by Ken Toole | Sep 23, 2024 | E-City Beat Watch
Ken Toole| Sept 23, 2024| E-City Beat✔ Watch
City Commissioner Rick Tryon recently published a piece in E-City Beat ✔ under his name. (Usually they don’t give the author’s names). Since he is a local elected official and his piece takes a shot at anyone who dares to to be “progressive” and have an independent thought about corporate behavior, it deserves some response.
After referring to progressives as “anti-corporate blabbermouths,” he accuses them of being hypocrites if they criticize corporate behavior while using products produced by corporations. So you don’t have to go to his blog, here’s a quote which pretty much sums it up:
“Even right here in Great Falls it’s surprising how many times I hear and read local progressives implying, or just coming right out and saying, that corporations are at the root of all of our problems – even while those same folks continue buying, using, and consuming corporate goods and services 24/7/365.”
Tryon’s High School Humor
This is followed by high-school level cheeky examples of corporate products used by his imagined progressives including Starbucks, Subarus, Paul McCartney albums, Green Energy Corporation, and DreamWorks among others. It’s an attempt at sarcastic humor that falls flat on its face.
If Tryon wants to step into the role of apologist for corporate shenanigans, his constituents might want to ask him how he feels about the effect of Calumet’s repeated property tax appeals on city and local school budgets. Does he agree with Calumet’s assertion that the entire Montana Renewables plant (which produces biofuels for sale) should be classified as “pollution control equipment” and get a greatly reduced tax rate?
He Doesn’t Care About Your Residential Property Tax?
Residential taxpayers might want to ask him what he thinks about the dramatic increase in local residential property taxes while large centrally assessed (corporate) property taxes either went down or remained the same. Is Tryon happy that corporations have been granted the same status as individual citizens under the United States Constitution? How about allowing them to pour money into our political process? And maybe we should ask him who he represents, the citizens of Great Falls or the faceless legal structure we all call corporations.
Both WTF406 and E-City Beat✔ are organized as corporations. There are lots of corporations. Some are good and some bad and everything in between. Tryon’s idea that all progressives are anti-corporate is as stupid as saying all conservatives like crappy country music.
For more discussion of this issue, check out our recent editorial about inflation and profiteering
https://dailymontanan.com/2024/09/22/inflation-or-profiteering/
by Ken Toole | Aug 25, 2024 | Elections
Rea Grulkowski announced her intention to file as a write-in candidate for Cascade County Commission at The Pachyderm Club meeting held on August 22. Back in June she lost her Republican primary race to Eric Hinebaugh by a wide margin. It seems she is unwilling to accept the primary results. Instead she is opting for organizing a write-in campaign for a seat on the County Commission.
No one should be surprised Grulkowski won’t accept the fact that she lost an election. She is a core activist in the local election denier crowd. She was also the major driver in the controversy which engulfed the Clerk and Recorder’s office after election denier Sandra Merchant took over in the last election. Ultimately, the full County Commission removed the election duties from Merchant’s control over the strenuous and often unethical objections raised by Grulkowski.
As of Friday, August 23, she had not filed a declaration of intent to be a write-in candidate with the Election Office as required by state law. She has until 5:00 September 3rd.
Write-in campaigns are rarely successful. They require strong organization and an aggressive education campaign. Most serious write-in campaigns have stickers printed to make sure the candidate’s name is spelled correctly on the ballot. With a name like Rea Grulkowski supporters who want to vote for her could easily misspell her name and have their vote thrown out.
The Secretary of State’s office has a rule on the use of stickers for write-ins. It advises candidates to consult with their local election administrator to assure the stickers can be used in the equipment local election offices use.
See Jasmine Taylor’s Tik Tok on this topic.
https://www.tiktok.com/@montana_jasmine/video/7406314192745319726?lang=en&q=jasmine%20taylor&t=1724452544645
by Ken Toole | Aug 18, 2024 | Abortions Rights
The Montana Department of Health and Human Services is in the process of adopting new rules to regulate clinics that offer abortion services. The Department has issued a draft for public comment.
In issuing the proposed rules the department said, “In the department’s judgment, these current regulatory requirements represent the appropriate level of regulatory requirements to impose on abortion clinics.” An online hearing has already been held. Read the proposed rules here:
https://dphhs.mt.gov/assets/rules/37-1052pro-arm.pdf
The rules impose restrictions on clinics offering abortion services in virtually all areas of operations from staffing to lighting to the size of hallways. The rules are being proposed after a district court found legislation passed by the last legislature to provide the same kind of regulation to be too vague.
