Paladin Associates, Inc. v. Montana Power Co.

This case involves an array of antitrust law challenges to what we conclude are reasonable and unremarkable business practices. A Montana natural gas marketer sued a Montana natural gas pipeline company for alleged violations of the antitrust laws. The plaintiff marketer claimed that the defendant pipeline company unlawfully monopolized an essential gas pipeline and storage facility in southern Montana, unlawfully tied together the sales of two products, and unlawfully conspired with another natural gas marketer, a competitor of the plaintiff, to organize a group boycott that forced the plaintiff out of business. Viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the plaintiff, we affirm the judgment of the district court granting summary judgment to the defendants.

I

Plaintiff Paladin Associates, Inc. (Paladin) is a Montana corporation that marketed natural gas to industrial customers within Montana and other western states. 1 Paladin obtained natural gas from producers in Canada and Montana and arranged for the gas to be transported to its customers through a pipeline owned by the defendant, the Montana Power Company (MPC). MPC’s pipeline runs from the Montana-Canada…