Here is an excerpt from our conversation.

There's been a huge rate increase proposals coming out, and it goes back now Northwestern Public Service and, uh, uh, Black Hills Power and Light merged, uh, so far in South Dakota.

The final hurdle is Montana has to approve it.

All the other states have.

But as we traveled throughout the state, we asked, uh, people in the audience, "How many of you heard about this merger?" And it's been going on for a year.

Over and over again, it's less than ten percent of the people in the audience have heard about it, and that's a failure of transparency.

And no ill will to the current PUC, but we need to get the word out about these meetings and mergers and, uh, and do a little better job of informing the people that are affected by them.

Where do you see us at, and what are some of the things that are opportunities for communities and risks for communities?

Yeah

... election.

But those are policy maker positions.

As you're, you...

Frank, you're pursuing a quasi-judicial- Right ... position.

Right.

So why pick PUC when you're- Well- Did the party ask you to run, or how did that come to be? No, there was one person, a friend of mine, who's been asking me for years to run, but I think it all came together with the property rights, this data centers, all these issues about the South Dakotans, the rate increases, all those issues that concern everyday South Dakotans.

[laughs]