By Nick Fitzmaurice
On February 28, 2024, 40 diverse businesses and organizations asked the Montana Public Service Commission (PSC) to create a rule that would require it to consider climate change in its regulation of gas and electric utilities. The PSC determines whether and how much utilities, such as NorthWestern Energy, can charge customers for new power plants or greater shares of old coal plants.
The PSC held a public hearing on our proposed rule in April, but since that time it has been silent on whether or not it intends to create a rule. To date, it has only extended the public comment period and argued in court that it was working on the issue and the court should not force it to comply with the statutory deadline for rulemaking. Unfortunately, the court agreed with the PSC. The court accepted the PSC’s strained argument that it had started the rulemaking process with “informal rulemaking,” so it refused to require the PSC to respond in writing to our proposed rule within the 60-day window provided by law.
This outcome is frustrating as the PSC has done nothing to move this issue forward since April. We believe the PSC has a constitutional mandate to consider climate impacts in its regulation of Montana gas and electric monopoly utilities, particularly in regard to allowing the burning of fossil fuels.
While the court ruling was disappointing, it did not say the PSC is not obligated to consider the climate impacts of its decisions. MEIC will continue to work with our partners to require the PSC to comply with Montana’s constitution and consider the economic, social, and environmental implications of climate-damaging fossil fuel activities in its regulation of Montana’s gas and electric utilities.
This article was published in the October 2024 issue of Down To Earth.
