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Employee Benefit Plans (Tables)
 12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2021
Retirement Benefits [Abstract]  
Schedule of Changes in Projected Benefit Obligations
Following is a reconciliation of the changes in plan benefit obligations and fair value of plan assets, and a statement of the funded status (in thousands):
 Pension BenefitsOther Postretirement Benefits
 December 31,December 31,
 2021202020212020
Change in benefit obligation:    
Obligation at beginning of period$820,979 $735,564 $19,146 $20,272 
Service cost12,994 11,116 407 370 
Interest cost18,759 22,840 317 492 
Actuarial loss(28,905)84,479 415 123 
Settlements(1)
(93,488)— — 390 
Benefits paid(33,537)(33,020)(2,977)(2,501)
Benefit Obligation at End of Period$696,802 $820,979 $17,308 $19,146 
Change in Fair Value of Plan Assets:    
Fair value of plan assets at beginning of period$688,456 $609,000 $23,096 $21,479 
Return on plan assets33,868 101,075 3,349 2,723 
Employer contributions10,200 11,401 1,821 1,395 
Settlements(1)
(93,488)— — — 
Benefits paid(33,537)(33,020)(2,977)(2,501)
Fair value of plan assets at end of period$605,499 $688,456 $25,289 $23,096 
Funded Status$(91,303)$(132,523)$7,981 $3,950 
Amounts Recognized in the Balance Sheet Consist of:    
Noncurrent asset8,297 7,001 11,914 8,436 
Total Assets8,297 7,001 11,914 8,436 
Current liability(11,200)(11,200)(1,575)(1,712)
Noncurrent liability(88,400)(128,324)(2,358)(2,774)
Total Liabilities(99,600)(139,524)(3,933)(4,486)
Net amount recognized$(91,303)$(132,523)$7,981 $3,950 
Amounts Recognized in Regulatory Assets Consist of:    
Prior service credit— — 1,870 3,857 
Net actuarial loss(62,448)(115,987)1,366 (497)
Amounts recognized in AOCL consist of:    
Prior service cost— — (95)(246)
Net actuarial gain— — 2,500 3,246 
Total$(62,448)$(115,987)$5,641 $6,360 

(1) In December 2021, we entered into a group annuity contract from an insurance company to provide for the payment of pension benefits to 1,062 NorthWestern Energy Pension Plan participants. We purchased the contract with $93.5 million of plan assets. The insurance company took over the payments of these benefits starting January 1, 2022. This transaction settled $93.5 million of our NorthWestern Energy Pension Plan obligation. As a result of this transaction, during the twelve months ended December 31, 2021, we recorded a non-cash, non-operating settlement charge of $11.3 million. This charge is recorded within other income, net on the Consolidated Statements of Income. As discussed within Note 4 – Regulatory Assets and Liabilities, this charge was deferred as a regulatory asset on the Consolidated Balance Sheets, with a corresponding decrease to operating and maintenance expense on the Consolidated Statements of Income.
Schedule of Benefit Obligations in Excess of Fair Value of Plan Assets The total projected benefit obligation and fair value of plan assets for the pension plans with accumulated benefit obligations in excess of plan assets were as follows (in millions):
 NorthWestern Energy Pension Plan
 December 31,
20212020
Projected benefit obligation$636.3 $757.4 
Accumulated benefit obligation636.3 757.4 
Fair value of plan assets(1)
537.9 619.1 
 ____________________
    As of December 31, 2021, the fair value of the NorthWestern Corporation pension plan assets exceed the total projected and accumulated benefit obligation and are therefore excluded from this table.
(1) Fair value of plan assets was impacted by the group annuity contract discussed above.
