State commission wants hearing on dam deal

The Montana Public Service Commission on Thursday requested a rehearing on the relicensing of the Salish Kootenai Dam to Energy Keepers Inc. and the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes.

The license for the dam was conveyed to the tribes’ corporation on Sept. 5 and has attracted opposition from some residents and public officials who remain skeptical of the tribes’ ability to safely operate the dam, for which they paid nearly $18.3 million.

The tribes changed the name from Kerr Dam to Salish Kootenai Dam.

The state commission, a board consisting of publicly elected representatives from five state districts, voiced similar objections during the comment period for the partial license transfer earlier this year.

In its request, the state utility commission said the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission failed to determine whether the transfer is in the public interest and whether Energy Keepers should be exempt from public disclosure requirements as  the federal agency determined.

“The failure to schedule a hearing unfairly denied due process to the [Montana Public Service Commission], other Montana entities and Montana citizens who have questions and concerns about whether adding Energy Keepers, Inc. as a co-licensee is in the public interest and how this transfer will impact them,” the request stated.

“Our primary concern with the licensing of Energy Keepers to operate Kerr Dam is to determine if it is in the public’s interest, and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s proceeding left far too many unanswered questions,” commission chairman Brad Johnson, whose district includes Flathead and Lake counties, said in a press release. “Those living in the communities affected by this transfer must have ample opportunity to ask questions and provide input, and this proceeding fell short of that.”

Energy Keepers Chief Executive Officer Brian Lipscomb, however, said Friday that while his organization was still deciding whether to formally respond to the request, the tribes had already answered those questions during the initial hearings on the transfer in 1985.

“We’re a little perplexed by it,” Lipscomb said. “We’ve met with the Public Service Commission a couple times and we’ve met with the public at large and laid out pretty clearly where the financing for the acquisition is coming from.”

The request also noted that since the last hearings 30 years ago, many new residents would be affected. In response, Lipscomb noted, “A lot of people have also moved to Montana over that time and asked the question of whether Montana’s Constitution is the right one.”