Senate Republicans advance Colstrip bill, which critics say burdens NorthWestern ratepayers

[TexasTowelie]

Despite continued warnings about burdening consumers with Colstrip Power Plant debt, Senate Republicans moved forward Tuesday with a bill shielding NorthWestern Energy from financial losses associated with the troubled plant.

Lawmakers voted 30-19 Tuesday to approve Senate Bill 379, which obligates customers of NorthWestern Energy to paying off the undepreciated book value of the power plant regardless of whether Colstrip Power Plant continues to operate. The bill also provides a formula for determining the customer debt for additional shares, rather than basing the debt on what NorthWestern actually paid for additional ownership.

Simply put, Colstrip Power Plant and NorthWestern’s investment in it are in trouble. Four of the power plant’s other owners, with a 70% majority advantage, face coal power bans in Washington and Oregon starting in 2025.

NorthWestern, which bought into Colstrip in 2007 for $187 million, had originally suggested the power plant would run until 2042, but now says Colstrip will likely close in 2025 without government intervention. Customers still owe a substantial amount of debt for NorthWestern’s Colstrip share, $272.4 million according to the company’s latest annual report to stockholders, down from $407 million when Montana consumers were put on a 33-year payment plan in 2009.

Read more: https://helenair.com/news/state-and-regional/govt-and-politics/senate-republicans-advance-colstrip-bill-which-critics-say-burdens-northwestern-ratepayers/article_51a91319-52d2-5628-a802-d6154ca44e15.html
(Helena Independent Record)

[2naSalit]

1. Montana is in the process of total...

trunpification. Please help us!

[GemDigger]

2. And it is happening so damn fast

that it scares me. How we went from sane to insane in a matter of months is mind blowing and nerve wracking.

[2naSalit]

3. Very troubling.

And yesterday I found out that my landlady's son is pushing her to sell this property which means I'll probably have to find a new place to live, again. I'm too old for this shit. She's getting too old to keep up a small ranchette by herself and he doesn't want anything to do with it or this end of the state so she is starting to think along those lines which means I need to start looking now. There's not much of anywhere in this area that is even available let alone affordable.

So I might have to leave the state, which I wasn't planning to do until fairly recently, now it's a primary consideration. I'm not happy about it at all either way.

[GemDigger]

4. Oh shitski!

I am sorry to hear that. Housing is this state is horrid. There are more AirBnB's then there are places available for long term. Several of the new subdivisions are quite full of them which is a thorn in my side.

If you do have to move, I wish you good luck finding a place that is right for you without having to leave the state.

[2naSalit]

5. Thanks.

I lived in Gallatin County for quite a while down in the southern tip. I know the vacation rental rag since that part was over run more than ten years ago. At that time more than 71% of all housing units in the area, even into Madison County, were vacation homes of one sort or another. Things are getting over crowded/over priced in Beaverhead County and I haven't been up north in a ling time so I'd have to go on a little tour to see if I could live up that way. A lot to ponder.