Serving Southern Jefferson County in the Great State of Montana

Articles written by Jo Dee Black


Sorted by date  Results 1 - 3 of 3

  • NorthWestern Energy Announces Intention to Build Laurel Gas Plant Without Pre-Approval From the Public Service Commission

    JO DEE BLACK, NorthWestern Energy|Sep 29, 2021

    On Tuesday, Sept. 21, NorthWestern Energy submitted a request to withdraw its application for the Laurel gas plant to the Public Service Commission (PSC), citing supply line issues. Hours later, NorthWestern revealed its intention to move forward building the Laurel gas plant without pre-approval from the PSC. The Montana Environmental Information Center (MEIC) opposes an unusual Montana law that allows NorthWestern to seek pre-approval from the PSC when it wants to build a new electricity generating plant. Pre-approval allows the utility to...

  • NorthWestern Energy Warns of Widespread Scam Activity in Area

    JO DEE BLACK, NorthWestern Energy|Sep 29, 2021

    NorthWestern Energy is reporting an all-time high in scam activity this week from customers on the receiving end of calls in which scammers threaten to shut off service if customers don’t take immediate actions that include making payments by gift cards, Bitcoin or other forms of payment. The increase in reports also includes instances where callers manipulate caller ID to make it appear as if an energy company is making the call, commonly referred to as caller ID spoofing. Reports include scammers even going as far as showing up at l...

  • Osprey Population Increasing in MT, But the Wildlife Management Success Story Includes Some Conflict

    Jo Dee Black, NorthWestern Energy|Jun 23, 2021

    The recovery of the osprey population, a raptor that returns from the south each spring to the western 2/3s of Montana, is a success story that began almost 50 years ago when a widely used pesticide, DDT, was banned. But this wildlife management success story comes with some conflict. Younger osprey in search of nesting sites to breed and hatch eggs will build nests on power poles, causing outages and putting the birds at risk of electrocution. NorthWestern Energy crews were in Augusta in early...