MTLSMFi3.xml Guide to the Montana Public Service Commission Records 1973-2003 Montana Public Service Commission Records Finding aid prepared by MHS Staff Montana Historical Society 2005
Helena, MT
Finding aid encoded by Molly Kruckenberg 2005 Finding aid written in English. Finding aid based on DACS ( Describing Archives: A Content Standard, 2nd Edition). Montana Historical Society Archives Montana Public Service Commission Montana Public Service Commission Records 1973-2003 These Montana Public Service Commission records contain minutes (1973-2003); declaratory rulings (1978, 1980, 1981); and transportation and utility case dockets (1973-2003). (An index for all dockets is included with the utility dockets.) English

In 1907 Montana's Tenth Legislative Assembly created the Board of Railroad Commissioners giving the Board the power and authority "to adopt... all necessary rates, charges, and regulations to govern and regulate freight and passenger tariffs, to correct abuses, and prevent unjust discrimination and extortion in the rates" of railroads in the state. The Board was to consist of three members who were "qualified electors of the state."

In 1913 the Thirteenth Legislative Assembly passed a law "making the Board of Railroad Commissioners of the State of Montana Ex Officio a Public Service Commission for the regulation and control of certain public utilities, prescribing the manner in which such public utilities shall be regulated and controlled, requiring such public utilties to furnish reasonably adequate service and facilities, [and] prohibiting unjust and unreasonable charges for services rendered by such public utilities." The secretary of the Board of Railroad Commissioners was to serve as the secretary of the Public Service Commission, but the business of the two bodies was to remain "entirely separate."

The legislature defined a public utility as "every corporation, both public and private, company, individual, associations of individuals, their lessees, trustees, or receivers appointed by any court whatsoever, that now or hereafter may own, operate or control any plant or equipment... for the production, delivery, or furnishing of... heat, street, railway service, light, power in any form or by any agency, water for business, manufacturing, household use, or sewerage service...., telegraph or telephone servce.".

In 1971 the Department of Public Service Regulation was created as the administrative and coordinating agency for the Public Service Commission. The Commission was retained and made the head of the new department. At that time the Board of Railroad Commissioners was abolished and its functions merged with those of the Public Service Commission.

These Montana Public Service Commission records contain minutes (1973-2001); declaratory rulings (1978,1980,1981); and transportation and utility case dockets (1973-2001) for cases heard before the Commission. The case dockets, which form the bulk of the records, were assigned both order and docket numbers for identification. They have been filmed for the most part in numerical order, though there are instances when the cases are not arranged strictly by number. There is an index (1916-2001) to the orders/dockets giving the citation by number to the appropriate sheet of the microfiche. In some instances the index gives the order number and in other cases it is listed by docket number. The orders/dockets are arranged within each year by topic such as motor carrier, utility, transportation, other than PSC, etc.

Acquisition informationavailable upon request

This collection is indexed under the following headings in the Montana Historical Society Archives catalog. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or places should search under these terms.

Electric utilities--Law and legislation Public utilities--Regulation Transportation and state Municipal water supply--Rates Government and Politics Public Utilities Montana Detailed Description of the Collection

The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection

Minutes 1 Public Service Commission 1973-2004 Declaratory Rulings 2 "Declaratory Rullings" (re Dale Shafer carpool in Billings-Colstrip area) 1981 3 "Utilities Declaratory Rulings: (re Glendive remote meter reading devices; Pacific Power and Light company) 1978, 1980 Orders/Dockets 4 Index (lists citation by number to microfiche sheet, or may be listed by order or docket number) 1916-1996 5 orders/dockets 1973 6 orders/dockets (other than PSC) 1973 7 orders/dockets 1974 January-June 8 Motor carrier orders/dockets 1974 9 orders/dockets (other than PSC) 1974 10- 11 Motor carrier orders/dockets 1975 12 orders/dockets (other than PSC) 1975 13 Motor carrier orders/dockets 1976 14 orders/dockets (other than PSC) 1976 15 Utility orders/dockets 1977 16 Transportation orders/dockets 1977 17 Utility orders/dockets 1978 18 Transportation orders/dockets 1978 19 Utility orders/dockets 1979 20 Transportation orders/dockets 1979 21 Utility orders/dockets 1980 22 Transportation orders/dockets 1980 23 Utility orders/dockets 1981 24 Transportation orders/dockets 1981 25 Utility orders/dockets 1982 26 Transportation orders/dockets 1982 27 Utility orders/dockets 1983 28 Transportation orders/dockets 1983 29 Utility orders/dockets 1984 30 Transportation orders/dockets 1984 31 Utility orders/dockets 1985 32 Transportation orders/dockets 1985 33 Utility orders/dockets 1986 34 Transportation orders/dockets 1986 35 Utility orders/dockets 1987 36 / Transportation orders/dockets 1987 37 Utility orders/dockets 1988 38 Transportation orders/dockets 1988 39 Utility orders/dockets 1989 40 Transportation orders/dockets 1989 41 Utility orders/dockets 1990 42 Transportation orders/dockets 1990 43 Legal dockets 1991 44 Utility orders/dockets 1991 45 Transportation orders/dockets 1991 46 Utility orders/dockets 1992 47 Transportation orders/dockets 1992 48 Utility orders/dockets 1993 49 Transportation orders/dockets 1993 50 Utility orders/dockets 1994 51 Transportation orders/dockets 1994 52 Utility orders/dockets 1995 53 Transportation orders/dockets 1995 54 Utility orders/dockets 1995-1997 55 Transportation orders/dockets 1996-1997 56 Utility orders/dockets 1997 57 Transportation orders/dockets 1997 58 Utility orders/dockets 1999 59 Transportation orders/dockets [includes index] 1999 60 Utility dockets/orders [includes index] 2000 61 Transportation orders/dockets 2000 62 Utility orders/dockets [includes index] 2001 63 Transportation orders/dockets 2001 64 Utility and Transportation orders/dockets [includes index] 1997-2002 65 Utility orders/dockets [includes index] 2003 66 Transportation orders/dockets [includes index] 2003 67-72 / Utility orders/dockets 2004 73 Transportation orders/dockets 2004 74 Utility and transportation orders/dockets index 2004