Dam transfer explained

Many misconceptions about the interventions in the sale of Kerr Dam during the last year have been in the media.  My interventions were not on the sale of Kerr Dam.

 I intervened in the license transfer proceedings to require the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes (CSKT) through the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to meet the same obligations to the public as required of previous dam owners.

CSKT claims they are a sovereign government which means that they will be immune from Montana state law, taxes, or the public oversight and regulation by the Montana Public Service Commission.  The turnover of a facility that serves hundreds of thousands of people to a tribe that is not accountable to the laws of the state of Montana places the citizens at great risk for economic harm.

The major obligations are fair electric rates, low cost block of electricity for Flathead irrigation project (130,000 acres), historic water deliveries for irrigation, state management of water rights, integrated power-agriculture operations, lake shore management, lake level management, non-discrimination in employment and public availability of water and financial records.

CSKT has verbally stated that the dam will be operated in the same manner as it has been operated in the past, but at the same time they are also saying that they are a sovereign nation and they are not regulated by Montana.

The FERC decision to allow the transfer of the license to CSKT without any oversight by the Montana Public Service Commission, without conditioning the circumstances under which the license was transferred, or further public hearings did not serve the public interest as was required of Northwestern and other dam operators throughout the State of Montana.

Due to the lack of accountability of federal agencies and no help from the state of Montana, the only avenue left is for individuals to take action.  Two major obligations that were requested to be continued in my interventions are now being contested and may end up in court:  low-cost block of electricity for the Flathead Irrigation Project and yearly payment to Lake County for the Kerr Dam facilities. Loss of these obligations would have a huge financial impact on taxpayers, irrigators, schools, road maintenance and social services in Lake County.

Jackson is a former state senator from Kalispell.