Environmental advocates are asking state officials to consider climate change when regulating how utilities source the energy that keeps the lights on. The agency didn’t answer their requests, so now a judge will weigh in.
At the district courthouse in Missoula, lawyers for the Public Service Commission and the 40 plus groups petitioning the agency explained their perspectives to judge Leslie Halligan.
In February, that coalition of environmental groups, businesses and students, filed their petition with the PSC. They said the agency is not fully regulating energy utilities because it doesn’t account for the detrimental impacts of greenhouse gas emissions.
Lawyers for the agency say it’s a complicated issue that will take time. They say the agency began an informal rulemaking process, including a public comment period.
But petitioners say the PSC timeline is not following state law and isn’t fast enough.
The petitioners say no such informal process exists in state law and the commission’s refusal to take any action is a stall tactic ahead of a procedural deadline.
Having presented their arguments, both sides await the judge’s ruling.
