Montana Legislators offer utilities looser liability laws in exchange for increased wildfire mitigation strategies

The Montana House has unanimously passed legislation to enforce stricter wildfire mitigation standards and reduce liability for utility companies and cooperatives.

House Bill 490 requires all electric utilities to prepare and follow a wildfire mitigation plan detailing the company’s strategies for inspecting and updating electric facilities and maintaining vegetation in utility rights-of-way. 

Utility companies that “substantially followed” an approved wildfire mitigation plan may not be found civilly liable for damages resulting from a wildfire.

“The main purpose of this bill is for electric co-ops and public utilities to demonstrate their commitment to reducing fire risk by requiring fire mitigation plans,” said the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Amy Regier, R-Kalispell. 

Regier introduced HB 490 after victims of the Eaton Fire filed upwards of 40 lawsuits against Southern California Edison, alleging that sparks from the utility company’s transmission lines ignited the blaze. Regier referenced California’s unique strict liability laws in her opening remarks on the bill, arguing that the policy has caused "bankruptcy, layoffs and skyrocketing utility rates.” 

“We need to prevent this from occurring in Montana. Electric co-ops and public utilities have an obligation to serve Montana homeowners, landowners and businesses,” said Regier.  

Researchers predict fire seasons in the western United States will lengthen as climate change disturbs precipitation patterns and drives temperatures up, making events like the Eaton Fire more likely. 

Rep. Tom France, D-Missoula, pointed to the 2021 West Wind Fire, which incinerated 25 homes during a particularly dry winter, as evidence of the growing threat in Montana. 

“This is really a climate change bill,” said France. “Ten years ago, our utilities were not fearful of these wildfires that we’ve seen, not only in California, but also in Montana when the town of Denton literally burned down in December because conditions were so extreme.” 

Officials suspect the West Wind Fire broke out after strong winds downed a power line owned by NorthWestern Energy. The company is currently litigating three lawsuits related to the fire. At the time, NorthWestern did not have a wildfire mitigation plan, though it did implement some “targeted wildfire mitigation programs.” 

“Sometimes things happen,” said Alan Olson, NorthWestern’s director of Montana government affairs, at a Feb. 19 hearing for HB 490. “We have to run transmission, distribution services through timberland, grassland. But if we are at fault, if we’ve been proven negligent, we don’t have an issue with making things right.” 

NorthWestern Energy voiced support for the bill, alongside Flathead Electric Cooperative and other major electrical providers throughout the state. Home insurance providers initially opposed the bill, claiming the blanket immunities provided in the legislation’s first iteration would drive up rates for homeowners.  

Subsequent amendments addressed these concerns by strengthening mitigation requirements for utility companies and introducing language that would allow negligent utility companies to be held liable.  

The House unanimously passed the bill on March 5, days ahead of the final transmittal date. The legislation will likely appear for a vote in the Senate in the coming months.