NorthWestern Energy

NorthWestern Energy customers will see lower electricity bills this month.

The state’s largest utility explained to lawmakers this week why it wants to expand ownership of the Colstrip power plant. NorthWestern Energy plans to own more than half of Colstrip by 2026.

NorthWestern is the largest electric and gas utility in the state, and is asking to increase power bill rates by at least 8%.

Two of the energy companies that own Colstrip want the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene and pause new federal emissions standards passed earlier this year.

Montana’s largest electric and gas utility wants to charge customers more. NorthWestern Energy says the cost to generate power is increasing and that means bills need to go up, too. The decision is up to state regulators who, for the second time this month have found major holes in the company’s request.

NorthWestern Energy wants a rate increase of at least 8% for electric and gas energy. The company says it needs more money from customers to recover costs associated with generating power, and state regulators want more information about the company’s latest request.

Montana’s largest energy utility company is planning on getting bigger. NorthWestern Energy announced Tuesday it intends to buy Energy West Montana, a methane gas utility based in Great Falls.

The state’s largest energy utility lost a main source of power generation last week, during a multi-week heatwave. The Colstrip plant is back up and running, as temperatures are forecasted to rise again.

Cleanup of last week’s windstorm in Missoula could take months. Missoula city and county officials say more than a thousand trees were downed.

Thousands of people in Missoula were still without power Friday afternoon after a powerful storm blasted through the area Wednesday night.NorthWestern Energy at noon Friday said they had more than 160 personnel and 34 line crews working to restore electricity as quickly as possible. The utility warned some outages might not be repaired until early next week.