NorthWestern Energy, Montana PSC: The power to keep families safe is in your hands

Storm damage in Missoula in July 2024 (Photo courtesy of Sarah Lundquist).

Spoiled breastmilk was my family’s biggest hardship from Missoula’s recent hurricane-level windstorm , due to the multi-day power outage. We certainly count ourselves as one of the lucky ones, considering that many others were facing damage to cars, houses and property; refrigerators full of spoiled food; loss of running water; too-close-for-comfort lightning strikes; and large tree and debris cleanup projects. An acquaintance of mine had to evacuate her house because of a fire caused by the storm.

This event truly rattled our community. Many long-time Missoulians have shared that this kind of storm was unprecedented; that they do not remember anything like this happening in their lifetime. Unfortunately – while we cannot attribute this particular storm to climate change with absolute certainty – extreme weather events like this, as well as extreme heat and wildfire smoke, are projected to become more and more frequent and intense in the coming years due to climate change.

In fact, I thank our lucky stars that this storm didn’t happen one week earlier, when temperatures rose above triple-digits – I’m not sure my house would have been bearable without electricity to power our air conditioning units or our air purifiers filtering out the smoke.

Let this be a wakeup call to NorthWestern Energy leadership and their regulator, the Montana Public Service Commission: The time to invest in clean energy is NOW. Our safety is at stake.

Though the storm and its aftermath were devastating, there were beautiful parts about it, too: Our community rallying together to help haul wood, check on neighbors, clean up, and share generators and resources demonstrates the true resilience of community. And the hard work of NorthWestern Energy’s crews and employees, other linemen, city/county staff, and emergency responders deserves to be celebrated – I am beyond grateful for their tireless efforts to repair the damage and restore power to our community.

While these on-the-ground workers are clearly dedicated to our families’ safety, and NorthWestern Energy’s swift response does show an interest in our immediate safety, our long-term safety is being compromised in favor of risky investments made by NorthWestern Energy’s leadership and due to lack of oversight from the PSC. NorthWestern Energy is one of the only utility companies in the country expanding their use of coal, despite its devastating health and climate impacts . The PSC is evading responding to a petition asking them to consider climate impacts in their rulemaking. By not taking pollution and climate change seriously, these decision-makers are not taking our long-term safety seriously.

I hope this storm, this summer’s record-breaking heatwaves, and the many wildfires surrounding our community motivate NWE’s leaders and the PSC to reconsider their investment in dirty, polluting energy sources. Montana families need leaders who will work with us to protect our future.

NWE and PSC: When it comes to keeping our families safe, you hold an immense amount of power. Will you continue to make poor long-term decisions that threaten our health and wallets, and lead to the need for resource-intensive cleanups? Or will you step up, stand with us, and invest in a healthy and secure future?

Lundquist is the Executive Director of Families for a Livable Climate.