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Great Falls mulls making own electricity

Great Falls is considering its own city-owned electric utility, hoping to establish an alternative to beleaguered NorthWestern Energy.

Associated Press Billings Gazette

A spokesman for NorthWestern Corp., the parent firm of NorthWestern Energy, said the company is "disappointed" with the city’s action.

"We believe this effort will be expensive and will not deliver promised savings," said Roger Schrum from NorthWestern’s offices in Sioux Falls, S.D.

Earlier this summer, NorthWestern Energy’s marketing affiliate broke a contract with several cities, including Great Falls.

The affiliate told the cities, along with several school districts, that it could no longer supply the power at the contract rate. The cities and school districts were forced to buy more expensive electricity.

City Manager John Lawton said the plan to create a city-owned source of electricity has been getting a positive reaction from citizens.

The Great Falls City Commis-sion is expected to vote Sept. 2 on a plan to set up the municipal utility. The proposed ordinance would give the city the power to borrow money and "the powers necessary to do what we need to do," Lawton said.

The utility’s first priority would be acquiring lower-cost power for city operations, such as the water and sewer plant, he has said.

But Lawton said the city has no plans to condemn, or forcibly acquire, NorthWestern Energy’s poles and wires.

NorthWestern Corp. said it has no plans to sell any of its system in Great Falls, and would resist any attempt by the city to obtain it through condemnation.

NorthWestern Corp. has lost hundreds of millions of dollars in the past 12 months, and its stock has dropped to 90 cents per share.

Copyright 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Copyright © The Billings Gazette, a division of Lee Enterprises.

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