Oct 30, 2008 - 04:06:08 CDT
If North Dakota's future includes being a significant energy exporter, then choosing a new Public Service Commissioner gives voters real input into the changes ahead in the state's economy and in protecting the environment. From siting plants and pipelines to setting rates, the PSC stands on the front line when it comes to the business of energy - that's important to utility and power companies and to taxpayers and consumers.Commissioner Susan Wefald, who has served on the PSC since 1993, is stepping down. She is well-respected, in particular, as an advocate for consumers. Her voice will be missed.
Voters Tuesday will choose between Republican Brian Kalk and Democrat Cheryl Bergian to fill the open seat on the state's three-member PSC.
While both candidates are hard-working, intelligent and articulate, based on past experience and training as an engineer, we believe Brian Kalk would be the best choice for North Dakota on the Public Service Commission.
Kalk has an advanced degree in environmental engineering and a Ph.D. in natural resource management from North Dakota State University, where he now teaches. On a more practical level, he's a retired United States Marine Corps officer with service experience that translates well into the kinds of issues that reach the PSC.
Kalk preaches a balanced energy portfolio for North Dakota. We should, he says, develop alternative energy to take pressure off of lignite. He suggests the state is not doing a good job at looking at the cumulative impacts of wide-ranging development of coal, oil, natural gas and wind. And, yes, cell phone coverage could be improved.
Bergian would bring a lawyer's mind to the PSC. Kalk comes from the world of engineering. Given the terrain ahead, we like the idea of an engineer at the table when decisions are made.
The PSC sits at the juncture of optimistic planning and in-the-dirt reality. Energy companies and cooperatives bring proposals to the table and they are vetted, for the public good, by the PSC and its staff. When everything goes right, stockholders are happy, rate payers are happy, taxpayers are happy, and the environment sits pretty. When it goes wrong, everybody pays and pays and pays.
The importance of the work of the North Dakota Public Service Commission can not be over estimated. In the short run, its work is crucial to anyone paying a utility bill. In the long term, its work is critical for North Dakota's economic future.
Electing Kalk to sit with Kevin Cramer and Dave Clark on the PSC would be a vote for getting things right.
The Tribune endorses Brian Kalk for PSC.
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