17 groups sue Montana Public Service Commission to require considering climate change

A coalition of 17 groups that want the Montana Public Service Commission to consider the effects of climate change in its decisions is taking its case to court.

Earthjustice and Western Environmental Law Center filed a complaint Thursday against the Public Service Commission.

It asks the Missoula County District Court to find the PSC has a constitutional obligation to account for climate risks in its decisions.

“Climate change poses an urgent threat to Montana and its people,” the complaint said.

It said the Public Service Commission can allow utilities to keep investing in fossil fuels or encourage them to pursue “cleaner and ultimately less costly alternatives.”

But it said the PSC has “refused to recognize and regularly disregards” the costs of climate, such as smoke that hurts asthmatic children, floods that destroy homes, and anglers who can’t fish.

The groups include healthcare providers, youth organizations and clean energy and climate advocates.

Amy Cilimburg, with lead plaintiff Climate Smart Missoula, said the PSC’s failure to regulate with climate in mind affects the health of Montanans and their ability to afford power.

“When the PSC fails to consider climate change in its decisions, Montanans bear the high costs and risks that come with fossil-fuel electricity, as well as the unaffordable and unconstitutional effects of a changing climate,” Cilimburg said in a statement.

In February 2024, more than 40 organizations and businesses asked the PSC to address its “obligations to consider climate impacts,” but the PSC denied the request in September 2025 and again last month.

The PSC regulates monopoly utilities and is made up of five elected commissioners, all of whom are currently Republican.

The complaint asks the court to vacate the PSC’s decisions and find the commission has a constitutional responsibility to consider climate as part of the state’s obligation to “maintain and improve a clean and healthful environment.”

The PSC could not be reached for comment Thursday afternoon.

When the commission voted to deny the petition by the groups in 2025, its legal counsel said the PSC is an administrative agency, so it didn’t have the authority to do what the groups wanted — to declare the constitution requires the PSC to consider the adverse impacts of climate change.

Then-chief-legal-counsel Lucas Hamilton also said the constitutional right to a clean and healthful environment appears along other rights the PSC must consider, such as to pursue life’s basic necessities — including water service.

In a news release about the lawsuit, the groups said the PSC took nearly two-and-a-half years to make a decision on their petition but never addressed its substance.

In the meantime, the PSC was making “consequential decisions,” they said.

They pointed to the PSC’s decision to approve “NorthWestern Energy’s request to charge customers for the high construction and operation costs for the Yellowstone County Generating Station.”

In December 2024, the Montana Supreme Court affirmed the constitutional right to a clean and healthful environment includes “a stable climate system” in the historic Held vs. State of Montana decision.

In a statement, Sarah Lundquist, executive director of Families for a Livable Climate, said youth fought for their constitutional rights in the Held case and have been advocating “for climate justice” ever since.

Families for a Livable Climate is part of the lawsuit.

“Now it’s our turn,” Lundquist said. “The Public Service Commission has enormous influence over Montana’s energy future, and we must ensure climate change is at the center of its decisions. It is our responsibility as adults to protect the future our kids deserve.”