NorthWestern Energy tells Montana Public Service Commission it made major 2025 wildfire‑mitigation investments and has had no PSPS events

NorthWestern Energy representatives told the Montana Public Service Commission on March 24 that the utility made substantial wildfire‑mitigation investments in 2025 and is pursuing data‑driven metrics to measure effectiveness.

“Today is our first annual filing update,” Jason Merkel, a Northwestern Energy representative, said, outlining the company’s plan to file a wildfire mitigation balancing‑account filing by April 1 and an annual compliance report by June 1. Charlie Lane, director of regulatory affairs for Northwestern Energy, said the briefing was voluntary but part of a commitment to provide biannual updates.

Nate Linder, Northwestern’s director of wildfire operations, said the company’s 2025 work emphasized system preparedness and situational awareness. He reported that Northwestern replaced just over 2,000 poles in higher‑risk areas, completed roughly 300 miles of equipment replacement including about 19 miles of reconductoring, installed about 20 weather‑monitoring stations, proactively trimmed nearly 2,000 miles of vegetation and identified about 1,200 hot‑spot locations. Linder said inspections (helicopter, drone and ground patrols) identified nearly 7,000 repair opportunities and resulted in approximately 6,600 repairs across transmission and distribution.

Linder described technology and operational changes intended to reduce ignition risk. The company has deployed smoke‑detection cameras, expanded weather modeling and situational awareness tools, standardized enhanced power‑safety settings (EPSS) across devices, and is procuring additional line‑control devices. He said Northwestern applied a protective state on the distribution system “over 271 times” in 2025 and that, to date, the company has not declared a formal Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS): “We have had 0 events,” he said.

Commissioners pressed Northwestern on several topics during a substantive Q&A. Commissioner Panucci requested a historical breakdown of ignition sources over as many years as data allow (he referenced a 50‑year lookback that was discussed previously). Merkel replied that long‑term ignition records are incomplete across the industry and cautioned that ignition counts are highly sensitive to weather and other conditions, so they can be a misleading sole measure of mitigation success.

On the subject of PSPS notification, Panucci said customers should receive earlier and broader warnings when extreme wind events are forecast. Merkel and Linder acknowledged limitations in reach and noted the company’s preference‑center and social‑media channels, and they accepted feedback to improve website messaging and mass‑notification practices. Commissioners also suggested adding a prominent option on customer bills for residents to provide cell numbers or email addresses to receive outage or PSPS alerts.

Commissioners asked whether Northwestern’s maturity metrics and performance‑measurement approach could be used to pursue federal or insurance benefits. Merkel said the company pursued federal Infrastructure and Jobs funding but was not successful; he also said insurers are watching metrics to assess insurability but that any premium reductions would depend on insurer decisions. On device upgrades, Merkel said Northwestern is prioritizing electronic reclosers and remote‑operable devices in its highest‑risk areas; he reported roughly 1,200 line reclosers systemwide and about 450 electronic devices that can be remotely controlled.

Looking to 2026, Northwestern plans to re‑run consequence analysis that incorporates watershed impacts, integrate additional fire‑danger indices in partnership with the U.S. Forest Service, expand SCADA control (targeting control of about 950 field devices by June 1), increase drone inspections on transmission, expand lidar pilots for vegetation management, and further deploy weather stations and smoke cameras. Linder also noted the company is exploring a battery rebate program for vulnerable customers in high‑risk areas as a temporary backup during potential PSPS events.

The meeting record shows no formal votes or regulatory actions were taken at the session. Northwestern indicated it will submit the statutory annual filing by June 1 and a balancing account filing by April 1. The commission adjourned at 11:34 a.m.