Montana PSC to hold public listening session on Hi-Line power outage response
The Montana Public Service Commission (PSC) recently announced that it would hold a public listening session on Oct. 30 in Havre, Montana, to hear from NorthWestern Energy customers about the company’s response to recent widespread power outages.
In the beginning of October, heavy snows and winds caused outages for approximately 9,500 customers in a 90-mile area from Havre to Malta. The storm required NorthWestern crews to replace or repair approximately 2,000 poles and miles of power lines. Some customers had no power for more than a week.
“One of the consequences of working from Helena is that when an event like this occurs you lack the contextual knowledge that is needed to truly understand what happened,” PSC Vice-chairman Travis Kavulla, said. “I’m eager to hear from those who were actually on the ground during this ordeal.”
The session will consist of a brief presentation from Northwestern representatives on the company’s restoration efforts and time for questions and comments from the public as well as from PSC commissioners and staff.
“This meeting is about looking at what worked, what didn’t, and how things can be improved in the future,” Kavulla said.