At the hearing the proponents of the new rules were the usual anti-abortion activists and organizations. Opponents of the rules were predominantly local clinics who provide abortion services. The opponents argued that the rules are intended to make it more difficult to operate and that the intent of the rules is to force them to close.
Please Submit Comment
The deadline is August 23. Comments can be submitted to this email address. [email protected]. More information
Health department holds hearing on abortion licensure rules
by Ken Toole | Aug 16, 2024 | Elections
According to media reports, anti-Semitic memes have been circulated in Montana communities once again. This time it appears that Tim Sheehy’s campaign circulated a meme featuring a darkened photo of Chuck Schumer (who is Jewish) superimposed over a puppet master’s hands manipulating radio, TV and a bag of money.
In May, several national news outlets covering the Schumer meme reported that the Sheehy campaign also employed a 21-year-old man named Caleb Oriet. Oriet has a history of placing bigoted posts on social media. The Daily Beast reported it this way, “The account belonging to the 21-year-old Montanan and self-proclaimed ‘Anglo-Saxon Protestant’ and ‘menace to society’ liked, for instance, a tweet that refers to Black Americans as ‘the most criminal, dependent, and socially destructive part of the population,’ and attacks GOP efforts to connect with Black voters.”
Oriet previously worked for Republican eastern district Congressman Matt Rosendale and gave speeches promoting Christian Nationalism. In 2022 Oriet was the director of a far right organization called The American Populist Union. In an interview with Great Falls Tribune he said, “You look at today’s population, 20.5% of Gen-Z says they’re gay. The political implications of this are disastrous. As people my age start taking power it’s just not going to be a good thing. Our main goal is the replacement of this very elitist American establishment with one that is willing to put America, her citizens and interests over that of foreign interests or international finance.”
The Sheehy campaign refused to respond to requests for information about the incident, instead going on the attack. The campaign said that the Daily Beast was a “trash New York tabloid,” and accused it of “tearing down a 21 year old man.” But after the article appeared, most of Oriet’s social media accounts were closed and his name no longer appeared on the campaign’s website. The Sheehy campaign continues to refuse to respond to questions about his employment status with the campaign.
Gallatin Republican Central Committee
In the middle of June, the Gallatin County Republican Central Committee circulated a similar meme featuring financier George Soros (who is also Jewish) controlling Obama, Biden and Harris. The meme featured a caption saying, “Our situation explained.” Both of these are tropes for anti-Semites promoting conspiracy theories that Jews control the media, banking industry and politics.
Perhaps more troubling is the fact that neither Sheehy’s campaign nor the Republican Central Committee have responded to leaders in the Montana Jewish community when they expressed concern about use of these memes. Nor did either respond to requests for interviews with the media.
Sheehy Has Plenty Of Company In The Republican Party
In the last legislative session, Gallatin County Democratic Legislator Ed Staffman, who is also a Rabbi, was scheduled to give the daily invocation in the Montana House of Representatives. At the last minute, he was informed that his invocation was being canceled by Republican Speaker of the House Matt Regier. Staffman said that he felt he was being shut down because he was not offering a Christian prayer. Another leader in the Jewish community said “The legislature is very single-minded right now. It’s focused on a white, male, Christian agenda.” https://wtf406.com/2023/12/the-oldest-hatred-antisemitism-visits-the-montana-legislature/
Just prior to the last legislative session, Cascade County Senator Jeremy Trebas retweeted a meme about Jewish people conducting child sacrifice. After being confronted about his tweet, Trebas took it down but refused to apologize. https://wtf406.com/2023/12/trebas-fails-to-apologize-for-anti-semitic-tweet/
There is a lot to be concerned about in all of these incidents. First, one has to wonder what kinds of things are being said about Jewish people outside the public eye and what are the beliefs of the officials who apparently tolerate and even defend these actions. The refusal of the officials in these incidents to respond to the leaders of the Jewish community who are rightfully concerned about anti-Semitism in our state and the impact it has on our Jewish citizens. Finally, ignoring inquiries from the media has become the campaign strategy of far too many politicians in our state. A functioning democracy requires an informed citizenry and denying access to public officials is fundamentally anti-democratic.
