Without the wave of the magic wand and incantations of vague hyperbole,  just what is the proof?  Nothing in this guest letter or at http://www.kentoole.com/ demonstrates that, as the incumbent, Mr. Toole has accomplished much during his time at the PSC.

I find it most interesting that this letter Ms. Tafova wrote in The Flathead Beacon today is the same letter supposedly written by a Ms. Crowley on August 30, 2010. It was a letter to the Editor of The Helena Independent Record. The titles are different, but the content of both letters are almost word-for-word the same. Hmmmmm, it definitely appears that something is amiss with Toole and/or his supporters! See for yourself:

http://helenair.com/news/opinion/readers_alley/article_9e4e138e-b3fa-11df-9d7f-001cc4c03286.html

MtGirl, not only is there no demonstrated substance for Mr. Toole as the PSC incumbent, now you show that his supporters are mere astroturf.  About as real as Jeff Dunham puppets but without the humor.  Is TOTUS vacationing in Montana?

By the way, how can Mr. Toole be a “Proven Advocate for Montana Consumers” and support wind power?  It ain’t cheap compared to coal or natural gas: http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/aeo/electricity_generation.html

How could such a consumer advocate support higher priced wind versus other available alternatives?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astroturfing#Political

Not uncommon in both politics and business.

Notice how McCain hired a Dutch columnist to do so for his presidential campaign.

mtgirl - probably has something to do with Toole running a tight campaign with good messaging and talking points for his supporters. The two letters were similar, but not verbatim.

Craig Moore - coal and natural gas will only increase in price over time because they are non-renewable resources. Basic supply and demand economics. Wind will become much more competitive if/when fossil fuel subsidies are removed and renewables can play on a level playing field.

reborn, you are ignoring the DOE’s levelized cost analysis to justify Toole’s support for wind which is NOT in Montana consumers’ interest.  BTW, wind turbines wear out and need replacement within 10 to 15 years.  Coal and natural gas have over a 100 years life.

Craig Moore - you are ignoring the government pouring millions of dollars into fossil fuels subsidies to keep them cheap and ignoring the true public health and environmental costs. In economics, they are called externalities. When a coal plant causes health problems in a neighboring community due to toxic soot, who pays for that? We do. When a coal mine contaminates fisheries and the water supply, who pays for that? We do. It’s the oldest game in the corporate book. Socialize the costs and privatize the profits.

reborn, last I checked the DOE is part of the government and under Obama.  If you dispute the DOE’s levelized cost figures perhaps you should take it up with him.  He be the boss.

Craig:  The results of a study by an agency of the Administration doesn’t automaticly elevate that study to the status of being absolute Adminstration policy.

But it is good to have the info the study provides (to be considered with other ex officio studies) so that a multi-faceted approach to American energy independence can be achieved.

But you demonstrate your short-sightedness by focusing on the 100 year carbon-based supply horizon rather than the more likely endless horizon available from wind and solar, in particular.

Kal Nat, I am focused on the topic:  “Toole a Proven Advocate for Montana Consumers”  and find it to be false.  Advocating more expensive power options is not in Montana consumers’ interest.  It is hostile to Montana’s consumers.

Even Governor Schweitzer gets it on coal:  http://governor.mt.gov/hottopics/faqsynthetic.asp

What I don’t understand is why you and Mr. Otoole are against the Crow:  http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iOXfb1ni28FvSmCz6NjWJ5km-8rgD9HQQDKG0

Ken Toole anti-coal:  http://www.flatheadbeacon.com/articles/article/psc_finalizes_approval_for_coal_plant/6657/

typo correction:  s/b Toole, not Otoole.  Please pardon the stumble fingers.

Craig: That’s your standard problem, you focus on a point in the picture, instead of seeing where it lands in the larger panorama.  Over the longer term, wind and solar are economically viable AND a source of long term jobs.  Jobs, jobs, jobs, Craig.

Schweitzer is doing what he usually does, promote whatever he thinks is in the best interests of MT.  I think he is off-base with his CTG huckstering.  Quite frankly, I’m not so sure he is as enthusiastic about coal as he publicly professes.

You’ll notice he is not a self-professed “lap-dog of industry” the way Judy Martz so proudly proclaimed herself to be.

I would appreciate it if you would not lie about me by declaring that I am “against the Crow”.  I have never said such a thing.  Just because I oppose an extremely dirty source of energy generation does not mean that I am against a demographic group.

You will remember that Bob Rowe used to be on the PSC (generally a liberal) until he was off the PSC and sold himself out to NW Energy.  I guess NW Energy got the prior relationship, influential, return-on-investment they were looking for when they bought him.

Kal Nat, this is your standard MO—deflection.  The claim is that Toole is a Proven Advocate for Montana Consumers.  No support whatsoever is provided by this “canned” letter or provided by Toole himself at his website.  When confronted with the reality that Toole opposes coal, which is consumer friendly, while supporting wind power, which is costly, you attempt to change the subject. 

