PSC votes to seek sanctions against former president Brad Molnar

The Montana Public Service Commission escalated its fight over Brad Molnar’s conduct Friday, voting 3-2 to back a response-team report that recommends sanctions against the former president and asks Gov. Greg Gianforte to suspend him.

The 28-page report says Molnar made repeated unwelcome sex-based remarks, treated staff unprofessionally and retaliated against people who complained about him or investigated those complaints. It was built from work done by an outside investigator brought in last spring, and commissioners said the findings justified more than another warning inside an agency that regulates utilities for Helena, Lewis and Clark County and the rest of Montana.

Commissioner Jennifer Fielder, the PSC vice president, argued that the behavior could not be allowed to continue without intervention. The recommendations would require Molnar to work remotely, stay away from PSC offices, apologize and agree to follow the commission’s code of conduct. They also seek to keep him suspended until he complies, or for as long as one year.

Molnar rejected the report and said the process violated his rights. During Wednesday’s meeting, he said, “This commission is biased against me” and “They've been hunting for my head for a year,” putting the dispute in blunt personal terms after months of fights over procedure and discipline.

The vote followed the same 3-2 split that has defined much of the PSC’s turmoil. Jeff Welborn, Fielder and Annie Bukacek backed the action, while Randy Pinocci sided with Molnar. The commission removed Molnar as president in October 2025 and replaced him with Welborn, deepening a feud that has repeatedly spilled beyond the boardroom.

Molnar said he had been under investigation as early as July 2025 and later refused to cooperate, saying he believed the process was politically motivated. The conflict reached Montana District Court in September 2025, when a judge issued a temporary restraining order blocking the governor from taking action to suspend Molnar. In October 2025, the court ruled Gianforte could consider the complaint.

By December 2025, the governor said there was no need to suspend Molnar while the investigation continued, and PSC staff said the response team planned to meet in early 2026 to decide next steps. The latest vote shows the issue is still far from resolved, and the stakes reach well beyond one commissioner’s job. The PSC’s credibility matters in every utility proceeding it handles, including rate cases and other public decisions that affect customers in Helena, Lewis and Clark County and across Montana.