Montana Ambassadors
Helena, Montana
February 25, 2011
Our Operations
 Service territory includes Montana, South
Dakota, Nebraska, and Wyoming
 661,000 customers
 Electric
» 31,700 miles of transmission & distribution
» 297 communities
 Natural Gas
» 8,400 miles of transmission and distribution
» 168 communities
 Employees – 1,354
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Montana Operations
 Service territory includes western 2/3 of
Montana (107,600 square miles)
 Electric
» 21,400 miles of distribution
» 7,000 miles of transmission
» Peak load -1,766 MW Average load – 1,216 MW
 Natural Gas
» 4,100 miles of distribution
» 2,000 miles of transmission
» Total delivered – 40 BCF Peak Daily – 335,000 dkt
 Employees – 1,037
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Our transmission developments…
Why
Transmission Growth?
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Western States RPS Requirements
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Opportunities - Potential Wind Distribution
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Montana is between resources & loads
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Our transmission developments…
Purpose, Benefit, and Need
 Meets NWE’s Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
(FERC) requirement to respond to new transmission
service requests
 Provides transmission for new generation development
 Enables the development of high quality MT wind power to
reach market
 Provides and enables positive economic impact to
Montana, Idaho and the region
 Improves electric system performance and flexibility
 Meets the needs of regional electrical demand
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NWE proposed transmission projects
Collector System
Colstrip Upgrade
MSTI
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Mountain States Transmission Intertie (MSTI) Project
 500 kV AC line from Townsend
MT to Midpoint Substation
near Twin Falls ID
 Approximately 430 miles
depending on final route
 1130 miles of alternatives
» 80+% on State and Federal
Public Lands
 Advanced Stages of Public
Siting and Review – began in
2007
 1500 MW Path Rating Capacity
Expected
 Current Project cost is $1
billion
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Montana Renewable Collector System
 Currently
4,000 MW in
generation
interconnectio
n queue
 Radial lines to
Townsend
 Access to
MSTI, 500 kV
and NWE
network
 MT-RCS
defined by this
Open Season
Potential
Collector Lines
New Townsend
Substation
High Wind
Area
 Target in
service date is
2016
Confidential
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Colstrip Upgrade
 The project is currently being developed
primarily by BPA and NWE with the other
owners having various levels of interest.
 Initially identified in transmission study as being
a piece of “low hanging fruit”
 No new linear facilities required
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Gas Operations
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Gas Facts
 Four major pipelines cross from Canada into
Montana
 Carway, Aden, Canadian Montana Pipeline and
TransCanada (CMPL is owned by NWE)
 Havre – Havre Pipeline and Chinook pipelines
tie to Many Islands Pipeline
 Morgan/Monchy – Northern Border cross
Montana heading to the Mid-West
» 485 BCF per year of imports
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Gas Facts
 Carway and Aden come into NorthWestern’s
transmission line, and the 15 BCF of imports
equals about 38% of our 40 BCF annual market.
 15 BCF at the average price of $3.90/mcf in 2010
would be $58.5 million
 Montana produces about 95 BCF and consumes
76 BCF with most of the difference going into
Canada or Northern Border.
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Questions ????
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