The best source of comparative information is the current DOE analysis of comparative levelized cost.  Unless you have something real, tangible, and persuasive to refute this source…..

BTW, you are against the Crow when you fail to support their efforts to raise themselves from poverty with their coal project.  Facts are facts.  Like all Montanans they need real advocates, not rhetorical hot air.  Jobs, jobs, jobs, Kal Nat.

Craig moore - here you go. proof that Toole is a Proven Advocate for Montana Consumers. see it was there all along on his website http://kentoole.com/current_press_releases.html

Toole, one of Montana’s leading opponents to electric deregulation, served in the state senate as Chair of the Energy and Telecommunications Committee before being elected to the PSC. He also headed up the effort to buy back the hydro-electric dams on Montana’s rivers after they were sold to Pennsylvania Power Company. Toole pointed to his record on the PSC as the best evidence for voters to consider in this race.

Toole opposed the buy-out of Northwestern Energy by a foreign investment bank. The sale had been supported by many interest groups in the state but was denied by the PSC. Today that investment bank is no longer in business.

Toole organized a group of small customers to file a consumer complaint against QWEST Corporation for earning excessive profits. The complaint was resolved by QWEST giving $16 million in rate reductions to Montana consumers and agreeing to extend broad band service to 28 rural Montana communities.

Toole initiated a proceeding before the PSC to require disclosure of utility executive salaries in Montana.

or maybe you weren’t looking hard enough???

Craig:  It is not incumbent upon me to defend the premise of the LTTE.

As ‘reborn’ indicated there is no proof that it is a ‘canned’ letter.

Coal is not environmentally friendly, ergo, it is not consumer friendly, especially for the consumers downwind of the airborne effluvia.

If you bring up multiple topics in your comment, how is it that I am ‘changing the subject’ since there is more than one in play?

DOE is not the end all-be all on the topic, but your apparent OCD seems to dictate such to be so.

Your assertion that, “you are against the Crow when you fail to support their efforts” is an incredibly illogical linkage.  I guess if I were to not like cheese, I would somehow be against cheese producing states and nations.

So, why don’t you move to the Crow Agency and advocate for their efforts?  Let us know how that works out for you.  Maybe you can find a buyer for their prison while you’re at it.

Kal Nat and reborn back, I refer you back to my first comment.  What has Mr. Toole done DURING his time on the PSC?

I believe the hydro issue occurred when he was a senator… and he was only one of several:  http://www.montanariveraction.org/sorry.saga.mpc.html

===quote===
One remedy for the legislative errors was proposed when a coalition of electricity customers and taxpayers came forward with an initiative for the public to buy back the eleven hydroelectric dams purchased from MPC by PP&L. The initiative was submitted to the Montana State Legislative Council as a way to provide Montanans with affordable power. The Initiative was approved and supporters began collecting signatures to place the purchase measure on the November ballot. Members of the Buy-Back Coalition were senior citizen Archie Nunn, Public Utility Commissioner Bob Anderson, former State Commerce director Gary Buchanan, Senator Ken Toole, former State Representative Hal Harper and Polly Baily of Dam Cheap Power. As expected, PP&L immediately opposed the purchase initiative and killed it.
===end quote===

As to QWEST:  http://www.lawyersandsettlements.com/settlements/11677/qwest-montana-rate-reduction.html

===quote===
Helena, MT: (Apr-30-08) Public Service Commissioner Ken Toole brought a lawsuit against Qwest Communications, a company that serves about 300,000 customers in MT, alleging that it overcharged consumers in the state. The suit claimed that Qwest, the dominant telephone company in MT, was exceeding its allowed profit in the state. Sources involved with the proceedings said that the two sides have reached a tentative settlement, in which Qwest Communications is offering a $16 million reduction in customers’ bills to resolve allegations. Sources said that the settlement, which stems from a complaint Toole filed in 2006 when he was running for office, will need the approval of the rest of the commission. Toole said he will exclude himself from the vote.
===end quote===

Again,  what has Mr. Toole done DURING his time on the PSC?  BTW I supported both the buy-back and the QWEST action and I appreciate Mr. Toole’s involvement when he still had some fight in him.  All I see now is he wants to saddle Montana consumers with high priced alternative energy when there are much cheaper options. 

And Kal Nat, your insulting churlish remark about the Crow will go without further comment from me.  It stands on its own merit and full glory!

reborn, as to executive salary disclosure, I’m not sure where that is at these days but there were issues surrounding it last year:  http://www.telecomassn.org/publications/comments/Salary Disclosure Rulemaking-MTA comments-final 082709.pdf

What Toole did before he was in the PSC is relevant because it supports the fact that he is a “Proven Advocate for Montana Consumers.”

