PSC will take up the NorthWestern merger this week

By DARRELL EHRLICK | Editor-in-Chief

"The issue has blown up over the last year. It wasn’t that long ago politicians were fighting to bring data centers to their communities. Now these facilities are completely controversial, and many people don’t want them in their neighborhood. So public opinion has changed very rapidly on this issue,” – Darrell West, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution Center for Technology, on the rise of data centers as a volitile political issue.

UPDATED: Public Service Commission to take up NorthWestern, Black Hills merger

by Keila Szpaller

The Montana Public Service Commission is scheduled to take up the $15.4 billion merger proposal by NorthWestern Energy and Black Hills Corp. on Tuesday. PSC legal and regulatory staff recommend approval of the merger. NorthWestern Energy, the largest public utility in Montana, has argued the merger will not harm Montana customers, and some of the […]

Democrat Sam Forstag outraises Republican Aaron Flint in western US House district

by Jordan Hansen

As the 2026 election cycle nears its close, campaign spending continues to heat up in Montana’s competitive races. Campaign finance filings through Oct. 14 show Democrat Sam Forstag with a lead in both total fundraising and cash on hand over Republican Aaron Flint in a tight race for Montana’s western Congressional district. Forstag has raised […]

‘We don’t want it’: Voter backlash against data centers consumes midterm elections

by Ashley Murray

SPRINGDALE, Pa. — Residents in a small southwestern Pennsylvania town are facing the prospect of a 47-acre data center facility on their doorstep. “Right here behind this fence is where they want to put up the data center, and as you can see, there’s houses right across the street, roughly 100 feet,” said lifelong Springdale […]

COMMENTARY

Buy AI is a lot like buying a used truck |Jacob Rebo

Trump’s DOJ sues over Alaska Senate race, expanding preelection legal fights

Most US House races aren’t competitive. What does that mean for how lawmakers govern?

Trump immigration policies could turn away much-needed foreign doctors, critics say

GOOD READS

Note: Some links may lead to stories behind a news organization's paywall

Sick corals can heal, with the help of a ‘magic touch’ from healthy ones, offering hope for heat-damaged marine ecosystems | Smithsonian Magazine

Campaign finance groups seeks investigation into Roger Marshall’s alleged ethics violations | Kansas Reflector

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