NorthWestern Energy pitches Montana utility board on 9% increase to natural gas rates
Cost recovery of NorthWestern Energy’s $310 million gas plant in Laurel remains undecided leading into a hearing before the Public Service Commission that is currently scheduled to start April 22, 2025.
Latest ENERGY Reporting
Trump rolls back Biden coal policies
The Colstrip power plant and the Spring Creek Mine received lifelines as the Trump administration moved to prop up the flagging coal industry by rolling back pollution regulations Trump’s predecessor adopted and expanding access to federal coal.
Eastern Montana lawmakers sponsor bills seeking to restrict wind development
Proponents of the proposals to restrict where new wind turbines can be built and how tall they can be argue the bills will reduce wind farms’ impact on neighboring landowners and communities. Opponents counter that the legislation will stifle a growing but underdeveloped Montana industry — and tax base — by making utility-scale wind development…
NorthWestern Energy partners on high-voltage transmission line
Montana’s largest utility has entered into an agreement with transmission developer Grid United and Minnesota energy company ALLETE for 10% of the capacity on the North Plains Connector, 3,000-megawatt, 420-mile line that will connect Colstrip with Bismark, North Dakota.
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PSC votes to lower NorthWestern Energy’s electricity ratesÂ
The typical NorthWestern Energy residential customer will see a $7.96 decrease in their monthly electricity bill following the Montana Public Service Commission’s decision to adopt a temporary rate structure.
NorthWestern Energy, small electricity producer scrap over the price of power
Greenfields Irrigation District, which distributes water to more than 500 irrigators across a 93,000-acre portion of the Sun River Basin, argued that NorthWestern’s proposed contract will stifle competition for power generation by making projects too risky to secure financial backing.
The future of coal country: The landscape of energy
The rise of renewable energy poses life-changing questions for Montana’s coal country. Colstrip has a century’s dependence on coal production. The Crow and Northern Cheyenne Indian reservations share the region’s Powder River Basin coal deposits. The three communities face different directions as the energy economy reacts to billions of dollars in new federal investments in…
The future of coal country: Collision of cultures and choices
The rise of renewable energy poses life-changing questions for Montana’s coal country. Colstrip has a century’s dependence on coal production. The Crow and Northern Cheyenne Indian reservations share the region’s Powder River Basin coal deposits. The three communities face different directions as the energy economy reacts to billions of dollars in new federal investments in…
The future of coal country: Money, power, politics, and tradition
The rise of renewable energy poses life-changing questions for Montana’s coal country. Colstrip has a century’s dependence on coal production. The Crow and Northern Cheyenne Indian reservations share the region’s Powder River Basin coal deposits. The three communities face different directions as the energy economy reacts to billions of dollars in new federal investments in…
The future of coal country: Landscape on the brink of change
The rise of renewable energy poses life-changing questions for Montana’s coal country. Colstrip has a century’s dependence on coal production. The Crow and Northern Cheyenne Indian reservations share the region’s Powder River Basin coal deposits. The three communities face different directions as the energy economy reacts to billions of dollars in new federal investments in…
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U.S. Supreme Court declines to block emissions rule that requires Colstrip upgradesÂ
The country’s highest court on Oct. 4 denied petitions brought by Republican states and energy industry groups seeking a stay of the Mercury and Air Toxics Standard while the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals weighs the merits of legal challenges to the five-month-old rule. The rule would require upgrades for Montana’s Colstrip plant.
Four things to know about NorthWestern Energy’s newest rate hike request
Less than a year after levying a 28% increase on residential electricity customers, NorthWestern Energy is looking to recover an additional $193 million annually from its electricity and natural gas customers. Here’s what customers should know about the rate hike request that’s currently before Montana’s Public Service Commission.
BLM identifies acreage suitable for solar development
According to a newly published roadmap from the Bureau of Land Management, about 572,000 acres of land in Montana have some baseline potential for utility-scale solar development, more than double the acreage the agency identified in the draft Environmental Impact Statement it released in January.
NorthWestern Energy, Talen to Supreme Court: New EPA rules ‘put an untenable burden on Colstrip’
NorthWestern Energy and Talen argue that complying with an EPA rule to limit climate-warming carbon dioxide emissions, paired with another EPA rule enforcing stricter limits for toxic pollutants, will force the Colstrip coal-fired power plant into an early retirement. They’re asking the U.S. Supreme Court to block the rule from going into effect.
Montana lands $700 million for major transmission project
Montana will receive $700 million to advance the North Plains Connector, the nation’s first transmission project bridging the eastern and western grids, a step described as critical to U.S. energy reliability.
NorthWestern Energy announces deal to acquire larger share of Colstrip power plant
NorthWestern Energy announced that it will acquire a large share of the Colstrip power plant from Puget Sound Energy, a Washington-based utility facing a mandate to stop using coal-generated power by 2025.
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