A U.S. District Court judge in Missoula said Thursday he will decide whether to uphold a ban keeping Public Service Commissioner Brad Molnar from working in person at the PSC's Helena offices — a dispute that has turned a regulatory agency into the backdrop for a federal retaliation fight.
Molnar, who represents a eastern Montana district on the five-member commission that oversees utility rates and services, has been barred from physical access to his own workplace. His attorney, Matthew Monforton, argued outside the Missoula courthouse that the expulsion amounts to retaliation — a claim that, if upheld, could force the commission to restore Molnar's access while the broader legal dispute plays out.
The case puts the PSC, a body most Montanans encounter only when their power bill changes, into unusual territory. The commission regulates electric, gas, telephone, and other utilities across the state, and its decisions ripple directly into household budgets in Helena and every other Montana community. A sitting commissioner being locked out of his office raises questions about how the agency conducts its work and who controls access to it.
The judge did not rule from the bench Thursday. His decision on whether to grant or deny the injunction will determine whether Molnar returns to in-person work while the case continues — or stays out.