Fires like the ones in California are part of the motivation for a law that would require a wildfire mitigation plan in Montana and provide civil liability protections.
“The primary focus of the bill was to reduce the risk of utility-involved wildfire in Montana,” said Mark Lambrecht, Montana Electric Cooperatives Association government relations director.
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He says House Bill 490 will help keep utilities from falling into bankruptcy, which is what happened in California.
“California has a standard in its state constitution called strict liability,” Lambrecht said. “That means that no matter what, the utility is at fault for a wildfire, we automatically go from a fire to, how much does the utility pay?"
Lambrecht was part of a group, including Northwestern Energy and Montana Dakota Utilities (MDU), that drafted the bill to protect electricity providers in Montana.
“So, what we were trying to do with this bill is prevent that standard from taking root in Montana,” Lambrecht said.
With this law, the cooperatives would have their plans approved by their boards.
Investor-owned utilities, such as MDU and Northwestern would have their fire plans approved by the Public Service Commission (PSC).
“Should there be a fire, and somebody says, well, the Public Service Commission said we were good, then the ratepayers can be held responsible for some of the damages,” said Brad Molnar, PSC president.
Molnar says if the responsibility falls on the PSC because it approved a fire plan, it would limit the liability for the utility company, but rates could go up for customers.
That's why he has asked Gov. Greg Gianforte to veto the bill.
He sent a letter to the governor, supported by four of the five commissioners.
“So I've explained to him that virtually everything in the bill can be done without the Public Service Commission or even the bill,” Molnar said.
The bill passed 99-0 in the House and 42-8 in the Senate.
Despite all that support, Molnar says it's still a bad bill.
“If you have concerns about this bill at any level for any reason, call the governor's office and tell him, please veto House Bill 490,” Molnar said.
“This is the most consequential legislation of its kind in the entire country,” Lambrecht said.
Now, Molnar, Lambrecht and others can only wait to see if the governor will sign or veto the bill.
