NorthWestern reports Q4 adjusted EPS $1.13, consensus $1.16

"2022 was a foundational year for us with the filing of our Montana general rate review; requesting a sustainable level of operating expenses and issuing incremental equity to fund our capital plan while protecting our credit ratings – both necessitating the guide to lower earnings for 2022. Significant items that impacted our performance that were not anticipated include extremely high power prices in Montana that are not fully recovered and an unprecedented increase in interest rates and operating cost inflation. Fourth quarter was a strong quarter but not enough to overcome the unanticipated items," said Brian Bird, President and Chief Executive Officer. "We safely completed a record level of capital work; recognized with a vast improvement in our JD Power Customer Satisfaction Survey scores; exceeded our electric and gas reliability targets; and advanced our Montana general rate review filing – which continues to proceed in a timely, constructive and collaborative manner. We remain focused on recovering the more than one billion dollars of investment made since the last electric and natural gas rate filings and adjusting our power cost recovery mechanism as proposed in this rate review – both are critical to closing the gap on earning our authorized returns. In addition, in January 2023, we announced an agreement with Avista to transfer their ownership in the Colstrip facility at the end of 2025, reducing supply risks for our customers and shareholders."