Fighting Back Against the Energy Profiteers

It is no secret that Montana Power Company used GOP-backed deregulation legislation to rip off thousands of average citizens in Big Sky country. And what you learn quickly when in this state is that people here never forget when they are wronged. That's why the Wall Street Journal now reports that five Montana cities have come together in an effort to buy Northwestern Energy Corp.'s energy-delivery business and "reassert local control of Montana's biggest utility." If successful, "Montana Public Power would become the largest customer-owned utility, by geography, created in many decades." (If you don't have a WSJ subscription, see this AP story).

If ever there was a perfect example of the grit and determination of this hard-scrabble state to not get kicked around anymore by Corporate America, this is it. The move epitomizes a can-do spirit in this state - and a commitment to protect ordinary citizens from greedy companies that try to bleed them dry. And it has worked elsewhere.

Consider Los Angeles during the energy crisis. While the federal government let the state be devoured by the sharks at Enron, L.A. was able to fight off the profiteers because its power system was publicly-owned. That's the story we don't hear much about - because it threatens Big Business's ability to rip off ordinary Americans. It's time more states and localities fight back.

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