If elected, what would your energy priorities be for your term as U.S. representative?
Troy Downing
Affordable and reliable energy is essential to Montana’s economy and America’s national security. As your Congressman, my energy priorities are simple: protect Made-in-Montana energy, lower costs for families, and stop Washington from punishing the industries that keep the lights on.
Montana is an energy state. Coal, oil, gas, hydropower and emerging technologies all play a role in powering our homes and supporting good-paying jobs. I believe in an all-of-the-above approach, but that approach must be grounded in reality. Coal remains critical to our nation’s energy security and a major source of electricity generation in Montana. It provides dependable baseload power when families and businesses need it most.
That is why I have worked to support Montana coal and push back against harmful federal overreach. At the end of last year, President Trump signed into law my Congressional Review Act resolution reversing the Biden Administration’s disastrous Miles City RMPA, unlocking coal leasing in Eastern Montana for years to come. The Department of the Interior’s approval of the Bull Mountains mining plan modification is a major step forward as well, and I will keep working to make sure that certainty is protected long term through my Crow Revenue Act.
I have also worked to protect Colstrip from harmful Biden-era regulations. The EPA recently reversed the 2024 MATS rule, which placed unfair burdens on coal-fired power plants and threatened grid reliability in Montana. That was an important step, but we need to make sure this rule cannot be revived by a future administration. That is why I introduced the COAL POWER Act to roll back the 2024 MATS rule and protect reliable coal-fired energy.
As a former Montana Land Board Commissioner, I understand how important responsible resource development is to our state. Montana can produce energy, protect our land and create opportunity at the same time.
In Congress, I will continue fighting to streamline permitting, prevent anti-energy mandates, protect coal communities, support oil and gas production and keep energy costs low. Reliable energy means stronger businesses, safer communities and more money in the pockets of hardworking Montanans.
My priority will always be making sure Montana has a strong voice in America’s energy future.
Brian Miller
First, we need to put a stop to the data center invasion in Montana. If we let these data centers in, our electricity rates will shoot through the roof — on top of all of the other issues these destructive data centers bring, such as water consumption, noise and pollution. I have been leading on this issue among all of the candidates. I am actively supporting the Yellowstone County Data Center initiative, which will give local control and decision making over data centers to the people. I believe this should be a statewide law. We the People need to have local control, full transparency and final decision-making authority over all data centers; but if it was up to me, I wouldn’t have any of these things in Montana. I don’t trust these data center billionaires at all. They don’t care about what happens to us. They don’t have our interests in mind.
Beyond that, we need to continue to expand our portfolio of renewable energy in Montana. Again, it always needs to be subject to local control, but these are a great way to insulate us from the effects of international supply chain disruptions (like those caused by the disastrous War in Iran). We also need to do big work on developing our transmission infrastructure in Montana. There are lots of opportunities to export energy if we have the transmission capacity.
Finally, we need to crack down on NorthWestern Energy, as they keep jacking up rates for consumers, while making huge profits for their CEOs and shareholders. Did you know that consumers pay higher rates than commercial and industrial users do? I’m not sure that makes much sense. In this connection, I am deeply skeptical of the proposed acquisition of NorthWestern Energy by Black Hills Corporation, as it will only make things worse.