{"data":{"id":"us-mt/69-8-215","jurisdiction":"us-mt","citation":"69-8-215","heading":"Ratepayer and shareholder protection.","body":"(1) Rates established pursuant to Title 69, chapter 3, part 3, may not allow for the recovery of any portion of a civil judgment in a lawsuit arising out of litigation brought by the shareholders of a predecessor in interest against:\n(a) the predecessor in interest;\n(b) the officers or directors of the predecessor in interest;\n(c) the legal advisers or consultants to the predecessor in interest; or\n(d) any successor of the predecessor in interest, including a successor in interest.\n(2) (a) Subject to subsection (3), an entity subject to regulation under Title 69, including the entity's subsidiaries and affiliates, may not be made a party to litigation brought by the shareholders of a predecessor in interest against:\n(i) the predecessor in interest;\n(ii) the officers or directors of the predecessor in interest;\n(iii) the legal advisers or consultants to the predecessor in interest; or\n(iv) any successor of the predecessor in interest that is not a successor in interest.\n(b) Except as provided in subsection (3), an entity subject to regulation under Title 69 may not be held liable for a civil judgment entered against:\n(i) a predecessor in interest;\n(ii) the officers or directors of a predecessor in interest;\n(iii) the legal advisers or consultants to a predecessor in interest; or\n(iv) any successor of a predecessor in interest that is not a successor in interest.\n(3) Subsection (2) does not apply:\n(a) to a successor of a public utility regulated by the public service commission pursuant to Title 69, chapter 3, on May 2, 1997, whose shareholders received stock as a result of the sale of a public utility; or\n(b) if the liabilities resulting from, related to, or arising out of a reorganization, restructuring, or plan of merger were explicitly assumed by written contract to be the liabilities of the successor to the predecessor in interest.\n(4) For the purposes of this section:\n(a) \"predecessor in interest\" means a public utility regulated by the commission pursuant to Title 69, chapter 3, on May 2, 1997, in which an interest was purchased through an arm's-length transaction in which the market value of the public utility property purchased was paid for in cash, debt assumption, or a combination of cash and debt assumption; and\n(b) \"successor in interest\" means the purchaser of all or a portion of a public utility regulated by the commission pursuant to Title 69, chapter 3, on May 2, 1997, through an arm's-length transaction in which the market value of the public utility property purchased was paid for in cash, debt assumption, or a combination of cash and debt assumption.","path":["TITLE 69. PUBLIC UTILITIES AND CARRIERS","CHAPTER 8. ELECTRIC UTILITY INDUSTRY GENERATION REINTEGRATION","Part 2. Public Utilities"],"source_url":"https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0690/chapter_0080/part_0020/section_0150/0690-0080-0020-0150.html","current_through":"Montana Code Annotated 2025","vintage":"","retrieved_at":"2026-09-14T04:58:19Z","sha256":"35a4a20ee2f1d81fdbb2a182bb1d003eb3f1570c67175c9c32a9f486cccbba34","source_id":"us-mt","stale":false,"prev":"us-mt/69-8-212","next":"us-mt/69-8-301"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}