(Montana) After surviving a heated Senate debate in mid-April, a bill codifying Montana’s wildfire liability law was signed by Governor Greg Gianforte on May 13th.
The bill’s carrier in the Senate, Sen. Vince Ricci, R-Billings, argued that some Western states’ wildfire liability law has put an unfair burden on ratepayers by financially debilitating utility companies.
In exchange for blocking a strict liability precedent, House Bill 490’s drafters including NorthWestern Energy and Montana Electric Cooperatives’ Association agreed that energy providers would maintain and “substantially” follow a wildfire mitigation plan, an outline detailing how a utility prevents wildfire.
