ENERGY WEST, INCORPORATED $13,000,000 6.16% Senior Unsecured Notes, due June 29, 2017 NOTE PURCHASE AGREEMENT Dated as of June 29, 2007

EX-10.4 5 c70745exv10w4.htm EXHIBIT 10.4 Filed by Bowne Pure Compliance

Exhibit 10.4

EXECUTION COPY

ENERGY WEST, INCORPORATED

$13,000,000
6.16% Senior Unsecured Notes, due June 29, 2017

NOTE PURCHASE AGREEMENT

Dated as of June 29, 2007

PPN: 29274A A*6

TABLE OF CONTENTS


Section			Page

1.	AUTHORIZATION OF NOTES			1
	1.1	Description of Notes		1
	1.2	Subsidiary Guaranty		1

2.	SALE AND PURCHASE OF NOTES			2

3.	CLOSING			2

4.	CONDITIONS TO CLOSING			2
	4.1	Representations and Warranties		2
	4.2	Performance; No Default		2
	4.3	Compliance Certificates		3
	4.4	Opinions of Counsel		3
	4.5	Purchase Permitted By Applicable Law, etc.		3
	4.6	Sale of Other Notes		3
	4.7	Payment of Special Counsel Fees		3
	4.8	Private Placement Number		4
	4.9	Changes in Corporate Structure		4
	4.10	Funding Instructions		4
	4.11	Credit Agreement		4
	4.12	Proceedings and Documents		4
	4.13	Release of Collateral		4

5.	REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES OF THE COMPANY			4
	5.1	Organization; Power and Authority		5
	5.2	Authorization, etc.		5
	5.3	Disclosure		5
	5.4	Organization and Ownership of Shares of Subsidiaries		6
	5.5	Financial Statements; Material Liabilities		6
	5.6	Compliance with Laws, Other Instruments, etc.		7
	5.7	Governmental Authorizations, etc.		7
	5.8	Litigation; Observance of Statutes and Orders		7
	5.9	Taxes		8
	5.10	Title to Property; Leases		8
	5.11	Licenses, Permits, etc.		8
	5.12	Compliance with ERISA		9
	5.13	Private Offering by the Company		10
	5.14	Use of Proceeds; Margin Regulations		10
	5.15	Existing Debt; Future Liens		10
	5.16	Foreign Assets Control Regulations, etc.		11
	5.17	Status under Certain Statutes		11
	5.18	Environmental Matters		11


Section			Page

6.	REPRESENTATIONS OF THE PURCHASERS			12
	6.1	Purchase for Investment		12
	6.2	Source of Funds		12

7.	INFORMATION AS TO COMPANY			14
	7.1	Financial and Business Information		14
	7.2	Officer's Certificate		16
	7.3	Electronic Delivery		17
	7.4	Visitation		17

8.	PREPAYMENT OF THE NOTES			18
	8.1	No Scheduled Prepayments		18
	8.2	Optional Prepayments with Make-Whole Amount		18
	8.3	Mandatory Offer to Prepay Upon Change of Control		18
	8.4	Allocation of Partial Prepayments		20
	8.5	Maturity; Surrender, etc.		20
	8.6	Purchase of Notes		20
	8.7	Make-Whole Amount		20

9.	AFFIRMATIVE COVENANTS			22
	9.1	Compliance with Law		22
	9.2	Insurance		22
	9.3	Maintenance of Properties		22
	9.4	Payment of Taxes and Claims		22
	9.5	Corporate Existence, etc.		23
	9.6	Subsidiary Guaranty; Release		23

10.	NEGATIVE COVENANTS			24
	10.1	Funded Debt		24
	10.2	Liens		24
	10.3	Mergers, Consolidations, etc.		25
	10.4	Sale of Assets		26
	10.5	Dividends		27
	10.6	Nature of Business		27
	10.7	Transactions with Affiliates		27
	10.8	Terrorism Sanctions Regulations		27

11.	EVENTS OF DEFAULT			27

12.	REMEDIES ON DEFAULT, ETC.			29
	12.1	Acceleration		29
	12.2	Other Remedies		30
	12.3	Rescission		30
	12.4	No Waivers or Election of Remedies, Expenses, etc.		30


Section			Page

13.	REGISTRATION; EXCHANGE; SUBSTITUTION OF NOTES			31
	13.1	Registration of Notes		31
	13.2	Transfer and Exchange of Notes		31
	13.3	Replacement of Notes		31

