NorthWestern Energy has declared that the South Dakota Public Utility Commission has sanctioned a stipulated contract to clear the natural gas rate case of the company. This natural gas rate case settlement leads to the increment of the company’s rates to about $1.8 million every year, starting from December 1 of this year.
The annual rates increase of about $1.8 million includes over $0.3 million used by the company for the manufactured gas plant (MGP) facilities remediation in the state, which is less than the actual request of $1.4 million, and an increase of $1.5 million because of the natural gas system’s maintenance costs and high operation levels in South Dakota.
The NorthWestern Energy will note these rates and will try to recover them in the following years. Based on the natural gas cost, the NorthWestern Energy regulates the commodity costs every month.
The bills of the customers, who use 100 therms of natural gas every month, will be increased by $4.37. The increase in natural gas rate, with respect to the customer’s consumption ranges from 10 to 500 therms per month, will be informed to the customers along with their December bills, in which a breakup of the potential impact will be provided.
The NorthWestern Energy is trying to remediate many MGP facilities including Milbank, Aberdeen and Huron, which are operational since 1990s. These facilities transform oil and coal to gas, which is used for lighting, cooking and heating. The plant’s process includes byproducts such as purifier wastes and coal tar, which need remediation.