(C) Daily Montanan This story was originally published by Daily Montanan and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . NorthWestern rate hearing starts Tuesday with Montana PSC – Daily Montanan [1] ['Keila Szpaller', 'More From Author', '- April'] Date: 2023-04-10 NorthWestern Energy wants another $264 a year from the average residential power customer, according to data it provided from a proposed settlement on a rate application. That amount includes the interim increases already approved by the Montana Public Service Commission. Customers are paying the temporary increases on their current bills. In August 2022, NorthWestern Energy filed its application to increase rates with the Public Service Commission. A hearing on the proposal will start 9 a.m. Tuesday in the Bollinger Conference Room and via livestream. The PSC Bollinger Conference Room is located at 1701 Prospect Ave. in Helena. Members of the public have been testifying against rates at recent meetings, and they’re planning to speak at the hearing this week as well. “Montanans already pay 50% more for electricity than all of our neighboring states,” said Gallatin Valley Sunrise, a group focused on youth, in a news release noting members of the public will testify against the rates as excessive. PSC staff attorney Lucas Hamilton said Monday it isn’t clear how many days the hearing will take, but commissioners will be asking for public comment at the beginning of each day. Hamilton said the schedule also will limit total time for public comment in order to accommodate witnesses scheduled to testify in the docket, in some cases from out of town. People can email [email protected] to comment as well. Last week, NorthWestern Energy, the Montana Consumer Counsel, the Montana Large Customer Group, Federal Executive Agencies and Walmart filed an agreement on a negotiated settlement. However, not all intervenors signed onto the settlement, and the Public Service Commission hasn’t approved it yet. NorthWestern Energy’s original request would have cost the average residential customer another $364 a year, according to a PSC staff report. In October 2022, the PSC temporarily approved an electric bill increase of $11.19 a month, or 12.6%, for electric customers. That’s $134.28 a year. It also had approved $0.48 for natural gas, or 0.7%. If the PSC approves the settlement proposed last week, the typical NorthWestern residential customer would see another increase in their monthly electric bill of $7.05, or 6.4% from current rates, according to the power company. This estimate reflects a current monthly electric bill of $109.58 increasing to $116.63, NorthWestern said. The typical natural gas residential customer is expected to see an increase to their natural gas bill of $3.25, or 5.2%, from current rates if the settlement is approved, according to NorthWestern Energy. The power company said the amount reflects a current monthly natural gas bill of $62.26 increasing to $65.51. The PSC regulates monopoly utilities in Montana and is made up of five elected commissioners, currently all Republicans. [END] --- [1] Url: https://dailymontanan.com/2023/04/10/northwestern-rate-hearing-starts-tuesday-with-montana-psc/ Published and (C) by Daily Montanan Content appears here under this condition or license: Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/montanan/