Labor, conservation groups use merger to advance energy, union goals

Energy conservation groups see significant risk with the proposed merger between NorthWestern Energy and Black Hills Corp — so some are using the deal to advance their own priorities.

Lawyer Meridian Wappett, with Western Environmental Law Center, said “mergers of this magnitude are rare in Montana,” and the groups her team represents saw a way to seed their interests into the new utility, a $15.4 billion operation.

“The (Public Service) Commission’s review of this application presents a unique and limited opportunity to ensure that the public interest is protected and that the benefits of the consolidation flow meaningfully to ratepayers rather than exclusively to shareholders,” Wappett said.

This week, the Montana Public Service Commission is holding a hearing on the proposed merger, announced in August 2025, and commissioners have heard many concerns about data centers and potential rate increases on residential customers.

But members of groups that entered into settlements with the utilities discussed how they negotiated wins for their organizations if the merger goes through, such as competitive wages for workers and membership on an energy steering committee for conservation advocates.

Benjamin Otto, a senior policy associate with NW Energy Coalition, said his organization teamed up with a couple of others to try to ensure the merger doesn’t result in harm, such as poor planning by the utilities or loss of energy programs.

Otto said the joint energy advocates, made up of NW Energy Coalition, Renewable Northwest, and Montana Renewable Energy Association, ensured the utilities will “fully consider” all ideas when planning for electricity needs in the future.

The group elicited an agreement the utilities will work on energy efficiency, and it also secured a membership on the Electric Technical Advisory Committee, which advises NorthWestern Energy on resource planning.

“We’ve not had a seat at this table before,” Otto said. “We think it’s a really important seat because it really lays the groundwork for future utility programs (and) policies.”

Adam Haight, with Laborers’ International Union of North America Local 1686, shared some of the concessions his group had negotiated with the utilities. For example, it secured a “market wage certification.”

“It ensures that NorthWestern is utilizing contractors that are paying competitive wages,” Haight said.

He said doing so means using skilled and qualified laborers, which translates to safe and reliable infrastructure for Montana ratepayers.

Haight said his organization represents members who work in numerous areas, the public sector, construction, energy, pipelines, who work on contract for NorthWestern Energy.

After the merger, he said, NorthWestern Energy also will give positive consideration to contractors that use apprentice training programs, or an equivalent, which is critical for the future of the field.

“This is a really important component of making sure that we have a diversely skilled workforce to meet the needs of the utility and ratepayers,” Haight said.

In response to a question from Commissioner Brad Molnar, a representative of the Large Customer Group also talked about the benefits for his group of entering into a settlement with the utilities.

Michael Gorman said the Large Customer Group, which represents large businesses such as refineries, is interested in continuing to receive “reliable and competitively priced utility service,” and he believes it secured provisions in the merger to that end.

For example, Gorman said those include a commitment that the new company allocates cost in a way that is fair and doesn’t include “unnecessary subsidization of non-regulated affiliates” within the new structure.

The hearing is expected to continue Friday morning and conclude in the afternoon. The merger also requires approval from regulators in Nebraska and South Dakota.