Thoughts on NorthWestern Energy

As someone who helps people make financial decisions, I am worried about our state’s largest utility, NorthWestern Energy. NorthWestern provides electric and natural gas services to over 400,000 households and businesses across the state. The utility, therefore, has a responsibility not just to provide energy on demand but also to consider the well-being of Montana’s residents and environment.

Indeed, NorthWestern’s corporate-approved catalog detailing its Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) commitments and sustainability goals states that the company recognizes the privilege of being an energy provider and acknowledges the “profound obligation and wonderful opportunity to be good stewards of the environment.” 

However, Montana’s citizens should not be swayed by NorthWestern’s superficial corporate greenwashing. The utility’s actions dictate its reputation, and its current actions regarding public health air quality protections are reprehensible. 

Here in Montana, the Colstrip plant is categorized as a mega-polluter with substandard pollution control technology. According to the journal Science, hundreds of preventable deaths are attributable to emissions from the plant that could be avoided if it adopted modern pollution controls. 

In the last decade alone, the Colstrip plant has released 3 tons of lead, 1.5 tons of arsenic, 2 tons of chromium, 10 tons of manganese, 2 tons of nickel and 5 tons of selenium into the air, making it the most polluting coal plant in America. This pollution makes its way into the air we breathe and deposits into our beautiful Montana rivers and streams.

Recently, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) updated its pollution regulations for coal-fired electric generating plants. The regulations are a sorely needed modernization for air quality standards that haven’t been updated for over a decade. 

If fully implemented, the EPA predicts the regulations will prevent up to 4,500 premature deaths across the U.S. The Colstrip plant could comply with the standards and save lives by simply installing a baghouse to reduce airborne toxins. This is not novel technology; 170 similar coal-burning units across the country operate with the same technology as the Colstrip plant. Every one of those coal plants — except the Colstrip plant — has modern pollution controls to specifically minimize particulate pollution and air toxics.

Protecting clean air by installing industry-standard pollution controls should be a no-brainer for anyone who cares about human lives. Instead, NorthWestern Energy has chosen the cheap and dirty path to satisfy its shareholders at the expense of those who enjoy breathing. In his opening shot against the rules, CEO Brian Bird claimed that the public health regulations would require Colstrip to upgrade its facility with “unproven technology” under difficult “timelines.” These statements are demonstrably false, especially considering that every similar coal plant in the country is utilizing this “unproven technology.” Why Mr. Bird and NorthWestern Energy think the Colstrip plant should get a special exception, knowing that other coal plants have made the investments necessary to reduce pollution and protect public health, is perplexing and deeply concerning. In fact, NorthWestern has gone so far as to join Talen Energy in an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court to block this rule from being implemented.

At the same time, the company is looking to acquire a majority share in the Colstrip plant, citing a desire to operate it until at least 2042. Continuing to operate this polluting plant while resisting efforts to upgrade pollution control technology entirely undermines its stated ESG principles. If NorthWestern is going to tout its commitment to these principles and protecting the environment and the people of Montana, its actions must speak louder than its words. The company cites a “profound obligation” to protect clean air and public health, yet it is likely the worst utility in the country when it comes to making the necessary investments to ensure its operations are not making people sick or killing them. 

Do not let NorthWestern’s phony ESG statements fool you. Money talks and NorthWestern’s money is chasing shareholder satisfaction, not protecting the Montana public. 

Peter Burns was born and raised in Montana. He has a PhD in Physics from the University of Colorado Boulder. He currently is helping Montana families plan for retirement as an investment advisor with the Sankala Group.