Toole was in the PSC DURING Qwest action as you posted yourself so you just answered your own question.

and you’re actually using the telecom industry as a source?  Of course they’re going to find issues with it, but as a consumer, I don’t care about their issues. don’t you think they would have a vested interested in keeping their executive salaries secret? c’mon….

Now what about Toole’s opponent? Gallagher has no record to go on. All that we know is that he is a Helena lawyer who owns a water utility that he wants to “regulate”. Sounds like a fox in the hen house in my book.

reborn, I’ve asked the question several times,  and still no answer.  I guess since joining the PSC there just isn’t much of a track record.  He is running for re-election.  What has he done on the PSC that merits such a vote?

reborn, Toole filed the QWEST action before he joined the PSC and removed himself from the vote.

I gave a specific filing link on the exec salary issue.  What has happened since?

This topic is about Toole.  There is a separate post about Gallagher.

BTW, I see someone has answered my question as to what Mr. Toole has accomplished as a PSC commissioner:  http://helenair.com/news/opinion/readers_alley/article_bb7976de-bb15-11df-b60d-001cc4c03286.html  The person writes:

===quote===
In his short tenure on the PSC, Mr. Toole has continually voted to increase rates on consumers. He voted twice for the most recent NorthWestern Energy rate hikes. He supported the 2005 “renewable mandate” legislation that is the major cause of the pending MDU rate hikes. He supported legislation that would have added huge new surcharges to consumers’ utility bills and for the first time ever would have required PSC regulation of consumer owned electric co-ops. Mr. Toole supports ongoing utility bill surcharges. And the final dagger in the heart of the consumers is the fact that Mr. Toole supports a socialist version of cap and trade, which by some accounts could double Montana consumers’ utility bills.
===end quote===

I don’t think Montana consumers have wallets thick enough to withstand Mr. Toole’s advocacy.

Gallagher was Fasbender’s (author of the LTTE) attorney in this “property rights” action.

http://www.morelaw.com/verdicts/case.asp?n=2009 MT 323&s=MT&d=41614

Date: 10-08-2009

Case Style: Michael J. Fasbender v. Lewis and Clark County Board of County Commissioners

Case Number: 2009 MT 323

Judge: Brian Morris

Court: Supreme Court of Montana on appeal from the District Court of the First Judicial District, Lewis and Clark County

Plaintiff’s Attorney: W. A. (Bill) Gallagher, Gallagher and Associates, Helena, Montana

Defendant’s Attorney: Leo J. Gallagher, County Attorney; K. Paul Stahl, III, and Jeff Sealey, Deputy County Attorneys, Helena, Montana

Description: ¶1 Michael J. Fasbender, John W. Herrin, and unnamed plaintiffs John and Jane Does 1- 25 (collectively Fasbender), challenged the adoption of interim zoning regulations by the Lewis and Clark County Board of County Commissioners (Board). Fasbender appeals from an Order in the First Judicial District, Lewis and Clark County, granting summary judgment to the Board. We affirm.

Kal Nat, it is quite apparent that you got nothing relevant to this topic.  As you know there is a whole another topic on Mr. Gallagher.  Changing the subject is quite desperate.  Don’t be a troll.

You linked to Fasbender’s letter, so I don’t see where I changed the subject since my comment contains info relevant to the content of your comment.

Fasbender has/had a professional relationship with Gallagher so it comes as no surprise that Fasbender would write a letter attacking Toole in support of Gallagher.

Don’t be a tool.

Kal Nat, answer the following questions:

1. Did Toole vote in favor of NorthWestern Energy rate hikes?

2. Did Toole support the 2005 “renewable mandates” that are causing MDU rate hikes?  See Dave Skinner’s discussion:  http://www.flatheadbeacon.com/articles/article/power_tripping/19330/

3. Did Toole support legislation that would have meant surcharges and regulation of consumer owned co-ops?

4. Does Toole support a cap and trade/dividend carbon system that will increase carbon based power to consumers?

See how easy it is just to speak to the issues where Toole has a record?

Wouldn’t your time be better spent putting the word ‘why’ in front of each of those questions and asking them of Ken Toole, himself?

Toole is a proven advocate for Montana consumers. It has been proven time and time again. I’ll trust him over Gallagher, the Helena lawyer, to protect my electricity rates any day. Craig Moore - you obviously don’t want to see it or read his your own posts that prove it, but that’s the truth. You also, apparently, don’t want to address why you support Gallagher (if you do).

reborn,  ~facepalm~

Instead of repeating a vacuous slogan, just provide the beef.  As a PSC commissioner, what has Toole accomplished?  Voting in favor of NorthWestern Energy rate hikes?

tazmanian;

C.M. “Butch” Clark wouldn’t know a Republican if it sat on his lap and called him Daddy.

Who cares about Butch Clark? The man has no credibility.