NorthWestern Energy is asking for a “reliability rider” that it describes as a “more efficient regulatory alternative” to a rate case process. It says other states have implemented similar cost-recovery mechanisms and describes it as part of the company’s effort to secure “reliable, safe energy service” for its customers. Critics of the proposal say the utility is trying to do an “end run” around a preapproval statute that a Missoula judge struck down earlier this year
