Montana PSC authorizes CTS wildfire mitigation plan after debate over costs and maps

The Montana Public Service Commission on May 5 authorized a draft notice approving the Colstrip transmission system wildfire mitigation plan with non-substantive staff edits after a contentious discussion about cost allocation and risk mapping.

Commission Chair Jeff Willeborn called the meeting to order and commissioners heard a staff presentation from Neil Templeton, who told the panel the plan was submitted under statutes enacted by the Legislature. "Last legislative session, the governor signed House Bill 490, which established the need for electric facilities providers to submit wildfire mitigation or risk mitigation plans," Templeton said, and staff concluded the CTS plan "meets all the standards of a plan" and "reasonably balances the incremental cost of implementing the plan with the risk of a potential wildfire." He also noted the draft directs future CTS reports to describe any material use, testing, or refinement of operational settings and de-energization protocols so the commission stays informed.

The approval followed prolonged questioning from commissioners about estimated costs and who would shoulder them. Commissioner Brad Molnar pressed whether owners other than Northwestern Energy would pay their shares of wildfire mitigation spending; Templeton said staff had not found a clear per-share allocation in the filing and that cost recovery and prudency would be determined later in rate cases. Vice President Fielder highlighted that the plan itself lists roughly $5 million in incremental costs over five years and emphasized that approving a plan does not pre-approve spending: "Approval of the plan in no way approves the cost that could be later recovered by the utility," a staff member confirmed during the discussion.

Commissioner Michael Panucci urged staff to obtain or produce a high-fire-risk map to ensure de-energization devices and vegetation management are prioritized where risk is highest. "I think that's a deficiency," he said, urging the commission to consider whether the plan sufficiently distinguishes treatment for high- versus low-risk segments.

After debate, a commissioner moved to authorize the draft notice of commission action approving the CTS wildfire mitigation plan with non-substantive staff edits. The motion passed on a recorded voice vote; the transcript records the tally as 3 to 2. The record identifies Commissioner Brad Molnar among the dissenting votes; the transcript also names a second dissenting commissioner but that name is unclear in the recorded text (see audit notes).

Staff and commissioners emphasized that the authorization is a plan-level approval and does not preclude the commission from scrutinizing specific expenditures in future rate proceedings. Templeton told commissioners the plan includes segmentation by five-mile increments, risk-prioritization and annual reporting requirements so the commission can track implementation and any changes to operational protocols.

The commission directed staff to finalize the draft notice with clerical edits and to continue oversight through the annual reports called for in the draft notice. The commission will evaluate cost-recovery and prudence for any specific investments in subsequent rate-case or capital-approval proceedings.