NorthWestern Incorporates EEI Environmental, Social, Governance, and Sustainability Template into Sustainability Reporting

BUTTE, Mont. and SIOUX FALLS, S.D., Dec. 21, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- NorthWestern Corporation d/b/a NorthWestern Energy (NYSE: NWE).  To better serve its customers and investors, NorthWestern has incorporated the Edison Electric Institute's (EEI's) environmental, social, governance, and sustainability-related (ESG/sustainability) reporting template into its annual reporting. This is part of an ongoing EEI-led initiative to help provide the financial sector with more uniform and consistent ESG/sustainability data and information. The EEI ESG template is the first and only industry-focused and investor-driven ESG reporting framework.

NorthWestern already publishes Environmental Stewardship:  Our Commitment in Action, which is available at http://www.northwesternenergy.com/docs/default-source/documents/environment/nwe_enviroreport_2017_web.pdf.

"We have assembled a diverse set of generation assets over the last decade that is nearly 60% carbon-free company-wide, and in Montana is built around the run-of-the-river hydro system," said NorthWestern President and CEO, Bob Rowe.  "This, along with a corporate governance program focused on best practices and industry-leading gender diversity among both the board and executive team, are subjects that are important to communicate to the investment community through our reporting program."

In order to develop industry-focused and investor-driven ESG/sustainability reporting practices, NorthWestern joined an EEI working group comprised of financial industry specialists in asset management, ESG/sustainability, investment analysts and electric company officials from various disciplines.

"The electric power industry is leading the way to a clean energy future, having reduced carbon dioxide emissions nearly 27 percent below 2005 levels as of the end of 2017," said EEI President Tom Kuhn. "EEI's ESG/sustainability template will enable NorthWestern to present its ESG and sustainability-related efforts in an accurate, timely, and concise manner that is favored by investors."

Over the past two years, NorthWestern and EEI-led stakeholder working groups developed the template, which encourages voluntary reporting of data specific to each company's portfolio, emissions, capital expenditures, and resources. NorthWestern's template containing its 2008 baseline data and 2015-2017 comparison data can be found at www.northwesternenergy.com/environment/our-environment.

More information is available on EEI's website at http://www.eei.org/issuesandpolicy/finance/Pages/ESG-Sustainability.aspx.

About NorthWestern Energy (NYSE: NWE)
NorthWestern Corporation, doing business as NorthWestern Energy, provides electricity and / or natural gas to approximately 718,300 customers in Montana, South Dakota and Nebraska. More information on NorthWestern Energy is available on the company's Web site at www.northwesternenergy.com.

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SOURCE NorthWestern Corporation