NorthWestern plan to sell generating facility bears watching - Must admit: PSC got it right on NorthWestern sale to Babcock & Brown Infrastructure Ltd.

June 16, 2008

NorthWestern Corp.'s http://www.northwesternenergy.com/ announcement last week that it might sell its interest in the Colstrip 4 power plant looks like just another boring utility/finance story. But it's not, for it will have a huge monetary impact on the company's 300,000-plus ratepayers in Montana.

The question is, what will that impact be? Might it be positive for ratepayers, as suggested by the company, in the form of a long-term source of reasonably priced power?

Maybe. But the Montana Consumer Counsel, which has been watching the issue closely, says this positive outcome may happen only if state regulators crack down on the questionable elements of this deal.

If that doesn't happen, a Consumer Counsel consultant says, NorthWestern's Colstrip 4 gambit is little more than a multimillion-dollar shakedown of its Montana ratepayers - and a huge windfall for company shareholders.

By MIKE DENNISON of the Missoulian State Bureau

Full Story: http://missoulian.com/articles/2008/06/16/news/mtregional/news09.txt

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Must admit: PSC got it right on NorthWestern sale http://www.greatfallstribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080615/OPINION01/806150305/1014/NEWS17