A Montana man filed a lawsuit in the federal district court for the District of Montana to compel NorthWestern Corporation to include in its annual proxy statement his shareholder proposal requesting that the company cease coal-fired generation of electricity from the Colstrip power plant in Montana by 2025 and replace the electricity generated by the plant with non-carbon renewable energy. The plaintiff alleged that he is a shareholder in NorthWestern, the parent company of a company that operates an energy company that generates and transmits electricity to parts of Montana, South Dakota, and Nebraska. The plaintiff alleged that NorthWestern had told the Securities and Exchange Commission that it intended to omit the proposal on grounds that the plaintiff asserts are invalid. The plaintiff sought a declaration that his proposal qualified for inclusion in NorthWestern’s 2020 proxy statement and that NorthWestern had a legal duty to include it.

Lawsuit seeking to bar the defendant from excluding the plaintiff's shareholder proposal requesting that the defendant cease coal-fired power generation.

Tosdal v. NorthWestern Corp.

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Montana Plaintiff Asked Federal Court to Require Energy Company to Include His Shareholder Proposal in Proxy Statement

Filed

United States of America

Montana

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An aim to achieve a quantifiable outcome within a given time-frame, set by an institution such as a national government.

Policy instruments are techniques or tools used by governing authorities to promote certain policies in order to achieve predetermined goals. Put simply, instruments are how a government tries to achieve its goals, with this taxonomy being focused on national policy instruments.

Risk is the potential for adverse consequences resulting from the dynamic interplay between (climate-related) hazards, exposure, and vulnerability of affected human or ecological systems.

Groups  of people who are adversely affected by climate change or the response to it

A set of principles, processes, and practices that build economic and political power to shift from an extractive economy to a regenerative economy.

Justice is the ethical and political framework that addresses fairness, including issues of responsibility, rights, and structural inequity.

Renewable energy means all forms of energy produced from renewable sources in a sustainable manner.

Fossil fuel is a generic term for non-renewable energy sources such as coal, fossil gas, and oil (including crude oil, and petroleum products), that can be used for electricity and heat generation. Fossil fuels are hydrocarbons formed from pressurised and heated organic material buried over millions of years.

Molecules in the atmosphere that play a key role in the greenhouse effect by trapping heat radiating from Earth’s surface.

Area of the economy in which actors engage in identical or related activities.

In human systems, the process of adjustment to actual or expected climate change and its effects, in order to moderate harm, increase resilience or exploit beneficial opportunities. In natural systems, the process of adjustment to actual climate change and its effects; human intervention may facilitate adjustment to expected climate change and its effects.

The management and allocation of funds, assets and investments to meet various objectives

Either money or something of monetary value is transferred between two or more organisations, people or countries.

A long-lived, colourless gas, chiefly emitted from fossil fuel combustion, deforestation and cement production.

Coal is a combustible sedimentary rock formed from carbonised plant matter, rich in carbon and hydrocarbons, and occurring in several main types including hard coal and brown coal.

The activities of industries involved in the production, distribution, and sale of energy, including electricity, gas, and renewables.

Activities of businesses and institutions that provide financial services and products to individuals and organisations.

Montana Plaintiff Asked Federal Court to Require Energy Company to Include His Shareholder Proposal in Proxy Statement

Target

Renewable energy

Fossil fuel

Greenhouse gas

Economic sector

Finance