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House panel approves amended bill allowing utilities to form nonregulated affiliates with ring-fencing safeguards
Summary
HB 911 would permit a regulated utility to form a legally separate, nonregulated affiliate to sell electricity to large industrial customers; the committee adopted amendments clarifying ring-fencing and lowered a megawatt threshold to 5 MW before passing the bill to the House floor, 8–6.
A bill to let Montana utilities create legally separate merchant affiliates to serve large industrial customers moved out of the House Energy, Technology and Federal Relations committee after amendment. Sponsor John Fitzpatrick described House Bill 911 as enabling a public utility to establish a nonregulated company (a merchant arm) to sell power to large customers while statutory ring-fencing would prevent utility assets from backing affiliate debt.
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