A coalition of groups with concerns about data centers is challenging the Montana Public Service Commission’s decision to keep information about them under wraps at the request of NorthWestern Energy.

In a motion filed with the Public Service Commission this week, Earthjustice said NorthWestern hasn’t shown information in a series of letters qualifies as trade secrets, and keeping them hidden will hurt the public, especially those forced to buy electricity from the monopoly utility.

“Reflexively issuing a protective order based on unsubstantiated trade secret claims, as the Commission did here, creates barriers to participation, hides the costs of the deals with data centers, and allows decisions that will impact ratepayers to be made behind closed doors,” said the motion.

The motion argues the decision to “shield” the letters from public view is unlawful.

Earthjustice filed the motion on behalf of Butte Watchdogs for Social and Environmental Justice; Climate Smart Missoula; Helena Interfaith Climate Advocates; Honor the Earth; Montana Environmental Information Center; Montana Public Interest Research Group; and NW Energy Coalition.

In an email, PSC spokesperson Jamey Petersen said the Commission may issue protective orders when necessary to preserve trade secrets or other information that needs to be guarded under the law.

“The Commission is not in the business of ‘shielding’ any utility from scrutiny; our role is to apply Montana’s strong right‑to‑know provisions in Article II, Section 9 of the Montana Constitution alongside laws that protect genuinely confidential information, such as trade secrets, and we do so consistently regardless of which company is before us,” Petersen said in an email.

Proposed data centers are controversial in Montana.

NorthWestern Energy, data center developers and some business leaders argue they represent economic opportunity, such as more jobs and an expanded tax base.

But opponents argue they are going to mean increased rates for existing customers, who already are seeing rising utility costs, and bring detrimental impacts to water for many sectors of the state, including agriculture.

Data centers use a significant amount of water to remain cool.

NorthWestern Energy has been working with data center developers in Montana. It’s in conversation with at least 11 data center developers, including about projects in Montana.

In December 2025, the PSC issued a protective order allowing NorthWestern to keep the information in the letters out of public view, but the groups argue it did so without sufficient evidence and in violation of its own rules.

The documents at issue are NorthWestern’s letters of intent to three data center developers in Montana, Atlas Power Group, Sabey Data Center Properties, and Quantica Infrastructure; Atlas and Sabey have announced projects in Butte, and Quantica is working on one outside of Billings.

NorthWestern argued the information needed to be private because it has “independent economic value” and affects the utility’s “competitive advantage,” but the groups argue it didn’t explain itself.

“NorthWestern did not identify — in any manner — the information that it sought to shield from the public,” the motion said. “NorthWestern did not describe the contents of the Letters of Intent, nor provide any other explanation of the information that it was asking the Commission to determine qualified as trade secret.”

The motion also said NorthWestern promised to make a public filing concerning future service to data centers before the end of the year, which it didn’t do, and argued the letters should be kept secret because they’re part of “ongoing negotiations” and “not uniform.”

A spokesperson for NorthWestern Energy could not be reached Friday.

In August 2025, the PSC had planned to set a hearing on data centers, but Petersen said a date has not been set.

The Public Service Commission granted the protective order, but it didn’t describe the protected information, and it allowed the contents to remain secret because NorthWestern argued it wanted them secret, the groups said.

“The Commission concluded that the information in NorthWestern’s Letters of Intent was ‘secret’ because NorthWestern had protective measures in place to maintain secrecy and had not provided the Letters of Intent to any third parties,” the motion said.

On behalf of the PSC, however, Petersen said the Commission found NorthWestern met its burden to show that certain information “qualifies for trade secret protection, so that material must be handled confidentially while redacted versions and all other non‑confidential information remain available to the public.”

The letters NorthWestern filed are heavily redacted, but the motion said the redactions are not uniform, and some of the protected information hurts the public’s ability to advocate against rising costs for existing ratepayers.

The groups say the commission exceeded its legal authority in classifying the confidential information as a trade secret, and it “unconstitutionally shifted the initial burden of proof to the public to challenge a public utility’s claims of confidentiality.”

It said the standard the Public Service Commission adopted violates the Right to Know in the Montana Constitution, it’s contrary to the agency’s own regulations, and the Montana Supreme Court already rejected a similar approach in an earlier case.