For more on this https://dailymontanan.com/2024/08/07/jewish-leaders-in-montana-concerned-about-sheehy-gallatin-co-republicans-posting
by Ken Toole | Aug 3, 2024 | Energy/Utilities
A Little Background
Until the early 2000s Montana Power Company had very low rates and a reliable system. In the mid-1990s they began to promote “deregulation” which allowed them to sell all of their generation facilities. With an intense lobbying effort, and over the objections of consumer advocates, in 1997 the Republican legislature passed a bill which allowed Montana Power to sell. Pennsylvania Power bought the hydro system and the coal plants, while a small South Dakota company, NorthWestern Energy, purchased the lines and wires in Montana. Chaos ensued. Rates climbed rapidly, businesses closed, and Montana ended up paying the highest electric rates in the Northwest.
By 2007 Republicans in the Legislature finally admitted that the “deregulation experiment” was a dismal failure and passed a law allowing Northwestern to own generation assets. Northwestern began buying back the plants that Pennsylvania Power purchased, paying premium prices, which of course, were added to their rates and into our electric bills.
Recently NorthWestern Energy announced several moves that are part of the continuing trend of rebuilding a corporate and regulatory structure that existed before deregulation. Unfortunately, NorthWestern is forgoing the opportunity to remake the utility with modern clean resources, choosing instead to bet the farm on antiquated fossil fuel technology which is both dirty and expensive.
Betting on Dirty, Expensive Coal
Last week NorthWestern announced that it is going to buy out a 370 megawatt share of the Colstrip complex from Puget Sound Energy. NorthWestern says they will get the plant at “no cost.” Of course they don’t mention the plant is in dire need of expensive upgrades which customers will pay for. Nor do they mention that they will be assuming significant liability for environmental clean up and compliance which customers will also pay for. Two and one half years ago, NorthWestern reached a similar deal with Avista for a 222 megawatt share.
NorthWestern and Republican politicians say that coal provides a stable, reliable source of power for Montana. The truth is they are far from stable or reliable. During the cold snap of January 2024, Colstrip went down. In July when the heat wave hit Montana, Colstrip went down again. The truth is these are antiquated plants and keeping them online is both challenging and expensive. Of course ratepayers assume those costs in the end.
The Laurel Gas Plant
Following years of opposition and litigation, a new natural gas plant along the Yellowstone River came online in March. This is a very large (175 megawatts) plant designed to come online to meet periods of peak demand. That means the rest of the time it sits idle, not producing any revenue. The cost of the plant is estimated to be over $250 million which again will go into customer rates and generate a generous rate of return (profit) for NorthWestern stockholders.
Purchasing Energy West
NorthWest Energy announced that it is purchasing Energy West, Great Falls’ local natural gas distribution company for $39 million. The transaction will have to be approved by the Montana Public Service Commission. NorthWestern expects completion of the deal in early 2025. In a press release, NorthWestern said they do not plan on raising customer rates as part of the deal.
Energy West currently has about 33,000 customers in the Great Falls area, Cut Bank and West Yellowstone. It is owned by Hope Utilities of West Virginia. Hope Utilities is a holding company that owns utilities in nine states, including Montana. They have a total of 227,000 customers (which includes a couple of small water and wastewater utilities). NorthWestern has about 212,000 customers in Montana. Energy West rates are currently lower than NorthWestern’s.
NorthWestern Energy Rate Impacts on Customers
All of this buying and building is expensive. . .and it is showing up in our rates. In October of last year, the Republican Public Service Commission approved a 28% increase to residential customer rates (large customers did not have as large an increase). Last month NorthWestern said it is filing another request with the Public Service Commission to increase rates. This time around they are proposing to increase rates by another $21.9 million or 8.28%. In this case, Northwestern is proposing a “balancing account” which allows them to collect money from ratepayers for expenses which have not been incurred yet. Estimates of those expenses run as high as $2 billion (that’s with a B).
How All Of This Makes Money for NorthWestern Energy
Utilities make money in two ways. First is by increasing sales or customer base which gives them an incentive to purchase Energy West. The other is by making capital investments like building and upgrading plants. Once accepted by the PSC, the utility receives a guaranteed “rate of return” of somewhere around 10% for the life of the plant.
And speaking of making money, here are the top three NorthWestern executive salaries per year reported at the end of 2022.
Bob Rowe, CEO (Retired at the end of 2022) $3,375,572
Brian Bird,COO (Replaced Bob Rowe) $2,674,811
Heather Graham, Chief Legal counsel $1,264,471
Thank you to The Daily Montanan, Montana Free Press and The Electric for their reporting on these issues.
