Montana Power Company Scandal

Ryan Krasner
Bus. Mgmt.
9-30-2003
Short Case Study
Company Name: Montana Power Co/Touch America
Background:
For many decades, the Montana Power Company demonstrated the very best of American capitalism. It granted cheap, reliable electricity to the people of Montana, excellent benefits for the thousands of employees, and dependable dividends to it’s stockholders. The citizens of Montana had no complaints and were happy. Those who were unhappy were the executives officers and their Wall Street investment banking firm, Goldman Sachs, decided that there was more money to be to made in the world of telecommunications. Montana Power executives pushed a bill via the state legislatures that would deregulate the price of electricity and open the market to competition. This was supposed to be good for the consumers. Sure enough within six months of the bills passage, the company now began to sell off its generating assets. Montana Power announced that is getting out of the business...