Telecom hasn’t played a “forefront” role in Montana’s public service...

“We hardly regulate at all,” she said of the PSC’s telecom oversight. The FCC’s November 2011 USF order has come up multiple times, however, she said, in questions to her opponent and before a newspaper’s editorial board. The FCC reform “could increase cost of service dramatically and put some rural carriers out of business,” she said, citing great concern for rural customers. Montana has “quite good” buildout of broadband, which is an important concern, she added. Her campaign has taken her through the seven counties of District 4 and to canvassing 2,000 doors, placing cable TV and radio ads and attending other events. “People don’t know why we're important in their lives,” she said, stressing the need to educate people on what the PSC is. Most don’t know the PSC, she said. “If you start talking regulation, you put people to sleep,” she said. She was first elected to the PSC in 2008, and there are three Montana seats open this year. The big election issues in 2012 are electricity and natural gas, not telecom, she said. Those first issues tend to split the five-member commission in 3-2 votes but commissioners tend to “vote together” on telecom issues, she said. The commission race is one among many across the country this fall (CD Oct 29 p3).