The groups are asking the PSC to find NorthWestern has not met its burden to prove the information qualifies as a trade secret; determine the information should not be protected from public disclosure; and order NorthWestern to file unredacted copies of the letters.

Petersen said typically, affected parties such as NorthWestern are given a chance to respond before the Commission takes action on a motion.

“Because the motion is pending in an open docket, the Commission will not comment on its merits outside of the formal proceeding, consistent with its quasi‑judicial role,” Petersen said.

Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks says there was an increase in illegally-taken mountain lions in central Montana in 2025.

According to wardens, five mountain lions were harvested in Region 4, and three hunters admitted they purchased their lion license only after shooting the animal.

The hunters were cited for hunting without a valid license or unlawful possession of wildlife. Total fines and restitution amounted to $3,605.

All of the illegally-taken lions were confiscated.

Game Warden Sgt. Trent Farmer said in a news release: “These are really just crimes of opportunity. Hunters are encountering lions while hunting deer or elk and then trying to buy a license after the fact. Hunters who want to harvest a lion need to plan ahead and purchase a license before the season begins.”

Full details on 2026 mountain lion hunting regulations, seasons, and quotas will be released later this summer.

Region 4 stretches from Glacier County to Petroleum County, and includes Lewistown, Great Falls, Havre, and Fort Benton.

From the Montana Field Guide:

Residents should report any possible mountain lion sightings immediately to law enforcement or to Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks.

Farmers across Montana are heading into the spring planting season facing another potential challenge: rising fertilizer prices.

Suppliers and producers alike say global tensions involving Iran are beginning to ripple through fertilizer markets, pushing prices higher at a time when producers are already managing tight margins.

Madison Collier reports – watch the video here:

How the Middle East conflict might affect Montana Ag producers

Erik Somerfeld, vice president of the Montana Farmers’ Union, says the price increases are already being felt locally.

“Just this week, because of the war, fertilizer here locally is going to jump about fifty to fifty-five dollars a ton,” Somerfeld said. “So it’s going to be up over seven hundred dollars for urea.”

Urea is one of the most commonly used nitrogen fertilizers for crops such as wheat and barley, making it a key input for many farmers across Montana.

Somerfeld says the current price surge is building on pressures that were already developing before the conflict.

“That’s been a problem even before this started because of consolidation in the industry,” he said. “This is just making it worse.”

Part of the concern centers on global shipping routes. A large portion of the world’s fertilizer supply moves through the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway between Iran and Oman that connects the Persian Gulf to international shipping.

According to UN Trade and Development, UNCTAD, roughly one-quarter to one-third of globally traded fertilizer, including key nitrogen products like urea and ammonia, passes through that corridor.

Because several major fertilizer-producing countries in the Middle East export through that route, any disruption to shipping can quickly tighten global supplies and drive prices higher.

The global nature of agriculture means events overseas can quickly influence costs for producers here in Montana.

“Any more, the U.S. is kind of a smaller player, even as big as we think we are in agriculture,” Somerfeld explained. “India, China, and Brazil are major players, so when things like this happen globally, they get top billing.”

For farmers, rising fertilizer costs can directly affect how they plan their crops and manage inputs during the growing season.

“With it being dry and fertilizer costs high, you’re probably going to see guys cut back on fertilizer use just because of the cost,” Somerfeld said.

Somerfeld explained that this new pressure on prices, due in part to the conflict involving Iran, just builds off of the inflation many farmers have faced in previous years. Meaning many producers have already taken measures to reduce costs late last year when making planting decisions.

“I already last fall decided to go with lower fertilizer use crops like barley versus spring wheat,” he said.

Along with higher prices, supply availability could also become a concern if global shipping disruptions continue.

“If you don’t speak for it early and pre-buy it, you may not get it,” Somerfeld explained.

Somerfeld says the biggest challenge for farmers right now is uncertainty, as global markets react to both geopolitical tensions and trade policies.

“The big thing right now is uncertainty,” he said. “Whether it’s tariffs or ships moving through the Gulf, that uncertainty is driving the costs higher.”