BUTTE, Mont., Jan. 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- NorthWestern Corporation d/b/a NorthWestern Energy (NYSE: NWE) today announced that the Montana Department of Environmental Quality has granted the company's request for an Air Quality Permit for the proposed Mill Creek Generating Station.

The permit is one of two required approvals needed before construction on the 200 megawatt, $206 million natural gas-fired power plant could begin. As a state regulated plant, the Montana Public Service Commission must also approve the plant for inclusion in ratebase. Hearings on the issue are scheduled to begin in Helena on February 25th with a decision due in May.

The Mill Creek Generating Station would provide regulating resources to balance the company's transmission system in Montana to maintain reliability and enable additional wind power to be integrated onto the network to meet its future renewable energy portfolio needs. The facility is designed to enable increasing or decreasing energy production within seconds to follow load fluctuations on the transmission system.

About NorthWestern Energy

NorthWestern Energy is one of the largest providers of electricity and natural gas in the Upper Midwest and Northwest, serving approximately 650,000 customers in Montana, South Dakota and Nebraska. For more information about NorthWestern Energy, visit our Web site at http://www.northwesternenergy.com.

SOURCE NorthWestern Corporation