HELENA, MT (59601) – Montana Freedom Caucus members dealt a fatal blow to Senate Bill 255 in the House of Representatives. If passed, this bill would have prioritized the state’s largest utility provider and presented artificially low rates to incentivize electric vehicle (EV) ownership, rather than letting the free-market drive demand.

In his opening statement, the bill sponsor provided vague details with misleading intent on a complex issue that is unfamiliar to most. The fact is, EVs are a hobby project, just like wind and solar. This was clearly a covert attempt by enviro-socialists to bypass the free market and implement their agenda. SB 255 had major red flags from the start and promoted a specific product heavily subsidized by the government, bypassing the more effective free market.

The sponsor was an anti-coal legislator who hates the state’s utility regulators. Yet this bill prioritized a utility that owns a stake in coal power and gave authority to the regulators he vilifies. Furthermore, it exempted electric co-ops while being supported by the state’s largest utility provider.

Initially, the bill passed the Senate on a 31-19 vote and cruised through committee in the House. While meeting little resistance at first, Freedom Caucus members worked to form a broad coalition, overnight, to defeat the bill in the House. As a result, the coalition swung more than 50 votes and the bill died on a final vote of 35-62.