"I would be the first to admit that it's not ideal," he says. "But that's just the way it has to be."
Vincent, elected to the five-member commission in 2008 and up for re-election next year, is the caregiver for his wife, Peggy, who has multiple sclerosis. She can't be left alone, he says, so Vincent often attends PSC meetings and hearings by telephone.
The commission, which regulates utilities in Montana, meets weekly at its Helena office to discuss and vote on cases. This year, Vincent has attended only 40 percent of those meetings in person. Other commissioners have been there about 80 percent of the time.
Whether Montana's public service commissioners are - or need to be - in the office to do the job is an open question.
Commissioners, who represent districts, are required to maintain a residence in their home district, but also are expected to be in Helena, working at the PSC office. Their current salary is $94,500 a year, and the chairman gets $95,600.
At times, past commissioners have been upbraided by fellow commissioners or the media for poor attendance.
Its other current members - commissioners Gail Gutsche of Missoula, Brad Molnar of Laurel, Bill Gallagher of Helena and Travis Kavulla of Great Falls - say they're usually in the office at least four days a week, sometimes more, sometimes less.
Vincent says he tries to come to Helena on Monday evening as often as he can, stays for the Tuesday weekly meeting and then returns home, a drive of about 100 miles. When he can't make it, he dials in to the meeting via telephone conferencing.
Vincent says for the rest of the week, he spends at least six to six-and-a-half hours a day on his computer, working on PSC business.
Molnar, R-Laurel, who's sometimes been criticized for his travel and absences, questions whether a commissioner can do the job consistently from a remote location.
"You have to be at the commission, talking to attorneys, talking to staff, talking to other commissioners," he says. "You can't do that on the phone. If you could, I wouldn't have an apartment in Helena."
Molnar says he's rented an apartment in Helena for six of his seven years as commissioner and is usually in the office from Monday to Thursday.
Commissioners, who represent districts, are required to maintain a residence in their home district, but also are expected to be in Helena, working at the PSC office. Their salary is $94,500 a year; the chairman gets $95,600.
At times, past commissioners have been upbraided by fellow commissioners or the media for poor attendance.
Other current members — Commissioners Gail Gutsche of Missoula, Brad Molnar of Laurel, Bill Gallagher of Helena and Travis Kavulla of Great Falls — said they’re usually in the office at least four days a week, sometimes more, sometimes less.
Vincent said he tries to come to Helena on Monday evening as often as he can, stays for the Tuesday weekly meeting and then returns home, a drive of about 100 miles. When he can’t make it, he dials in to the meeting on a telephone conference.
Vincent said that for the rest of the week, he spends six to 6-1/2 hours a day on his computer on PSC business.
Molnar, R-Laurel, who has been criticized for his travel and absences, questions whether a commissioner can do the job consistently from a remote location.
“You have to be at the commission, talking to attorneys, talking to staff, talking to other commissioners,” he said. “You can’t do that on the phone. If you could, I wouldn’t have an apartment in Helena.”
Molnar said he has rented an apartment in Helena for six of his seven years as commissioner and is usually in the office Monday through Thursday.
He traveled last month to Moldova, in eastern Europe, as part of a U.S. Agency for International Development mission, missing a week at the commission, but said he stayed in touch by telephone. He also traveled to Greece as a commissioner.
Travel is an occasional part of the job for all commissioners, as they attend conferences, hearings and other events.
Gutsche, D-Missoula, said she tries to be in the office four days a week, Monday through Thursday, and returns to Missoula by Friday, where she said she spends time doing work with constituents. She rents out part of a house in Helena.
Kavulla, R-Great Falls, rents an apartment in Helena and said he’s at the office Monday through Friday, when he’s not traveling on commission business.
Gallagher, a Republican, is from Helena and lives there but isn’t necessarily in the office every day. He said a lot of the job is reading documents and sometimes he does that at home.
Gallagher, an attorney, said he also maintains his law practice, but spends no more than six to 10 hours a month at that job, mostly in evenings and on weekends, consulting clients he already has or doing “transactional work.”
Kavulla said being a commissioner is a full-time job but that commissioners don’t punch a clock and are responsible only to their voters.
Vincent agrees on being accountable to the voters.
“I’ve never tried to hide the fact that I’m not in the office there all the time,” he said. “I have to do it that way, and voters will have to decide whether they’re OK with that.”
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