Estate Planning News

Order Approving The Memorandum Of Understanding To Settle Our Securities Class Action Business Litigation

On one or more occasions, we may make statements in this news release regarding our assumptions, projections, expectations, targets, intentions or beliefs about future events. All statements other than statements of historical facts, included or incorporated by reference herein relating to management's current expectations of future financial performance, continued growth, changes in economic conditions or capital markets and changes in customer usage patterns and preferences are forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.    

Words or phrases such as "anticipates," "may," "will," "should," "believes," "estimates," "expects," "intends," "plans," "predicts," "projects," "targets," "will likely result," "will continue" or similar expressions identify forward-looking statements.

Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results or outcomes to differ materially from those expressed. We caution that while we make such statements in good faith and we believe such statements are based on reasonable assumptions, including without limitation, management's examination of historical operating trends, data contained in records and other data available from third parties, we cannot assure you that our projections will be achieved. Factors that may cause such differences include but are not limited to:

Factors Relating to Our Bankruptcy our ability to obtain and maintain normal terms with vendors and service providers;the potential adverse impact of the Chapter 11 case on our liquidity or results of operations, including our ability to mitigate liquidated claims with respect to the Class 9 reserve such that the allowed claims do not exceed the reserve;our ability to fund and execute our business plan; the potential adverse impact of the Netexit Chapter 11 case on our liquidity;our ability to avoid or mitigate an adverse ruling as to Magten Asset Management Corporation's appeal of the order confirming our plan of reorganization and its appeal of the order approving the memorandum of understanding to settle our securities class action litigation; our ability to avoid or mitigate an adverse judgment against us in that certain lawsuit seeking to recover assets or damages on behalf of Clark  Fork and Blackfoot, LLC, one of our subsidiaries which we refer to as CFB, filed by Magten Asset Management Corporation and Law Debenture Trust Company of New York, which we refer to as the QUIPs Litigation; our ability to avoid or mitigate an adverse judgment against us in that pending litigation styled as McGreevey et al v. The Montana Power Company, the shareholder class action lawsuit relating to the disposition of the generating and energy related assets by the entity formerly known as The Montana Power Company, excluding our acquisition of the electric and natural gas transmission and distribution business formerly held by The Montana Power Company entity, together with ERISA litigation regarding The Montana Power Company Employee Stock Ownership Plan and 401(k) plan, which has been settled pending approval by the Bankruptcy Court and the U.S. District Court in Montana where the litigation is pending;our ability to avoid or mitigate an adverse judgment against us in the In Re NorthWestern Securities Litigation and Derivative Litigation relating to the restatement of our 2002 quarterly financial statements and other accounting and financial reporting matters, which has been settled pending approval by the U.S. District Court in South Dakota where the litigation is pending; our ability to avoid or mitigate an adverse judgment against us in existing other shareholder and derivative litigation or any additional litigation and regulatory action, including the formal investigation initiated by the SEC, in connection with the restatement of our 2002 quarterly financial statements and other accounting and financial reporting matters, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our liquidity, results of operations and financial condition.

General Factors unscheduled generation outages, maintenance or repairs which may reduce revenues and increase cost of sales or may require additional capital expenditures or other increased operating costs; unanticipated changes in usage, commodity prices, fuel supply costs or availability due to higher demand, shortages, weather conditions, transportation problems or other developments, in combination with reduced availability of trade credit, may reduce revenues or may increase operating costs, each of which would adversely affect our liquidity; adverse changes in general economic and competitive conditions in our service territories; potential additional adverse federal, state, or local legislation or regulation or adverse determinations by regulators, including the final order of the Montana Public Service Commission, which we refer to as the MPSC, disallowing the recovery of $10.8 million of natural gas costs we incurred during the 2002-2004 tracker years, which has had and could continue to have a material adverse affect on our liquidity, results of operations and financial condition;increases in interest rates, which will increase our cost of borrowing; certain other business uncertainties related to the occurrence or threat of natural disasters, war, hostilities and terrorist actions; our ability to attract, motivate and/or retain key employees; and  our ability to improve and maintain an effective internal control structure.

Contact our Plano estate planning attorney now.

	Did You Know?
	A "Living Trust" can be used to hold legal title to and provide a mechanism to manage your property You can select the person or persons you want -- often even yourself -- as the Trustee(s) to carry out the instructions you want in the Trust and name one or more Successor Trustees to take over if you cannot. Unlike a Will, a Trust usually becomes effective immediately, continues in force during your lifetime even in the event of your incapacity, and continues after your death. Most Trusts are "revocable" which allows the person who creates the Trust to make future changes, modifications and even to terminate it.