Juices

Consumer ire and political juices are flowing in Montana and Colorado, two northern Rockies states in which out-of-state interests own the major private-sector utilities, and all is not well in land of big skies and snow-capped peaks. Public power plays are being pursued in Montana as South Dakota-based NorthWestern assures that it will be out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy in a year’s time, and Colorado consumers want Minnesota-based Xcel Energy, its utility holding company, to have a third-party audit of its operations in the state.