Schedule of Defined Benefit Plans Disclosures
The components of the net costs (credits) for our pension and other postretirement plans are as follows (in thousands):
 Pension BenefitsOther Postretirement Benefits
 December 31,December 31,
 202120202019202120202019
Components of Net Periodic Benefit Cost      
Service cost$12,994 $11,116 $9,637 $407 $370 $331 
Interest cost18,759 22,840 26,488 327 492 609 
Expected return on plan assets(27,061)(26,162)(25,443)(919)(983)(869)
Amortization of prior service cost (credit)— — — (1,835)(1,882)(1,882)
Recognized actuarial loss (gain)6,536 5,028 6,544 (898)(61)(96)
Settlement loss recognized(1)
11,291 — 198 — 390 390 
Net Periodic Benefit Cost (Credit)$22,519 $12,822 $17,424 $(2,918)$(1,674)$(1,517)
Regulatory deferral of net periodic benefit cost(2)
(13,308)(2,100)(7,510)— — — 
Previously deferred costs recognized(2)
— 71 728 709 861 931 
Amount Recognized in Income$9,211 $10,793 $10,642 $(2,209)$(813)$(586)
Income Statement Presentation
Operating and maintenance(313)9,016 2,125 407 370 331 
Other income (expense), net9,524 1,777 8,517 (2,616)(1,183)(917)
Amount Recognized in Income$9,211 $10,793 $10,642 $(2,209)$(813)$(586)
___________________________
(1) Settlement loss is related to partial annuitization of NorthWestern Energy Pension Plan effective December 1, 2021.

(2) Net periodic benefit costs for pension and postretirement benefit plans are recognized for financial reporting based on the authorization of each regulatory jurisdiction in which we operate. A portion of these costs are recorded in regulatory assets and recognized in the Consolidated Statements of Income as those costs are recovered through customer rates.
Schedule of Assumptions Used
The weighted-average assumptions used in calculating the preceding information are as follows:
 Pension BenefitsOther Postretirement Benefits
 December 31,December 31,
 202120202019202120202019
Discount rate2.65-2.75%2.20-2.30%3.10-3.20%2.35-2.40%1.80 %2.80 %
Expected rate of return on assets3.01-4.173.45-4.494.23-5.064.08 4.71 4.79 
Long-term rate of increase in compensation levels (non-union)2.84 2.84 2.84 2.84 2.84 2.84 
Long-term rate of increase in compensation levels (union)2.00 2.00 2.00 2.00 2.00 2.00 
Interest crediting rate3.30-6.003.30-6.003.60-6.00N/AN/AN/A
Schedule of Pension And Postretirement Benefits Investment Strategy Based on this, the target asset allocation established, within an allowable range of plus or minus 5 percent, is as follows:
 NorthWestern Energy PensionNorthWestern Corporation PensionNorthWestern Energy
Health and Welfare
 December 31,December 31,December 31,
 202120202021202020212020
Fixed income securities55.0 %55.0 %90.0 %80.0 %40.0 %40.0 %
Non-U.S. fixed income securities4.0 4.0 1.0 2.0 — — 
Global equities41.0 41.0 9.0 18.0 60.0 60.0 
Schedule of Allocation of Plan Assets
The actual allocation by plan is as follows:
 NorthWestern Energy PensionNorthWestern Corporation PensionNorthWestern Energy
Health and Welfare
 December 31,December 31,December 31,
202120202021202020212020
Cash and cash equivalents0.1 %— %0.4 %0.7 %0.1 %1.0 %
Fixed income securities53.8 52.7 89.5 77.3 33.7 37.9 
Non-U.S. fixed income securities3.9 3.8 0.9 2.6 — — 
Global equities42.2 43.5 9.2 19.4 66.2 61.1 
 100.0 %100.0 %100.0 %100.0 %100.0 %100.0 %
Schedule of Pension Contributions Annual contributions to each of the pension plans are as follows (in thousands):
 202120202019
NorthWestern Energy Pension Plan (MT)$9,000 $10,201 $9,000 
NorthWestern Corporation Pension Plan (SD and NE)1,200 1,200 1,200 
 $10,200 $11,401 $10,200 
Schedule of Expected Benefit Payments
We estimate the plans will make future benefit payments to participants as follows (in thousands):
 Pension BenefitsOther Postretirement Benefits
2022$28,842 $2,579 
202330,368 2,296 
202431,933 1,952 
202533,410 1,435 
202634,692 1,381 
2027-2031183,671 5,352