BUTTE, Mont., Jan. 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- NorthWestern Corporation
d/b/a NorthWestern Energy (NYSE: NWE) today announced that the Montana
Department of Environmental Quality has granted the company's request for an
Air Quality Permit for the proposed Mill Creek Generating Station.
The permit is one of two required approvals needed before construction on
the 200 megawatt, $206 million natural gas-fired power plant could begin. As
a state regulated plant, the Montana Public Service Commission must also
approve the plant for inclusion in ratebase. Hearings on the issue are
scheduled to begin in Helena on February 25th with a decision due in May.
The Mill Creek Generating Station would provide regulating resources to
balance the company's transmission system in Montana to maintain reliability
and enable additional wind power to be integrated onto the network to meet its
future renewable energy portfolio needs. The facility is designed to enable
increasing or decreasing energy production within seconds to follow load
fluctuations on the transmission system.
About NorthWestern Energy
NorthWestern Energy is one of the largest providers of electricity and
natural gas in the Upper Midwest and Northwest, serving approximately 650,000
customers in Montana, South Dakota and Nebraska. For more information about
NorthWestern Energy, visit our Web site at http://www.northwesternenergy.com.
SOURCE NorthWestern Corporation