Wicks campaigns at the North Central Pachyderm Club

District 1 Public Service Commission Republican candidate Mike Wicks spoke to the North Central Pachyderm Club Friday, addressing some of the topics of his campaign and answering some questions from the public.

He said his unique experience and his education setting him apart from the other candidates.

"I will work for both the ratepayers and the utility investor to make equitable decisions," he said on his website.

Wicks, who ranches north of Inverness, is no stranger to campaigns. Running last year for Montana's U.S. House seat in 2017 as a Libertarian.

He faces Rep. Rob Cook, R-Shelby, former Rep. Randy Pinocci of Sun River and Herzog Rail Services employee Cory McKinney of Great Falls in the primary June 5.

The winner of that race will face former Hill County commissioner and Havre Clerk and Finance Director Doug Kaercher, a Democrat, in the Nov. 6 general election.

Wicks said one of his goals, if elected, is to keep energy and telephone cooperatives from being regulated by the PSC. He said the PSC doesn't even want to regulate cooperatives. The cooperative energy programs work effectively and PSC's regulations can possibly ignore that some communities lack the infrastructure to produce more energy. Large power companies should be handled differently from cooperative energy programs, he said.

He said the cooperative energy programs reach the PSC's attention when arguments arise over which areas they can provide service to, such as in the areas of NorthWestern Energy and Montana Dakota Utilities.

He said he also wanted to make sure alternative energies are treated fairly but not preferentially at the cost of the consumer. Over the years, alternative energy has received government subsidies to promote development and to help them get set up, started and going, Wicks said.

He said that was a good investment, but now alternative energy is more effective and cheaper and they can now operate without subsidies. Alternative energy should now be able to function competitively and there is no reason that the ratepayer should need to continue to pay them subsidies, Wicks said.

"I want to ensure that the alternative energy producers are treated fairly but not at the expense of the ratepayers," he said.

He said that one of his main goals, if elected, is to keep the PSC out of lawsuits as much as possible. When a lawsuit hits the courts, the public ends up having to pay for both sets of lawyers no matter what the results, he said, either in its taxes or its utility rates. The PSC has been the subject of many lawsuits over the years, costing millions just in lawyers and legal fees; some of these court cases go on for years, he said.

He said he would like to see fewer regulations for utility companies, adding, "Utilities love regulation ... because it guarantees them a profit."

Wicks went on to say that unlike other businesses, utility companies thrive off stricter regulations because they receive subsidies from the government to make improvements and guarantee service.

If ranches and farms ran like the utility companies they would all be multi-millionaires, he said.

"We would all have new combines," Wicks said.

A person attending the meetings brought up the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes Water Compact. The CSKT Water Compact has come back into conversation recently, with Pinocci openly opposing it during his campaign this year.

Pinnoci said that the CSKT Water Compact is going to have a negative impact on half the state, lowering property values and rights and that the water compact goes against the Montana Constitution

He criticized his opponent Rob Cook for supporting the bill during his time as a House representative.

The CSKT Water Compact bill passed the Montana Legislation in April 2015 and is now waiting to pass through Congress.

Wicks told the Pachydermsthat the PSC has nothing to do with the CSKT or any other water compact, saying that it would be a federal concern and should not be of concern during this election.

"The PSC generally regulates private, investor-owned natural gas, electric, telephone, water and private sewer companies doing business in Montana," the official PSC website says, "(But) not all utilities are regulated by the PSC."