Montana Title 30. Trade and Commerce § 30-14-2701. Definitions

(4)(a) “Operating costs” means the costs to construct, operate, and maintain the electrical generation facility in accordance with prudent utility practices.

(b) The term includes, without limitation, expenditures for capital improvements or replacements, maintenance activities, operations activities, environmental remediation, and pension and other employee benefits.

(6)(a) “Prudent utility practice” means, at any particular time, any of the practices, methods, and acts engaged in or approved by a significant portion of the electrical utility industry prior to practice or approval, or any of the practices, methods, or acts, which, in the exercise of reasonable judgment in the light of the facts known at the time the decision was made, could have been expected to accomplish the desired result at the lowest reasonable cost consistent with reliability, safety, and expedition.

(b) The term is not limited to the optimum practice, method, or act, to the exclusion of all others, but rather to be a spectrum of possible practices, methods, or acts.

(c) The term also includes those practices, methods, and acts that are required in accordance with applicable laws, final orders, or regulations by regulatory agencies with jurisdiction.