Customer bills have increased 40% over the past three years. NWE implemented an increase in May without regulatory approval. This is not sustainable. "State’s largest public utility asks regulators for workaround to help ‘offset’ costs" #Montana #NorthwesternEnergy dailymontanan.com/2025/10/02/n...
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Federal government authorizes expansion of mine that supplies coal to Montana’s largest power plant
#Montana #MTPol #Colstrip #Coal #NorthwesternEnergy #NWE #ClimateChange […]
Federal government authorizes expansion of mine that supplies coal to Montana’s largest power plant
#Montana #MTPol #Colstrip #Coal #NorthwesternEnergy #NWE #ClimateChange
montanafreepress.org/2025/08/05/f...
Tell the EPA to Uphold Air Quality Protections and not allow proposed rollbacks in air quality protections by repealing amendments to the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS)
#AirPollution #Montana #Colstrip #MTPol #NWE #NorthWesternEnergy
@moreperfectunion.bsky.social | More Perfect Union: "The Wall Street Lie That Jacked Up Your Electricity Bill" | #NorthWesternEnergy #ForProfit #InvestorOwned #Blackrock #Vanguard
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ENOUGH!! #northwesternenergy is a LEECH.
Given North Western Energy functions as a monopoly with no competitors and 400,000 guaranteed customers, a high ROE (profit) percentage is seen by many as an abuse of captive customers. This abuse is compounded by the fact that NorthWestern continues to seek the most expensive energy sources while ignoring the more afordable, reliable, and fastest growing energy sources being embraced by utilities across the county. WHY THIS RATE INCREASE MATTERS Montana already has some of the highest energy costs in the region (nearly twice our neighbors in Idaho). North Western's excessive rate hike request would mean millions in additional costs passed to Montana families and businesses on the heels of a historic rate increase barely one year ago. Higher electric bills will make it harder for Montanans to aford housing, groceries, medicine, and children's needs. 1. The proposed 10.8% Return on Equity (guaranteed shareholder profit, essentially) requested by North Western is excessive for a monopoly utility with no competitors and 400,000 guaranteed customers. 2. NorthWestern's recent 28% rate increase has already created significant financial challenges for working Montanans. 3. The Public Service Commission should prioritize customer afordability over excessive profits in its oversight of monopoly utilities like NorthWestern Energy. 4. Afordable energy solutions should be considered before rate-basing the $320 million Laurel plant.
North Western Energy, Montana's largest monopoly utility serving over 400,000 customers, is pursuing significant electricity rate increases that will afect Montana families and businesses. Because NorthWestern is a regulated monopoly utility, we customers cannot choose a diferent provider. We can, however, make our voice heard. For too long, the body overseeing utility regulation – the Montana Public Service Commission (PSC) - has tilted toward ensuring generous returns to the shareholders of investor-owned utilities like NorthWestern. The impacts to customers have been a secondary concern. It's time to rebalance this equation and remember that the whole purpose of overseeing monopoly utilities is to ensure working families and small businesses pay fair and reasonable rates that are not inflated to guarantee corporations artificially excessive profits. RATE INCREASES ON TOP OF RATE INCREASES Barely over a year ago, in the fall of 2023, North Western Energy was granted a historic 28% rate increase for residential customers. Now, the corporation is asking for an additional 8.3% hike, which would mean a 39% aggregate increase within less than year.
Northwestern Energy wants another Montana utility rate increase. Here's some background. #MTPol #Montana #MTPSC #NorthwesternEnergy #NWE
NORTHERN PLAINS W RESOURCE COUNCIL W NORTHWESTERN ENERGY'S RATE INCREASE ENOUGH IS ENOUGH FORCING MONTANANS TO OVERPAY FOR RISKY CORPORATE INVESTMENTS North Western Energy, Montana's largest monopoly utility serving over 400,000 customers, is pursuing significant electricity rate increases that will afect Montana families and businesses. Because NorthWestern is a regulated monopoly utility, we customers cannot choose a diferent provider. We can, however, make our voice heard. For too long, the body overseeing utility regulation – the Montana Public Service Commission (PSC) - has tilted toward ensuring generous returns to the shareholders of investor-owned utilities like NorthWestern. The impacts to customers have been a secondary concern. It's time to rebalance this equation and remember that the whole purpose of overseeing monopoly utilities is to ensure working families and small businesses pay fair and reasonable rates that are not inflated to guarantee corporations artificially excessive profits. BACKGROUND RATE INCREASES ON TOP OF RATE INCREASES Barely over a year ago, in the fall of 2023, North Western Energy was granted a historic 28% rate increase for residential customers. Now, the corporation is asking for an additional 8.3% hike, which would mean a 39% aggregate increase within less than year. UNREALISTIC PROJECTIONS LIKELY TO BRING EVEN HIGHER INCREASES North Western's actual rate increases could be significantly higher. Why? Because the utility's complicated rate structures are based, in part, on power it expects to sell to other energy suppliers. In short, the more power it sells to other energy suppliers, the less customers have to pay under the current rate proposal. Because of this, NorthWestern made wildly optimistic and unrealistic projections about the power it expects to sell to other suppliers in order to deflate the expected rate percentage increase projections it is requesting. Former PSC rate analyst Gary Duncan called NorthWestern's project…
ENOUGH IS ENOUGH Laurel Methane-Fired Power Plant A significant part of North Western's rate hike involves the costs associated with its new methane-fired plant in Laurel, the Yellowstone County Generating Station. Monopoly utilities like NorthWestern can seek a return on equity (ROE) for generating plants that it own. This ROE is formulated as a percentage of the costs related to building, operating, and maintaining a facility which functions, in essence, as a “guaranteed profit rate” of sorts. Given North Western Energy functions as a monopoly with no competitors and 400,000 guaranteed customers, a high ROE (profit) percentage is seen by many as an abuse of captive customers. This abuse is compounded by the fact that NorthWestern continues to seek the most expensive energy sources while ignoring the more afordable, reliable, and fastest growing energy sources being embraced by utilities across the county. KEY NUMBERS FOR THE LAUREL PLANT Construction cost: $320 million Lifetime costs: $2.3 billion North Western is seeking a 10.8% return on equity (ROE) for this project (guaranteed profit rate, essentially) WHY THIS RATE INCREASE MATTERS Montana already has some of the highest energy costs in the region (nearly twice our neighbors in Idaho). North Western's excessive rate hike request would mean millions in additional costs passed to Montana families and businesses on the heels of a historic rate increase barely one year ago. Higher electric bills will make it harder for Montanans to aford housing, groceries, medicine, and children's needs. IMPORTANT DATES Public Hearing: April 22, 2025 at the Public Service Commission in Helena Final Decision Expected: Summer/Fall 2025 (possibly October) KEY MESSAGES FOR PUBLIC COMMENTS 1. The proposed 10.8% Return on Equity (guaranteed shareholder profit, essentially) requested by North Western is excessive for a monopoly utility with no competitors and 400,000 guaranteed customers. 2. NorthWestern's recent 28% rate increase has …
Northwestern Energy wants another Montana utility rate increase. Here's some background. #MTPol #Montana #MTPSC #NorthwesternEnergy #NWE
#NorthWesternEnergy to Provide 75MW of Power for #AtlasPower’s #DataCenter Expansion in #Montana – Key Deal for Growing Industry
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South Dakota regulators approved a 7% #NaturalGas rate hike for #NorthWesternEnergy, which will increase the average residential customer's bill by $8.38 per month. A settlement reduced the increase from the originally requested 9%.
