PSC Candidate, Alan Olson, Endorsed by AFL-CIO
July 12, 2008 Press Release
Alan Olson, Republican candidate for the Montana Public Service Commission, District 3, in Southwestern Montana, announced that his candidacy has been endorsed by the Montana AFL-CIO. The umbrella union organization which represents about 48,000workers throughout Montana made the endorsement at its convention held in Great Falls on June 13th.
“I am very pleased by the vote of confidence I received from the AFL-CIO. They don’t endorse very many Republicans. During my four terms in the Montana House of Representatives, I have tried to take a centrist approach, looking out for the welfare of the people of Montana instead of playing politics. Part of that process has involved working with the unions and Democrats from the other side of the aisle,” said Olson.
During the 2007 Legislature, Olson partnered with Senator Jesse Laslovich, an Anaconda Democrat, to pass HB 25, a bill to repeal electricity deregulation in Montana. Since then, Northwestern Energy has moved forward to acquire electric generating capacity, including a proposal to put its share of Colstrip Unit 4 into rate base and construct a gas-fired generating plant at Mill Creek near Anaconda.
In a letter from Jim McGarvey, Executive Secretary of the Montana AFL-CIO, McGarvey told Olson; “We’re happy to have you among the ranks of the politically active, socially responsible leaders.” Debbie Shea, former Democratic State Senator from Butte, remarked, “Alan Olson is very deserving of the AFL-CIO’s support. He has always been someone that working people could talk to. He understands their issues and is always willing to try and help. If elected to the PSC, he can be counted on to look out for the rate payer and encourage balanced energy development in Montana.”
PSC races promise to be feisty battles
By MIKE DENNISON - IR State Bureau - 06/16/08
In the campaign for the Public Service Commission district in southeastern Montana, candidates Brad Molnar and Ron Tussing appear ready for full combat.
Tussing’s campaign manager is filing campaign and ethics complaints against Molnar, the Republican incumbent, and Molnar is blasting back, criticizing Tussing’s past actions as chief of police in Billings.
All this in a race for PSC, the obscure, five-member body that regulates gas, electric and telephone utilities in Montana?
Yes, and it’s not the only one.
While the Molnar-Tussing race is generating some obvious heat, the two other PSC contests in Montana this year are expected to be close and hard-fought.
And why shouldn’t they be, asks Democrat John Vincent, a candidate in southwestern Montana’s District 3.
“We’re talking about people’s gas rates, phone rates and electric rates,” he said. “It’s extremely important. If folks pause for just a minute and think. … It may be the most important pocket-book issue for working families on the ballot.”
Here’s a quick look at all three races:
District 2 (Southeastern Montana)
Democrat Tussing, the mayor of Billings, said he’ll emphasize his support for renewable-energy projects, like wind power, and how the PSC should be more active in educating the public on how to develop smaller, regional power projects.
He also said he won’t back down from challenging Molnar, known as an aggressive, versatile campaigner.
“It’s certainly not going to be a cakewalk,” Tussing said. “ I don’t shy away from that as long as it’s done fairly.”
Molnar, 58, running for re-election to a second term, has been critical of wind power, saying its cost is more than advertised and that he wants to ensure consumers get the lowest-cost power available.
He said he’s looking forward to a campaign on the issues and his voting record, but that he’ll return political hardball with the same. Molnar has indicated he’ll make Tussing’s police chief tenure an issue, saying Tussing “brought disgrace to the entire police department.”
Tussing, 61, received a $160,000 settlement from the city in exchange for leaving the job after butting heads with the then-city administrator.
District 4 (Western Montana)
Commissioner Doug Mood, R-Seeley Lake, faces an aggressive challenge from Democrat Gail Gutsche of Missoula, a writer/consultant and former state legislator.
Gutsche, 54, said the PSC should play a greater role in guiding Montana away from dependence on fossil fuels for power, by pushing utilities and the Legislature to encourage renewable energy and conservation.
“Energy efficiency is our first and best resource, and we’re not paying anywhere near enough attention to that,” she said.
Mood, 64, said he’ll emphasize his even-handedness and voting record as a commissioner, such as his opposition to an Australian investment firm’s attempted buyout of NorthWestern, the state’s largest utility, and his support for the Judith Gap wind project, among other things.
“You can’t come in here with an agenda and push an agenda,” he said. “That’s not what this job is about. … If you’re blinded by your ideology, you don’t belong on this commission.”
Mood won in 2004 by nearly 4,000 votes out of 84,000 votes cast. Gutsche believes she can overcome that margin by running stronger in Missoula County and minimizing her losses in the district’s other counties, which lean Republican.
District 3 (Southwestern Montana)
State Rep. Alan Olson, R-Roundup, and Democrat John Vincent of Gallatin Gateway, are competing in this open seat, where Commissioner Bob Raney, D-Livingston, chose not to run for re-election.
The district leans Democratic, but Olson, a strong supporter of mining, hopes he can cut into the large reservoir of Democratic votes in Butte, a big mining town. He’s also been a frequent ally of NorthWestern Energy during his legislative career, and the utility has its Montana headquarters in Butte.
Olson, 51, said he wants to encourage NorthWestern to reshape itself like a “vertically integrated utility,” that owns its own power-generating sources, like it was before deregulation in the late 1990s.
“We’re going to have to bring stability back to the ratepayer like it was under the old Montana Power Company,” he said.
Vincent, 65, a former state legislator, said he’ll be hoping for strong support in his home county of Gallatin, which usually leans Republican. Vincent, like other Democrats running for the PSC, wants to emphasize conservation and renewable energy, which he said can create new jobs all over the state.
Vincent say he expects the PSC races to get more attention this year, especially with energy being one of the hottest issues in the country.
Anaconda Leader Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Public Service Commission candidate visits Anaconda
Anaconda stands on the threshhold of two major energy projects in coming years, according to Alan Olson of Roundup, a candidate for the Montana Public Service Commission.
Olson spoke to members of a local coffee club on Friday and said he supports a proposal by North Western Energy Co. to build a new electric transmission line through Deer Lodge County and build a gas-fired generating plant near the Mill Creek substation east of Anaconda.
"Both projects make sense and are environmentally responsible," Olson said.
The candidate, a Republican, is seeking a Public Service Commission post as successor to Bob Raney of Livingston, who is retiring at the end of the year.
Olson's likely oponent in the general election in November will be Democrat John Vincent of Bozeman.
Olson served eight years in the Montana Legislature and was chairman of the House Energy Committee for four years. He said he worked closely on legislation with former senator Bea McCarthy and current senator Jesse Laslovich, both of Anaconda.
His PS district is far-flung, stretching from Roundup on the east to Anaconda on the west.
It includes the cities of Anaconda, Butte, Dillon, Belgrade, Bozeman and Livingston.
Olson's Web site is www.alanolson.com.