Pattison, Cheek Seek PSC Post

Ratepayers in central and eastern Montana will have a new commissioner shaping their bill when the state’s largest district by geography elects a new member to the Public Service Commission.

Term-limited Republican Randy Pinocci will step down after eight years of overseeing District 1, which spans 20 state house districts. Republican Je_ Pattison is running against Democrat Angeline Cheek for the seat.

The Public Service Commission is responsible for ensuring that energy ratepayers have continued access to utility services that are a_ordable, reliable and sustainable. The role of the commission is to balance the needs of individual and business energy consumers with energy producers like NorthWestern Energy’s ability to meet those needs.

The hot-button issue for District 1’s new commissioner will be how they choose to deal with data centers. Data centers have become politically charged because their soaring electricity and water demands to power AI and cloud computing are driving up utility costs and straining grids for ordinary ratepayers.

But it is not just a hypothetical in District 1. Quantica Infrastructure has just begun staging for the construction of its Big Sky Digital Infrastructure Campus in Broadview, 30 miles northwest of Billings.

According to NorthWestern Energy’s 2026 Integrated Resource Plan, the company’s average daily peak load is approximately 760 megawatts (MW). The Broadview data center will require 1,100 MW of power to operate, representing a major infrastructure and supply challenge for the grid.

Republican candidate Je_ Pattison, a former state legislator and third-generation Montana farmer, thinks there should be a separate class for exceptionally large users, like data centers, that would assign them a transparent rate to fit their power demand.

“Basically,” Pattison said, “existing families, farms and small businesses should not finance the generation, transmission lines, substations or grid updates built primarily for a data center.”

Pattison likens his wouldbe responsibilities as PSC commissioner to that of a referee. He feels a responsibility to represent ratepayers and advocate for fair and reasonable treatment from energy providers.

The Republican candidate would like to see long-term contracts, minimum payment obligations and meaningful exit provisions to protect the service provider.

Democratic candidate Angeline Cheek hopes to end the 16-year run of Republicans representing District 1. In fact, none of the five commissioners has been a Democrat since 2012. But Cheek, who calls Fort Peck home, hopes her years of working with the ACLU and Indigenous advocacy and community organizing across Montana will help fuel her campaign.

Cheek says that she desires transparency above all. She cites concerns about the impact data centers moving into Montana may have on the health and well-being of communities.

“I don’t feel that we’re equipped to handle that much electricity,” Cheek said. “If the centers are allowed to connect without strict regulation, the cost of building new generation would potentially fall on existing residential consumers.”

She said she would push for more thorough public safety inspections and stricter enforcement of state and federal safety regulations in her district.

The Democratic nominee is also concerned about monitoring energy providers’ ability to raise rates. Cheek wants to see more reviews analyzing utilities’ financial statements, operating costs and investments to determine whether a requested price increase is just and reasonable.

But no matter who takes the seat on the commission next year, it will mark a change for the district. Current commissioner Pinocci said if he were to serve another term he would set “sidebars” on data centers. Pinocci, who lost in the GOP primary for a state senate seat in June, would request the data center either be responsible for generating its own electricity, or pay higher premiums than what the average consumer pays. He’s concerned about possible deals made between AI corporations and energy providers.

“As I understand it,” Pinocci, who has backed fellow Republican Pattison for the seat, said. “NorthWestern Energy made a deal with a data center for a whole bunch of electricity [for] cheaper than what the ratepayer pays for their home. Sorry, I just don’t like that.”

While the PSC also regulates other utilities like Internet access, the energy issues surrounding data centers will likely be one of the most significant challenges facing the new commission when it convenes.

Both Cheek and Pattison say they are the one to tackle the issue. Voters have until Nov. 3 to cast their ballot.