Advancing Clean Energy

While staying true to our core responsibilities, we are also committing to achieve carbon neutrality in our electric and natural gas operations by 2050 – net zero carbon and methane emissions.  This will allow us to do our part, as a relatively small company serving a large and dynamic region, to help achieve the goal of limiting the global temperature increase to less than 2° Celsius (3.6° Fahrenheit).

Our Net Zero commitment is part of our much larger focus on Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) work. Moody’s Investor Services has rated NorthWestern’s corporate governance practices fifth best among all publicly traded energy and utility companies in North America. For the past two years, an internal ESG team has undertaken a complex project to identify and disclose an extensive array of ESG practices and policies, and also identify and address gaps – places where we can, will, and are doing better.  Our President and Chief Operating Officer, Brian Bird, has led that effort as a core part of his duties.  To learn more about other aspects of ESG, please visit our ESG web page.

This Net Zero report commits to a sustainable transition, and describes a variety of actions in both our electric and natural gas operations, including continuing the transition in our electric supply portfolio; expanded energy efficiency and new product offerings; enhanced natural gas pipeline operations; supporting development of alternative fuels; and helping to create an Electric Vehicle infrastructure.  Our investments in the electric and gas transmission and distribution systems also support our goal, for example through deploying grid control systems and installing over 700,000 advanced meters, that together will improve efficiency and reliability; and, converting 88,000 street and other lights to LEDs. Similarly, our engagement with multi-state programs such as the Southwest Power Pool (South Dakota electric) and the Western Power Pool Resource Adequacy program (Montana electric) will allow for enhanced electric supply reliability and efficiency. We are also committed to working with our customers to help them achieve their sustainability goals. 

Through pilot programs; participating in a clean technology venture fund and modest direct investment; closely following work at the national labs, Department of Energy and other technical bodies; and, through industry efforts, we are actively monitoring a range of technologies that may be candidates to help meet customer needs as their performance improves and costs decline.  In the meantime, we continue to focus on our customers’ price and reliability exposure to volatile energy markets, especially for periods of long-duration peak demand.  Our minority interest in four jointly-owned coal plants serving Montana and South Dakota currently accounts for only about ten percent of our regulated rate base, but provides critical service to our customers as other technologies develop.  Resource planning statutes and regulations require that we pursue the least cost means to meet our customers’ electric supply needs. We believe advances in technology will allow us to avoid adding any incremental carbon-emitting generation resources after 2035.

Our commitment extends to greenhouse gas emissions in the company’s control, such as emissions from owned generation and leaks (“fugitive emissions”) from natural gas pipelines (Scope 1); and, indirect emissions from energy consumed to heat, cool and power our facilities (Scope 2).  This plan does not broadly address upstream or downstream emissions (Scope 3); however, our support for energy efficiency programs and work with upstream suppliers and downstream customers does help reduce these sources of greenhouse gas.  Additionally, the substantial amounts of wind and solar energy we purchase from others are generally not counted as helping to meet our goal (because they are classified as Scope 3).  On the other hand, by far the most carbon-intensive electric generation that delivers power to our system are several Qualifying Facilities from which we are required to purchase power under federal and state law (these are also within Scope 3).