14.	PAYMENTS ON NOTES			32
	14.1	Place of Payment		32
	14.2	Home Office Payment		32

15.	EXPENSES, ETC.			33
	15.1	Transaction Expenses		33
	15.2	Survival		33

16.	SURVIVAL OF REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES; ENTIRE AGREEMENT			33

17.	AMENDMENT AND WAIVER			33
	17.1	Requirements		33
	17.2	Solicitation of Holders of Notes		35
	17.3	Binding Effect, etc.		35
	17.4	Notes held by Company, etc.		35

18.	NOTICES			35

19.	REPRODUCTION OF DOCUMENTS			35

20.	CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION			36

21.	SUBSTITUTION OF PURCHASER			36

22.	MISCELLANEOUS			37
	22.1	Successors and Assigns		37
	22.2	Payments Due on Non-Business Days		37
	22.3	Accounting Terms		37
	22.4	Severability		37
	22.5	Construction		38
	22.6	Counterparts		38
	22.7	Governing Law		38
	22.8	Jurisdiction and Process; Waiver of Jury Trial		38

iii


SCHEDULE A	—	Information Relating to Purchasers
SCHEDULE B	—	Defined Terms
SCHEDULE 5.4	—	Organization and Ownership of Shares of Subsidiaries
SCHEDULE 5.14	—	Use of Proceeds
SCHEDULE 5.15	—	Existing Indebtedness
SCHEDULE 5.18	—	Environmental Matters
EXHIBIT 1.1	—	Form of Senior Note
EXHIBIT 1.2	—	Form of Subsidiary Guaranty
EXHIBIT 4.4(a)	—	Form of Opinion of Special Counsel for the Company
EXHIBIT 4.4(b)	—	Form of Opinion of Special Counsel to the Purchasers

ENERGY WEST, INCORPORATED
1 First Avenue South
Great Falls, MT 59401
Phone: 406 ###-###-####
Fax: 406 ###-###-####

$13,000,000 6.16% Senior Unsecured Notes due June 29, 2017

Dated as of June 29, 2007


TO EACH OF THE PURCHASERS LISTED IN
THE ATTACHED SCHEDULE A:

Ladies and Gentlemen:

ENERGY WEST, INCORPORATED, a Montana corporation (the “Company”), agrees with you as follows:

1.		AUTHORIZATION OF NOTES.

1.1		Description of Notes.

The Company has authorized the issue and sale of $13,000,000 aggregate principal amount of its 6.16% Senior Unsecured Notes, due June 29, 2017 (the “Notes”, such term to include any such Notes issued in substitution therefor pursuant to Section 13 of this Agreement). The Notes shall be substantially in the form set out in Exhibit 1.1. Certain capitalized terms used in this Agreement are defined in Schedule B; references to a “Schedule” or an “Exhibit” are, unless otherwise specified, to a Schedule or an Exhibit attached to this Agreement.

1.2

Subsidiary Guaranty.

The payment by the Company of all amounts due with respect to the Notes and the performance by the Company of its obligations under this Agreement will be guaranteed by each Subsidiary that is or hereafter becomes a borrower or guarantor under the Credit Agreement (individually, a “Subsidiary Guarantor” and collectively, the “Subsidiary Guarantors”), pursuant to the Subsidiary Guaranty in substantially the form of the attached Exhibit 1.2, as it hereafter may be amended or supplemented from time to time (the “Subsidiary Guaranty”).

SALE AND PURCHASE OF NOTES.

Subject to the terms and conditions of this Agreement, the Company will issue and sell to you and each of the other purchasers named in Schedule A (the “Other Purchasers”), and you and the Other Purchasers will purchase from the Company, at the Closing provided for in Section 3, Notes in the principal amount specified opposite your names in Schedule A at the purchase price of 100% of the principal amount thereof. Your obligation hereunder and the obligations of the Other Purchasers are several and not joint obligations and you shall have no obligation and no liability to any Person for the performance or non-performance by any Other Purchaser hereunder.

CLOSING.

