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Montana politics, elections and legislative news

Montana Utility Regulator Files Claim Against PSC, Colleagues

Republican Candidate for Public Service Commission Roger Koopman
Republican Candidate for Public Service Commission Roger Koopman

A Montana utility regulator has filed a more than $2 million claim against the Public Service Commission for negligence and harm he says was directed towards him.

Bozeman Commissioner Roger Koopman filed the notice with the Department of Administration on behalf of himself and his family, citing targeted, malicious behavior by the PSC and several of its elected officials and state employees.

In an excerpt of the notice sent to YPR, Koopman accuses fellow commissioners of abusing their authority and violating state law and policy. He says the PSC legal department was complicit by failing to put a stop to the behavior.

Koopman’s work emails were the subject of an unauthorized leak last year to a right wing online media outlet and sparked an extended investigation.

The Montana Department of Administration told YPR it just received the notice and cannot yet release it to the public due to privacy concerns. The notice may lead to legal action.

Copyright 2021 Yellowstone Public Radio

Kayla Desroches reports for Yellowstone Public Radio in Billings. She was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, and stayed in the city for college, where she hosted a radio show that featured serialized dramas like the Shadow and Suspense. In her pathway to full employment, she interned at WNYC in New York City and KTOO in Juneau, Alaska. She then spent a few years on the island of Kodiak, Alaska, where she transitioned from reporter to news director before moving to Montana.
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