Kaercher, Pinocci campaign for Public Service Commission seat: Doug Kaercher, Democrat

Havre City Financial Director Democrat Doug Kaercher is facing Sun River Republican Randy Pinocci for the District 1 seat of the Public Service Commission in this November's election.

Kaercher was born in Havre in 1961, graduating from Havre High School in 1979. After high school, Kaercher graduated with an associate degree in aviation maintenance technology from the Helena Vo-Tech, now the Helena College University of Montana. Kaercher said he is also a licensed multi-engine commercial instrument pilot. He said that when he was young he wanted to be a pilot, but after some time decided to come home to his family farm.

In Havre, Kaercher said, he started out as a Havre City Council member, serving from 1988 to 1993. Kaercher said he became interested on the county level, and In 1994 was selected for the Hill County Study Commission, where he served for two years. In 1996 Kaercher was elected Hill County Commissioner and served from 1997 to 2007. He was appointed by Gov. Brian Schweitzer as an administrative law judge for the Montana Tax Appeal Board, where he served from 2007 to 2012. In 2012, Kaercher returned to Havre and took the job of the City Financial Director.

Kaercher has been married for 32 years to his wife, Darla, and has three daughters and two granddaughters.

Kaercher sits on the Bear Paw Development Corp. board which, he said, he enjoys because he enjoys the process that goes into building improvement within a community. Kaercher was on the HELP Committee and the founding board of the Boys and Girls Club of the Hi-Line, on which he still sits, and was past president of the Montana Association of Counties.

Kaercher is a sitting board member for the Montana Municipal Interlocal Authority organization, which deals with the insurance for cities and towns in Montana and was appointed by Gov. Steve Bullock to the Montana Board of Housing.

He served with the Department of Revenue's Local Government Advisory Committee and was an organizational member of the State Public Defender Commission after the state took over public defenders from the counties across the state.

He sat on the 911 Advisory Committee for the state during his time as a commissioner and served as a chairman for the Center of Mental Health Governing Board.

Kaercher said he has been involved in public service for 30 years and his unique experience, background and perspective gives him the ability to work effectively with the public to assure they receive fair treatment.

"I tend to like challenges," Kaercher said. "I specifically like challenges where I can make a difference and I believe, at this point in time, I can make a difference in the Public Service Commission."

Kaercher added he is also a certified mediator and he tends to want to be a consensus builder.

He said he wants the commission to work together with the ratepayers and the industry where they can all sit down and set a common goal and work toward that goal. This will be a more effective way in the future to supply Montanans with fair affordable rates that are safe, secure and sustainable, he said.  

He said he believes the commission could use a little balance, adding it needs to be more receptive to the overall energy portfolio for Montana. Coal has its economic benefits to Montana as far as taxes and good-paying jobs, Kaercher said, but its future is uncertain and there need to be steps to making sure that the state can still move forward. He added the technology for renewable resources has changed and it has become a more viable method of replacing the base power being supplied by coal.

Kaercher said it is important not to leave that behind because those industries will also provide good paying jobs and sustainable energy.

He said, if elected, he is not going in with an agenda. He believes that he can provide his opinion and expertise to the process of being able to set fair, affordable rates for consumers that will also work for the industries and make sure it receives a reasonable return on its investments, he said.

Kaercher added that although he does not have a set agenda there is room for improvement within the PSC and issues he would like to address.

He said the commission is adversarial to the industries and he wants to work toward a much-more collaborative environment.

NorthWestern Energy has also applied for a new rate increase, Kaercher said, he hasn't seen the particulars yet but matters such as these are always complex issues, determining if the raise would be appropriate or not.

Kaercher said because of his involvement as a member of the business development community with the Chamber of Commerce, his participation as an executive board member of Bear Paw Development and being a small business owner himself he is well-acquainted with both the opportunities and the challenges facing Montana's economy. He added he is committed to help provide for greater opportunities for businesses and their employees.

"I feel that I am the most reasonable and responsible choice for the PSC in District 1 this year," he said.

Kaercher said he is endorsed by the Montana Chamber of Commerce, the Montana AFL-CIO, the Montana Federation of Public Employees, the Montana Association of Realtors and the Montana 55 + Fund.