Kaercher, Pinocci campaign for Public Service Commission seat: Randy Pinocci, Republiclan

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

Pinocci said he was born in Racetrack in 1964 and lives in Sun River. He graduated from Simms High School in 1983 and attended classes at the College of Great Falls, Great Falls Vo-Tech and the University of California studying computer science, although he did not graduate. Pinocci has 30 years of experience working in the printing industry, working five years in Print Center, 13 years in another print shop and 17 years at Advanced Litho Printing. He said he started working in the printing industry in 1983. His main duty in the printing industry was direct mail, he added.

Pinocci has been married for 25 years to his wife, Svetlana, and they have three children together, Isabella, Anastasia and Aleksandra.

He was the statewide director for Montana's Republican U.S. Sen. Conrad Burns and worked on several campaigns with other Republicans over the years through his job with direct mail starting in 1994, Pinocci said. He added that he has also done some work on the Second Amendment with Charlton Heston.

U.S. Rep. Rick Hill, R-Mont., and he worked on many issues together, Pinocci said, but he probably worked the closest with Burns. He said he and Burns worked together when Montana still did not have internet connection, which they made a priority.

Burns encouraged Pinocci to run for office later on in his career, he added.

Pinocci also worked with PSC Chairman Brad Johnson when Johnson was Montana secretary of state, Pinocci said, adding that Johnson, state Sen. Ken Miller and he worked together on issues that Burns thought were concerning at the time.

Pinnoci served in the 2015 state Legislature for a single term as a representative. He said that, even though the bill was not passed, his freshman year he introduced a bill that required people on welfare to pass a drug screening, adding it was the first drug screening bill in the history of Montana.

"I think it was misunderstood on purpose by the governor, where he was trying to say you were picking on the poor when it was really a child protection bill," Pinocci said, adding the bill was so parents can receive the help they need before the children were hurt.

During his freshman year in the Legislature, Pinocci said, he was also given the task to introduce another bill to help realtors. The Realtors Association was trying to get this bill passed for years but were unsuccessful, Pinocci said, until he introduced the bill to the Legislature as a jobs bill, the bill then was passed and signed into law.

Pinocci serves on the Board of Directors of the Montana Shooting Sports Association, which has passed, he said, more pro-gun bills than any other organization in the United States.

He said he is experienced with the work of the PSC because while in the Legislature he served on the Federal Regulations, Energy and Telecommunications Committee which oversees the PSC. Because of his experience with this committee and his work in direct mailing, Pinocci said, he has already known everyone who is serving on the PSC.

Pinocci said he worked with the PSC to get back $8 million from NorthWestern Energy when the company raised their rates after a turbine broke down at Colstrip. He said the turbine broke down and NorthWestern Energy raised its rates, although this responsibility should have been on them and not the ratepayers.

He said the PSC saw him as someone who can stand up to the industry and say the public needs their money back.

He added this is what the public is concerned about, whether the commissioners are going to stand up to the industries or let the industries do what they want.

Pinocci said he also worked closely with the PSC to get Uber in the state of Montana, adding one of the areas the PSC oversees is transportation, such as taxi services. He said although taxi companies brought up issues with the Uber company, 99 percent of Montana has no form of taxi services, and Uber is a possibility to change that.

Pinocci said another issue that will have to be dealt with in the PSC is educating people that solar and wind are not reliable or effective means of generating electricity.

"It is crazy to think that it is the future," he said.

Obama and the Democratic party wanted to close down coal fired generators in the United States, Pinocci said, but coal is clean, safe, reliable and cheap.

Wind and solar are less dependable than nuclear, hydroelectric dams or coal, and is at least three times more expensive, Pinocci said, adding he likes wind and solar but the issues are clear.

Pinocci said this is the biggest difference between the Republican and the Democrats in this race, the Republican wanting to utilize clean-burning coal, hydroelectric dams and nuclear, while the Democrats want to shut everything but wind and solar down.