Chair Ankney and Senate Energy and Telecommunications Committee,
Missoula County strongly opposes SB 379: Generally revise coal-fired generation laws, up for hearing this afternoon in the Senate Energy and Telecommunications Committee.
SB 379 would force the Montana Public Service Commission to allow NorthWestern Energy to recover all costs associated with the Colstrip coal-fired power plant, without allowing the PSC to conduct its usual evidence-based analysis to determine whether ratepayers should be on the hook for these costs. These costs would include the remaining undepreciated book value of NorthWestern’s current ownership share of Colstrip, decommissioning and remediation costs, as well as the market value of any additional share it acquires (even if it is acquired at a cost far below market value), plus a rate of return. According to a PSC staff analysis, the cost to NorthWestern ratepayers of this “fictional investment” could reach as high as $1.9 billion, which would equate to a bill increase of more than $700 per NorthWestern customer per year.
In addition, in situations when the power plant breaks down, SB 379 would make it easier for the utility to charge ratepayers for the costs of replacement power, even if the utility was at fault for the outage. In recent years, the PSC has twice disallowed NorthWestern from recovering the costs of replacement power from ratepayers after determining that the utility failed to take prudent steps to prevent the outage. This bill would likely prevent the PSC from making similar decisions in the future, imposing millions of dollars more on ratepayers.
The Montana Public Service Commission has an extremely important statutory responsibility to protect the interests of Montanans who are captive to monopoly utilities such as NorthWestern Energy. By forcing the PSC to make Colstrip-related decisions in favor of NorthWestern shareholders at the expense of ratepayers, this bill violates the fundamental principle of utility regulation.
Missoula County is gravely concerned by SB 379. The majority of Missoula County residents are captive customers of NorthWestern Energy and would be at risk of enormous and unjustified rate hikes if this bill were to become law.
Missoula County strongly opposes SB 379: Generally revise coal-fired generation laws, up for hearing this afternoon in the House Energy, Technology and Federal Relations Committee.
SB 379 would force the Montana Public Service Commission to allow NorthWestern Energy to recover all costs associated with the Colstrip coal-fired power plant, without allowing the PSC to conduct its usual evidence-based analysis to determine whether ratepayers should be on the hook for these costs. These costs would include the remaining undepreciated book value of NorthWestern’s current ownership share of Colstrip, decommissioning and remediation costs, as well as the market value of any additional share it acquires (even if it is acquired at a cost far below market value), plus a rate of return. According to a PSC staff analysis, the cost to NorthWestern ratepayers of this “fictional investment” could reach as high as $1.9 billion, which would equate to a bill increase of more than $700 per NorthWestern customer per year.
In addition, in situations when the power plant breaks down, SB 379 would make it easier for the utility to charge ratepayers for the costs of replacement power, even if the utility was at fault for the outage. In recent years, the PSC has twice disallowed NorthWestern from recovering the costs of replacement power from ratepayers after determining that the utility failed to take prudent steps to prevent the outage. This bill would likely prevent the PSC from making similar decisions in the future, imposing millions of dollars more on ratepayers.
The Montana Public Service Commission has an extremely important statutory responsibility to protect the interests of Montanans who are captive to monopoly utilities such as NorthWestern Energy. By forcing the PSC to make Colstrip-related decisions in favor of NorthWestern shareholders at the expense of ratepayers, this bill violates the fundamental principle of utility regulation.
Missoula County is gravely concerned by SB 379. The majority of Missoula County residents are captive customers of NorthWestern Energy and would be at risk of enormous and unjustified rate hikes if this bill were to become law.
Sent March 30:
ReplyDeleteChair Ankney and Senate Energy and Telecommunications Committee,
Missoula County strongly opposes SB 379: Generally revise coal-fired generation laws, up for hearing this afternoon in the Senate Energy and Telecommunications Committee.
SB 379 would force the Montana Public Service Commission to allow NorthWestern Energy to recover all costs associated with the Colstrip coal-fired power plant, without allowing the PSC to conduct its usual evidence-based analysis to determine whether ratepayers should be on the hook for these costs. These costs would include the remaining undepreciated book value of NorthWestern’s current ownership share of Colstrip, decommissioning and remediation costs, as well as the market value of any additional share it acquires (even if it is acquired at a cost far below market value), plus a rate of return. According to a PSC staff analysis, the cost to NorthWestern ratepayers of this “fictional investment” could reach as high as $1.9 billion, which would equate to a bill increase of more than $700 per NorthWestern customer per year.
In addition, in situations when the power plant breaks down, SB 379 would make it easier for the utility to charge ratepayers for the costs of replacement power, even if the utility was at fault for the outage. In recent years, the PSC has twice disallowed NorthWestern from recovering the costs of replacement power from ratepayers after determining that the utility failed to take prudent steps to prevent the outage. This bill would likely prevent the PSC from making similar decisions in the future, imposing millions of dollars more on ratepayers.
The Montana Public Service Commission has an extremely important statutory responsibility to protect the interests of Montanans who are captive to monopoly utilities such as NorthWestern Energy. By forcing the PSC to make Colstrip-related decisions in favor of NorthWestern shareholders at the expense of ratepayers, this bill violates the fundamental principle of utility regulation.
Missoula County is gravely concerned by SB 379. The majority of Missoula County residents are captive customers of NorthWestern Energy and would be at risk of enormous and unjustified rate hikes if this bill were to become law.
Sent April 14:
ReplyDeleteRepresentatives Olsen and Sullivan,
Missoula County strongly opposes SB 379: Generally revise coal-fired generation laws, up for hearing this afternoon in the House Energy, Technology and Federal Relations Committee.
SB 379 would force the Montana Public Service Commission to allow NorthWestern Energy to recover all costs associated with the Colstrip coal-fired power plant, without allowing the PSC to conduct its usual evidence-based analysis to determine whether ratepayers should be on the hook for these costs. These costs would include the remaining undepreciated book value of NorthWestern’s current ownership share of Colstrip, decommissioning and remediation costs, as well as the market value of any additional share it acquires (even if it is acquired at a cost far below market value), plus a rate of return. According to a PSC staff analysis, the cost to NorthWestern ratepayers of this “fictional investment” could reach as high as $1.9 billion, which would equate to a bill increase of more than $700 per NorthWestern customer per year.
In addition, in situations when the power plant breaks down, SB 379 would make it easier for the utility to charge ratepayers for the costs of replacement power, even if the utility was at fault for the outage. In recent years, the PSC has twice disallowed NorthWestern from recovering the costs of replacement power from ratepayers after determining that the utility failed to take prudent steps to prevent the outage. This bill would likely prevent the PSC from making similar decisions in the future, imposing millions of dollars more on ratepayers.
The Montana Public Service Commission has an extremely important statutory responsibility to protect the interests of Montanans who are captive to monopoly utilities such as NorthWestern Energy. By forcing the PSC to make Colstrip-related decisions in favor of NorthWestern shareholders at the expense of ratepayers, this bill violates the fundamental principle of utility regulation.
Missoula County is gravely concerned by SB 379. The majority of Missoula County residents are captive customers of NorthWestern Energy and would be at risk of enormous and unjustified rate hikes if this bill were to become law.
Please oppose SB 379.