NorthWestern Energy has initiated another rate case with the Montana Public Service Commission to increase electric and gas utility rates in its Montana service territory. Included in this request is a 26% increase to base electricity rates, over $2.3 billion in lifetime costs for the Yellowstone County Generating Station (YCGS) methane gas plant, and a blank check for certain near-future investments into the dirty and unreliable Colstrip plant that could well exceed $2 billion. With the hearing beginning on April 22, Montana ratepayers need to know exactly what NorthWestern Energy is asking for.
In this webinar, experts Amanda Levin and Michael Goggin gave an overview of NorthWestern’s requests before exploring how some of these requests are not supported by the evidence. They were be joined by Becky Xilu Li and Christian Fong of RMI (formally known as Rocky Mountain Institute), which recently published a report that was relied on by one of our experts to show the savings that would accrue to Montanans by closing Colstrip and replacing it with clean energy resources. There will be time for questions. This event is sponsored by Montana Environmental Information Center, Human Resources Council, and NW Energy Coalition.
Slides: https://meic.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/April-8-Rate-Case-Webinar.pdf
Links shared in this call:
- Additional information on the Energy Infrastructure Reinvestment program can be found here: https://www.energy.gov/lpo/energy-infrastructure-reinvestment
- Here’s an RMI article that further elaborates how EIR can potentially be leveraged to support the energy transition: https://rmi.org/maximizing-the-value-of-the-energy-infrastructure-reinvestment-program-for-utility-customers/
- Here’s the article Christian mentioned about a Minnesota example of additional job opportunities created by clean energy portfolios: https://rmi.org/the-sherco-clean-repowering-how-one-community-turned-a-coal-plant-into-a-hub-for-a-new-clean-economy/
- The current LCOE for adding storage to wind and solar can be found here: https://www.lazard.com/media/xemfey0k/lazards-lcoeplus-june-2024-_vf.pdf
- In terms of load forecasting, RMI just released a report on how regulators can make sure they’re accurately estimating load forecasts, rather than falling prey to uncertain estimates and potentially overinflated forecast: https://rmi.org/insight/get-a-load-of-this/
- Here’s the policy statement by the Washington UTC that directs utilities to make sure IRA benefits are incorporated into their modeling: https://rmi.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Appendix_A_regulatory_collaborative_updates_and_insight_brief.pdf
- Here is the factsheet MEIC put together at the start of the rate case: https://meic.org/northwestern-energy-rate-case/
- On data centers, some of our colleagues have released a report on how new large loads can be co-located with clean energy resources in a way that can power their loads without impacting other ratepayers: https://rmi.org/how-power-couples-can-help-the-united-states-win-the-global-ai-race/
- Just on the complicated politics – 80% of the expected clean energy manufacturing is in red districts: https://www.canarymedia.com/articles/clean-energy-manufacturing/chart-gop-districts-to-lose-big-if-trump-halts-clean-energy-factories
- Karin Kirk wrote this last month – how IRA benefits red states https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2025/03/clean-energy-generates-major-economic-benefits-especially-in-red-states/
- If you have additional questions, our experts have provided their contact information:
- Amanda Levin (NRDC): alevin@nrdc.org
- Michael Goggin (Grid Strategies): mgoggin@gridstrategiesllc.com
- Becky Li (RMI): bli@rmi.org
- Christian Fong (RMI): cfong@rmi.org
