NorthWestern Energy Secures Title of Montana Supervillain During Rate Case

by Anne Hedges

How much should electricity bills increase for residences and small businesses? 11%? 18%? A whopping 28%? It seems every time we turn around, NorthWestern Energy wants to raise our rates even higher.

The Public Service Commission (PSC) is currently deciding the size of Montanans’ electric rate increase after holding a two-week hearing in April. Each day of the hearing, members of the public gave the PSC an earful about the hardship that higher electricity bills are causing and the harm that would result if rates go even higher. Reminiscent of every movie supervillain, NorthWestern executives have no shame about harming those who are already struggling to pay their electricity bills.

Last summer, NorthWestern Energy asked the PSC to approve a 25% rate increase for residential customers and small businesses. By October, NorthWestern had convinced the PSC to allow it to increase customers’ bills by 11% on an interim basis while the larger increase was considered. Over the winter, public anger at that increase was palpable; what they didn’t know is that the 11% increase was just a stepping stone to far higher rates.

In a surprise announcement the week before the hearing, NorthWestern said it had reached a deal with large industrial customers (refineries, cement kilns, etc.), Walmart, and the Montana Consumer Counsel. The settlement proved the old saying that if you aren’t at the table, you are on the menu. While the settlement was extremely vague on details, it was quite clear on who NorthWestern thought should bear the burden of financing its mismanaged utility. And while NorthWestern’s announcement of the settlement claimed that residential customers and small businesses would see an 18% rate increase, it failed to tell the whole story.

At the end of a frustrating first day of the hearing, MEIC’s attorney, Jenny Harbine with Earthjustice, requested NorthWestern provide a spreadsheet showing how much rates would increase under the settlement for each customer class compared to customer rates before rate case. The PSC agreed to her request. Despite its reluctance, NorthWestern provided those figures the next morning, which showed that the real increase for the average Montanans would be 28%. The 18% figure was just the amount above the interim increase the PSC approved in October.

Long story short, the settlement was great – for the settling parties. Large industrial customers would see no rate increase, and Walmart would see a small one. The lion’s share of the rate increase would be shouldered by residential customers and small businesses. At one point in the hearing, Commissioner Randy Pinocci asked a witness whether it was fair to impose such a large increase on customers and no increase on Exxon Mobil, despite the oil and gas company’s record profits over the last several years.

This is the largest rate increase in memory, yet the Commissioners did not ask a single question of NorthWestern’s CEO. When Dr. Steve Running, climate scientist and Nobel Laureate, spoke about the need for NorthWestern to consider the climate crisis in its resource portfolio, the Commissioners peppered story continues on pg. 26