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Regulatory matters
 12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2022
Regulated Operations [Abstract]  
Regulatory matters Regulatory Matters
The Company regularly reviews the need for electric and natural gas rate changes in each of the jurisdictions in which service is provided. The Company files for rate adjustments to seek recovery of operating costs and capital investments, as well as reasonable returns as allowed by regulators. Certain regulatory proceedings and cases may also contain recurring mechanisms that can have an annual true-up. Examples of these recurring mechanisms include: infrastructure riders, transmission trackers, renewable resource cost adjustment riders, as well as weather normalization and decoupling mechanisms. The following paragraphs summarize the Company's significant open regulatory proceedings and cases by jurisdiction. The Company is unable to predict the ultimate outcome of these matters, the timing of final decisions of the various regulators and courts, or the effect on the Company's results of operations, financial position or cash flows.
IPUC
Intermountain filed a request with the IPUC for a natural gas general rate increase on December 1, 2022. The request is for an increase of $11.3 million annually or 3.2 percent above current rates. The requested increase is primarily to recover investments made since the last rate case in 2016 and the depreciation, operation and maintenance expenses and taxes associated with the increased investments. The IPUC has up to seven months to issue a decision on the request, which is currently pending.
Intermountain defers the difference between the actual cost of gas spent to serve customers and the amount approved to be recovered from customers and annually prepares a true-up pursuant to the purchased gas adjustment tariff. On December 27, 2022, Intermountain filed an application with the IPUC for an out-of-cycle cost of gas adjustment requesting an increase in rates of approximately $56.5 million annually or approximately 17.1 percent above current rates. The primary reason for the requested increase was to mitigate the under-collection balance due to the significant increase in the commodity price for natural gas. On January 30, 2023, the request was approved with rates effective February 1, 2023.
MNPUC
Great Plains defers the difference between the actual cost of gas spent to serve customers and that recovered from customers on a monthly basis. Annually, Great Plains prepares a true-up pursuant to the purchased gas adjustment tariff. On August 30, 2021, the MNPUC issued an order to allow Great Plains recovery of an out-of-cycle cost of gas adjustment of $8.8 million over a period of 27 months. The order was effective September 1, 2021, and was subject to a prudence review by the MNPUC. The requested increase was for the February 2021 extreme cold weather, primarily in the central United States, and market conditions surrounding the natural gas commodity market. On October 19, 2022, the MNPUC issued a final order disallowing $845,000 of the gas costs. These costs, which were deferred as a regulatory asset in natural gas costs recoverable through rate adjustments, were then recorded to expense as they were no longer recoverable from customers. On November 8, 2022, Great Plains filed a request for reconsideration, which was denied by the MNPUC on January 6, 2023.
On June 1, 2022, Great Plains filed an application with the MNPUC for a decrease in its depreciation and amortization rates of approximately $1.2 million annually or a decrease from a combined rate of 4.5 percent to 2.8 percent. Great Plains requested the rates be retroactive to January 1, 2022. On November 8, 2022, the MNPUC approved a decrease of $1.0 million annually with rates retroactive to January 1, 2022.
MTPSC
On November 4, 2022, Montana-Dakota filed an application with the MTPSC for an electric general rate increase of approximately $10.5 million annually or 15.2 percent above current rates. The requested increase is primarily to recover investments made since the last rate case, including the Heskett 4 gas turbine, increases in operation and maintenance expenses, and increases in property taxes. On January 24, 2023, the MTPSC approved Montana-Dakota's request for an interim increase of approximately $1.7 million or 2.7 percent above current rates, subject to refund, effective February 1, 2023. The MTPSC has 9 months to render a final decision on the rate case. The matter is pending before the MTPSC with a hearing scheduled for June 20, 2023.
NDPSC
On May 16, 2022, Montana-Dakota filed an application with the NDPSC for an electric general rate increase of approximately $25.4 million annually or 12.3 percent above current rates. The requested increase is primarily to recover investments in production, transmission and distribution facilities and the associated depreciation, operation and maintenance expenses and taxes associated with the increased investment. On July 14, 2022, the NDPSC approved an interim rate increase of approximately $10.9 million annually or 5.3 percent above current rates, subject to refund, for service rendered on and after July 15, 2022. The lower interim rate increase is largely due to excluding the recovery of Heskett Unit 4, which is expected to be in service in the summer of 2023. The matter is pending before the NDPSC with a hearing scheduled for May 1, 2023.
Montana-Dakota has a renewable resource cost adjustment rate tariff that allows for annual adjustments for recent projected capital costs and related expenses for projects determined to be recoverable under the tariff. On November 1, 2022, Montana-Dakota filed an annual update to its renewable resource cost adjustment requesting to recover a revenue requirement of approximately $17.9 million annually, which was revised to $17.0 million annually on January 31, 2023. The update reflects a decrease of approximately $1.0 million from the revenues currently included in rates. On February 22, 2023, this matter was approved by the NDPSC with rates effective March 1, 2023.
WUTC
On March 24, 2022, Cascade filed a request for tariff revision with the WUTC to rectify an inadvertent IRS normalization violation resulting from its tariff established in 2018 that passes back to customers the reversal of plant-related excess deferred income taxes through an annual rate adjustment. This request was made in response to the issuances of an IRS private letter ruling to another Washington utility with the same annual rate adjustment tariff, which addressed its normalization violations. The private letter ruling concluded the tariff to refund excess deferred income taxes without corresponding adjustments for other components of rate base or changes in depreciation or income tax expense, is an impermissible methodology under the IRS normalization and consistency rules. Cascade's request proposes a similar remedy through the tariff to recover the excess amounts refunded to customers while this tariff has been in place, and revises the method going forward to reflect excess deferred income taxes in rates in the same manner as other components of rate base from its most recent general rate case. Cascade requested recovery of the excess refunded to customers of approximately $3.3 million and elimination of the currently deferred but not yet refunded balance. A multi-party settlement was filed with the WUTC on October 21, 2022. On January 23, 2023, the WUTC denied recovery of the excess refunded to customers, but approved the tariff revision going forward to rectify the inadvertent normalization violation. On February 1, 2023, Cascade filed a motion for clarification with the WUTC on the currently deferred but not yet refunded balance.
FERC
On September 1, 2022, Montana-Dakota filed an update to its transmission formula rate under the MISO tariff for its multi-value project and network upgrade charges for $15.4 million, which was effective January 1, 2023.
On January 27, 2023, WBI Energy Transmission filed a general rate case with the FERC for increases in its transportation and storage services rates that also includes a Greenhouse Gas Cost Recovery Mechanism for anticipated future costs. New rates will be in effect no later than August 1, 2023.