Coyote Generating Station is an economic energy source for NorthWestern Energy’s South Dakota customers

SIOUX FALLS, S.D., Sept. 02, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The Coyote Generating Station, a jointly-owned coal plant in Beulah, North Dakota, is an important energy resource for NorthWestern Energy’s 63,900 South Dakota customers. NorthWestern Energy owns a 10% interest in the facility.

On Sept. 1, Otter Tail Power Company, a 35% owner of the facility, filed an integrated resource plan with its regulatory commissions in Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota. The plan concludes that continued operation of the plant is no longer in the best interest of Otter Tail Power’s customers and requests authorization to withdraw from ownership in 2028.  

For NorthWestern Energy’s customers, the Coyote Generating Station remains a critical 24/7 on-demand generation energy source, reliable when demand is high, such as the extreme winter weather in February 2021 that required rolling blackouts to keep the grid stable and during the extreme heat experienced this summer. The joint owners continue to collaborate in analyzing data and weighing decisions that impact the plant, our employees, customers and communities. However, NorthWestern Energy’s ongoing analysis indicates the Coyote Generating Station will continue to provide economic and reliable energy for our customers well into the future absent any new state or federal regulatory requirements or significant increases in operating costs.

NorthWestern Energy’s South Dakota Energy Resource Procurement Plan, a biannual plan, will be submitted to the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission in late 2022. The long-term value of the Coyote Generating Station will be addressed within the plan.

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About NorthWestern Energy (Nasdaq: NWE)
NorthWestern provides electricity and / or natural gas to approximately 743,000 customers in Montana, South Dakota, and Nebraska. We have generated and distributed electricity in South Dakota and distributed natural gas in South Dakota and Nebraska since 1923 and have generated and distributed electricity and distributed natural gas in Montana since 2002. More information on NorthWestern is available on the company’s website at www.northwesternenergy.com.