Jo Dee Black

jblack@greatfallstribune.com

PPL Montana completed the sale of its hydroelectric facilities to NorthWestern Energy for $890 million. The sale includes 11 hydroelectric power plants with a total generating capacity of more than 630 megawatts, as well as the Hebgen Lake reservoir.

The rate increase that is associated with the purchase of the dams also takes effect today for NorthWestern's Montana electric customers. The increase amounts to about 5.12 percent or $4.20 per month for a typical residential customer.

Included in the sale are the Thompson Falls Dam on the Clark Fork River; Kerr Dam on the Flathead River; Madison Dam on the Madison River; Mystic Lake Dam on West Rosebud Creek; and Hauser, Holter, Black Eagle, Rainbow, Cochrane, Ryan and Morony dams on the Missouri River.

"The dams that are so much a part of Montana's environment and heritage are now dedicated to serve our Montana customers, at prices based on the cost of providing service, not on the western power market. Fifty years from now, as these assets are paid down, our children and grandchildren will appreciate the farsighted leadership of Montana PSC Chairman (Bill) Gallagher and his colleagues, who made this possible," said Bob Rowe, NorthWestern's CEO. "Our local river communities are assured that we will continue to be a responsible and professional operator that values safety, community involvement and environmental stewardship. And, we're looking forward to being even more visible in these communities, which we already serve."

More than half of NorthWestern Energy's owned and contracted electric supply in Montana now comes from wind and water.

"Our electricity supply is now much greener, we are nearly 40 percent better than the EPA's proposed target for the entire state of Montana," said John Hines, vice president of NorthWestern Energy Supply. "With this acquisition, we believe our customers are well positioned given the uncertainty of what's to come from potentially tougher regulations."

As of today, 81 employees will transfer from PPL Montana to NorthWestern Energy. All but a handful of the transferring employees are involved in the daily operation and maintenance of the dams. The other employees are joining the company to assist with various administrative needs of the larger organization.

"We've been working closely with these employees for over a year, and we welcome them to the NorthWestern family," said John VanDaveer, manager, hydro transition. "We're thrilled to complete this transaction. Our employees have already taken the necessary steps to transfer all of the systems, processes and PPL hydro employees to NorthWestern Energy so that everything is in place and running smoothly today."

NorthWestern previously announced the issuance of equity and debt securities to finance the acquisition from PPL Montana. NorthWestern expects that the 194-megawatt Kerr project acquired as part of this transaction will be transferred to the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Reservation in September 2015, in accordance with the Kerr project's federal license.

The sale does not include PPL Montana's interest in the Colstrip and J.E. Corette power plants, or the Butte-based energy marketing and trading operations of PPL Montana's affiliate, PPL EnergyPlus, LLC.