. Rob Elwood, an IT professional from Harlowton, was in third place.
DISTRICT 2
The Republican primary for District 2, which includes most of Billings and much of Bozeman, was notable for its two candidates’ experience: Molnar and Bushman have previously served on the commission.
Molnar, a businessman from Laurel who served on the commission from 2005 to 2012, said he decided to give up his seat in the Montana Senate to launch a bid for the PSC because he believes he can have the most impact there.
In a Wednesday morning conversation with Montana Free Press, Molnar noted the tightness of the race and commended Bushman for keeping his campaign positive.
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For his part, Bushman expressed a degree of stoicism regarding the race’s outcome.
“You win some, you lose some,” he said. “I have a job and I have four kids and a family. You have to prioritize your time, and that can make it difficult to get out and campaign. We did everything we could.”
Molnar said he’s eager to reengage with the commission’s work, particularly regarding how the $250 million-plus gas plant NorthWestern Energy is building in Laurel may be incorporated into its electricity customers’ rates. Molnar argued that if elected, he would take a pragmatic, forward-looking approach to the commission’s regulatory work. He said he will strive to implement record-supported regulatory decisions that will stand up to judicial scrutiny.
In November, Molnar will face Susasn Bilo, a Bozeman resident who teaches courses on renewable energy systems and sustainability at Gallatin College.
Molnar said he is eager to meet Bilo and intends to request a debate with her in every county in District 2.
DISTRICT 3
As of 2 p.m. Wednesday, the District 3 PSC seat, which includes all of Butte and parts of Bozeman and Helena, is the only statewide primary that the Associated Press has not yet called.
Current commission president and state auditor hopeful James Brown is vacating the District 3 seat after one term. Four individuals with varying degrees of political experience filed for the seat. Jeff Welborn, a termed-out state lawmaker from Dillon who owns a trailer dealership, has the most political experience of the three Republicans who campaigned for Brown’s seat.
As of Wednesday afternoon, Welborn had secured 377 more votes than Nordwick, leading with 39.6% of the vote to Nordwick’s 38.5%. Elwood trailed with 21.9% of votes cast.
In campaign materials, Welborn said he would bring an agricultural voice to the commission and push to protect ratepayers from “unfair rate increases.” He’s said that he prefers an “all-of-the-above” approach to energy procurement. The commission has taken the right tack in going through a public comment process with a petition to initiate rulemaking to consider how the commission’s work regulating the power sector — one of the largest sources of greenhouse gas emissions in Montana — intersects with climate impacts, Welborn told MTFP in May. He hasn’t indicated whether he believes such rulemaking is merited.
The winner of the District 3 seat will face Democrat Leonard “Lenny” Williams, an electrician and Butte-based labor organizer, in the general election.