Electric City Customer to go to NorthWestern Energy?

On Tuesday, it was reported that the City of Great Falls is interested in getting out of the  wholesale power business and asked NorthWestern Energy if they would consider acquiring their customers.  NorthWestern Energy responded with excitement, and has sent a response letter requesting load data and contractual commitments.  The Billings Gazette has a permanent archive of the story here.  And the Great Falls Tribune editorialized today that restraint is needed on the Electric City's behalf.

A couple observations on the proposed transaction come to mind.

1. At the highest level, this seams like a good idea.  There are certainly economies of scale in the wholesale power business, and the Electric City's current companions (SMG&T) have not figured those out.  
2. NorthWestern Energy should be interested, and could probably be persuaded to pay for the rights to these customers.  Think some discount of their authorized rate of return x the quantity of expected annual sales.  
3. The deal is not insignificant, as Electric City has a total demand of about 250,000 MWh.  This is about 5% of NorthWestern Energy's total load.  

I look forward to folks posting observations on the deal, especially those of Mr. Kavulla.