This Tuesday, Nov. 18, the #Montana Public Service Commission (PSC) in Helena will vote on whether or not to allow NorthWestern Energy to raise our rates again.
Please call or comment or attend.
#MTPol #MTPSC […]
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This Tuesday, Nov. 18, the #Montana Public Service Commission (PSC) in Helena will vote on whether or not to allow NorthWestern Energy to raise our rates again.
Please call or comment or attend.
#MTPol #MTPSC
docs.google.com/document/d/1...
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Here's a great suggestion for #NWE and #MTPSC to help bring our energy costs down. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/04/o...
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#MtPSC is reviewing its comprehensive plan. We wrote a memo for planning about what could be done to advance progress regarding public transit East of the Cooper. docs.google.com/document/d/1...
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Attending #MTPSC Master Plan Review session. Major new elements for resilience and disaster preparedness integrated into all sections of the plan
#TIDELCsee
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Montanans:
Message from Karin Kirk, science writer and Gallatin County energy expert re MT PSC hearing on Northwestern Energy rate hikes.
#MTPol #Montana #MTPSC
"I testified at NorthWestern Energy’s rate case yesterday. One worrisome thing I saw is that the balance of commenters is not what it […]
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Montanans:
Message from Karin Kirk, science writer and Gallatin County energy expert re MT PSC hearing on Northwestern Energy rate hikes.
#MTPol #Montana #MTPSC
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Go Big! Banner and Button Making for No Kings Weekend Tuesday evening, 6 pm in #MTPSC Details in blog post mailchi.mp/55b757f1da77... #TIDELCact #CHSresist Remember LA!
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Go Big against the Billionaires for No Kings prorests. Join our Tuesday, June 10 Banner and Button Making workshop in #mtpsc lc-up-is-good.blogspot.com/2025/05/bann... #chsresist #TIDEact
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Video- We have lit a "Welcome Home Light" at the Home of the Brave in Mt. Pleasant, where Wendy and I live. It reminds those who know that we hold out the shining hope that the US can and will return from this long American night
#chsresist #TIDELCacr #mtpsc youtube.com/shorts/yRzHf...
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Lowcountry Progressive activists plan evening of banner & button making to prepare for No Kings weekend in #MTPSC on Tues, June 10, starting at 6 pm. Order your canvas now—details in a blog post. lc-up-is-good.blogspot.com/2025/05/bann... Tags #chsresist & #TIDEmobilize #TIDELCmobilize
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Plan the 90th Birthday Party of Louise Brown, "Mother of the Movement." On Sun. April 27, #mtpsc Pasta Dinner at the home of Jack Hamilton (oatme & Wendy Temple. Celebrate Brown's 80 years in the fight for social justice. Prepare for her next decade. #TIDEmobilize youtube.com/shorts/Q7cHp...
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Montanans:
Oppose Northwestern Energy's proposed rate increase.
The Montana Public Service Commission (PSC), the agency which regulated monopoly utilities, will hold a hearing starting April 22 to decide whether to approve NorthWestern's proposal to hike electricity rates by 26%.
#MTPol #MTPSC
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A Town Hall will be held with, or without, US Rep. Nancy Mace in #mtpsc on Friday, March 28. Seating is limited so sign up now. #sc1 #chsresist
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Saturday #SC lowcountry transit advocates plan to appear at #CHS country dem. convention and participate in 4 pm #MTPSC meetup in support of saving #ridecarta and preserving Charleston area affordable housing federally funded programs. mailchi.mp/5a6e5727e9a8...
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Candidates for #MTPSC Town council have been riding #transit as part of their campaigns. 4 of 10 candidates in the March 25 election have participated in a guided ride on the bus with Best Friends of Lowcountry Transit. mailchi.mp/5733a386e1c2...
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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
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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
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Attend Court Hearing on MT PSC Districts
Next week Montana Conservation Voters will present evidence in court that the #MTLeg disenfranchised voters by allowing PSC Commissioners to choose their voters.
#MTPol #Montana #MTPSC #FairDistricting #Districting […]
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Attend Court Hearing on MT PSC Districts
Next week Montana Conservation Voters will present evidence in court that the #MTLeg disenfranchised voters by allowing PSC Commissioners to choose their voters.
#MTPol #Montana #MTPSC #FairDistricting #Districting
secure.everyaction.com/QW9R0HZwEUmJ...
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RT @Live5News: Patriots Point to remember Pearl Harbor victims today http://bit.ly/WDMiOW #chsnews #mtpsc #pearlharbor
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