Seventeen organizations sued Montana's utility regulators October 15, asking a state district court to require consideration of climate-related costs and risks in gas and electric utility decisions. The court filing challenges the Public Service Commission's refusal to issue requested declarations about its duties under Montana's Constitution and utility laws.
The case was filed in Missoula County by Earthjustice and Western Environmental Law Center on behalf of groups including Climate Smart Missoula, Forward Montana and the Montana Environmental Information Center. Daily Montanan reported that the coalition wants the court to overturn the commission's decisions and recognize a constitutional obligation to account for climate risks. Those are requests for relief, not findings that the commission broke the law.
A dispute over the regulator's authority
The controversy began with a February 2024 petition from more than 40 organizations and businesses. The PSC rejected the requested declaratory rulings in September 2025 and denied reconsideration September 15, 2026, according to the filing and Daily Montanan's reporting. The new lawsuit follows that administrative process rather than challenging one newly announced utility rate.
As Daily Montanan explains, the commission's earlier position was that an administrative agency lacked authority to make the constitutional declaration sought by the petitioners. Its then-chief legal counsel, Lucas Hamilton, also said environmental rights sit alongside other constitutional rights relevant to utility service.
The petitioners dispute that distinction. Their legal argument is that they asked the commission to apply existing constitutional principles, not interpret the Constitution for the first time. They also challenge the agency's treatment of statutory duties involving environmental protection, the public interest and reasonable rates. It asks the court to vacate Orders 8029 and 8029a and award litigation expenses, including attorney fees, alongside the requested declaration about the commission's obligations.
What the climate precedent establishes
In its December 2024 Held decision, Montana's Supreme Court affirmed that the state constitutional right to a clean and healthful environment includes a stable climate system. That ruling addressed statutory limits on environmental review. The new case asks how constitutional protections should operate within the PSC's separate utility-regulation framework; citing Held does not itself decide that question.
The plaintiffs connect the issue to household energy costs and longer-term utility investments. In their lawyers' announcement, they argue that ignoring climate risks can expose customers to economic and environmental harm. The coalition includes health professionals, youth organizations, conservation groups and clean-energy advocates. Their interests explain the lawsuit's breadth but do not substitute for a judicial ruling.
The commission told Montana Free Press that it does not comment on active litigation. For utility customers, the immediate development is a court challenge to regulatory decision-making—not an announced bill reduction, a plant closure or a court-ordered change in electricity supply.
