Last week's Question of the Week asked whether readers agreed with the Public Service Commission's rejection of a proposal by the Australian firm BBI to buy NorthWestern Energy. Most did.

Among 344 responses to this unscientific poll, 274 - or four out of five - said they agreed, while 70 didn't agree.

Some readers' comments:

n The decision to reject the buyout was a good one. Large corporations such as this one cannot be trusted with the financial well being of Montana rate payers. We need also to remember the lessons of the Gruppo Mexic buyout of Asarco and what a debacle that was to the East Helena community.

n Yes. The public utilities of Montana should be owned by the people of Montana and operated for the people of Montana and not for the benefit of investors who live in foreign countries. It never made any sense to me how a company, which is based in Australia, could effectively manage and provide service to the population of a state which is located halfway around the world from BBI.

n I thought we were interested in attracting investment to Montana. But when a company actually decides it wants to make such an investment, we thumb our noses at it. No, I don't agree with the PSC's decision.

n Why should we OK a deal that was made up of mostly promises, and apparently didn't address the fact that NorthWestern Energy's electricity rates are among the highest in the region? How was BBI going to get a return on its investment if not from Montana ratepayers?