Description
NorthWestern Corporation owns NorthWestern Energy, a utility company that serves South Dakota, Nebraska, and Montana that is based in Sioux Falls. As of 2019, the company serves approximately 718,000 customers.
The company's corporate headquarters are located in Sioux Falls while the headquarters for the South Dakota operations (and which was the headquarters for the old NorthWestern Public Service Company) are in Huron, South Dakota.
History
The Montana operations (formerly known as the Montana Power Company) were acquired around 2000 after that state passed legislation allowing the electric utility industry to be 'unbundled'. Out of state investors (led by PP&L Resources) then immediately acquired the generation assets of Montana Power, leaving that part of the territory vulnerable to high "spot" prices on the energy market (creating some chronic discontent that led the Montana Public Service Commission to submit the one "no" vote that effectively nullified a potential sale of NorthWestern to Babcock & Brown Infrastructure of Australia). In 2014, NorthWestern purchased the dams that were originally part of Montana Power for $900 Million from PPL Corporation.
