On Wednesday, February 8, Dawson Resource Council will be hosting a campaign planning session to strategize our fight to stop MDU’s proposed electricity rate increase. The session will be held in-person and on Zoom. All Northern Plains members from Eastern Montana are encouraged to attend!
MDU Rate Case Campaign Planning Session
Wednesday, February 8
6:30 – 8:30 pm
OR
Attend in-person at the Prairie Development Center (313 S Merrill Ave, Glendive)
What is the MDU rate increase?
Montana Dakota has announced plans to hike electric rates for residential customers by 19.2%. This is more than $200 a year for the average customer. In addition, rates for businesses will increase by an average of 14%. This rate increase will impact the health of local economies whether you are on MDU or not!
The monopoly utility already increased their rates over 15% in 2019 and 2020. This would be MDU’s second substantial rate hike in less than 3 years. MDU blames inflation for the rate hikes, but its proposed rate is dramatically higher than inflation.
Fast Facts:
- Eastern Montana economies will lose up to $10.5 million a year
- With this increase, MDU customers in Montana will pay 91% more for the same amount of electricity used by North Dakota customers
- MDU Resources has earned over $1.2 billion in profits in the last 4 years
- 2021 was a record-breaking year in earnings for the energy utility. Quote from their annual report reads “Our electric and natural gas utility business finished 2021 with record earnings of $103.5 million…from implemented rate increases.”
What is a campaign planning session?
This campaign planning session is an opportunity for our members to come together and determine key parts of our strategy to fight the MDU rate increase. During a campaign planning session, we decide what our goals are, who the decision-makers are, how to reach them, and how to effectively build awareness and power within our communities. We will also brainstorm ways to work with other organizations and communities to most effectively fight this rate increase.
With questions or to RSVP contact Jackson at jackson@northernplains.org or (406) 248-1154.
