Electricity costs recovery bill fails in Montana Senate
A bill revising electricity costs recovery for NorthWestern Energy and protecting customers from what the Montana Public Service Commission (PSC) calls “unwarranted costs” failed to be advanced by Montana Senate last week.
HB 193, sponsored by Rep. Tom Woods (D-62), would have repealed a portion of the law that allows NorthWestern to pass 100 percent of the costs for market purchases of electricity on to ratepayers.
These rules, PSC officials said, differ from those applied to Montana’s other major utility, Montana-Dakota Utilities (MDU).
“It doesn’t make sense to treat two companies with identical business models differently under the law,” Commissioner Tony O’Donnell said.
The bill would have allowed PSC to create a cost-sharing agreement similar to the one used by MDU. Under the agreement, if NorthWestern experiences an outage or a generator does not perform to expectation, the company would be required to 10 percent of the cost of replacement power and could 90 percent on to customers.
The bill would also the kinds of costs the utility could pass through to ratepayers.
“The failure of this bill is a loss for electric customers this session,” PSC Chairman Brad Johnson said. “I’m extremely disappointed to see lawmakers stand between the Commission and our efforts to protect the long-term best interest of ratepayers. In light of this motion’s failure, the Commission will continue its vigorous past efforts to ensure that all of the electricity supply costs that NorthWestern passes on to customers are just and reasonable.”