The sale and purchase of the Notes to be purchased by you and the Other Purchasers shall occur at the offices of Foley & Lardner LLP, 321 North Clark Street, Suite 2800, Chicago, Illinois 60610-4764, at 7:00 a.m., Chicago time, at a closing (the “Closing”) on June 29, 2007. The date or time of the Closing may be changed to such other Business Day as may be agreed upon by the Company and the Purchasers. At the Closing, the Company will deliver to you the Notes to be purchased by you in the form of a single Note (or such greater number of Notes in denominations of at least $500,000 as you may request) dated the date of such Closing and registered in your name (or in the name of your nominee), against delivery by you to the Company or its order of immediately available funds in the amount of the purchase price therefor, as follows: by wire transfer for the account of the Company to account number 5800452095 at LaSalle Bank, N.A., 135 South LaSalle Street, Suite 628, Chicago, Illinois 60603-3499, ABA number 071000505 (“Funding Instructions”). If at the Closing the Company shall fail to tender such Notes to you as provided above in this Section 3, or any of the conditions specified in Section 4 shall not have been fulfilled to your satisfaction, you shall, at your election, be relieved of all further obligations under this Agreement, without thereby waiving any rights you may have by reason of such failure or such nonfulfillment.

CONDITIONS TO CLOSING.

Your obligation to purchase and pay for the Notes to be sold to you at the Closing is subject to the fulfillment to your satisfaction, prior to or at the Closing, of the following conditions:

4.1

Representations and Warranties.

The representations and warranties of the Company in this Agreement shall be correct when made and at the time of the Closing.

4.2

Performance; No Default.

The Company shall have performed and complied with all agreements and conditions contained in this Agreement required to be performed or complied with by it prior to or at the Closing, and, after giving effect to the issue and sale of the Notes (and the application of the proceeds thereof as contemplated by Section 5.14), no Default or Event of Default shall have occurred and be continuing.

4.3

Compliance Certificates.

(a) Officer’s Certificate. The Company shall have delivered to you an Officer’s Certificate, dated the date of Closing, certifying that the conditions specified in Sections 4.1, 4.2 and 4.9 have been fulfilled.

(b) Secretary’s Certificate. The Company shall have delivered to you certificates of its and each Subsidiary Guarantor’s Secretary or an Assistant Secretary, dated the date of Closing, certifying as to the resolutions attached thereto and other corporate proceedings relating to the authorization, execution and delivery of the Notes and this Agreement.

4.4

Opinions of Counsel.

You shall have received opinions in form and substance satisfactory to you, dated the date of the Closing (a) from Rogers & Hool LLP, counsel for the Company and the Subsidiary Guarantors, and from Browning, Kaleczyc, Berry and Hoven, P.C., special Montana counsel for the Company and the Subsidiary Guarantors, covering the matters set forth in Exhibit 4.4(a) and covering such other matters incident to the transactions contemplated hereby as you or your counsel may reasonably request (and the Company instructs its counsel to deliver such opinion to you), and (b) from Foley & Lardner LLP, your special counsel in connection with such transactions, substantially in the form set forth in Exhibit 4.4(b) and covering such other matters incident to such transactions as you may reasonably request.

4.5

Purchase Permitted By Applicable Law, etc.

On the date of the Closing your purchase of Notes shall (i) be permitted by the laws and regulations of each jurisdiction to which you are subject, without recourse to provisions (such as Section 1405(a)(8) of the New York Insurance Law) permitting limited investments by insurance companies without restriction as to the character of the particular investment, (ii) not violate any applicable law or regulation (including, without limitation, Regulation U, T or X of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System) and (iii) not subject you to any tax, penalty or liability under or pursuant to any applicable law or regulation, which law or regulation was not in effect on the date hereof. If requested by you, you shall have received an Officer’s Certificate certifying as to such matters of fact as you may reasonably specify to enable you to determine whether such purchase is so permitted.

4.6

Sale of Other Notes.

Contemporaneously with the Closing, the Company shall sell to the Other Purchasers and the Other Purchasers shall purchase the Notes to be purchased by them as specified in Schedule A.

4.7

Payment of Special Counsel Fees.

Without limiting the provisions of Section 15.1, the Company shall have paid on or before the Closing the fees, charges and disbursements of your special counsel referred to in Section 4.4 to the extent reflected in a statement of such counsel rendered to the Company at least one Business Day prior to such Closing.

4.8

Private Placement Number.

Private Placement Number issued by Standard & Poor’s CUSIP Service Bureau (in cooperation with the SVO) shall have been obtained by Foley & Lardner LLP for the Notes.

4.9

Changes in Corporate Structure.

The Company shall not have changed its jurisdiction of incorporation or been a party to any merger or consolidation and shall not have succeeded to all or any substantial part of the liabilities of any other entity, at any time following the date of the most recent financial statements included in the Disclosure Documents.

4.10

Funding Instructions.

At least three Business Days prior to the date of the Closing, you shall have received written Funding Instructions signed by a Responsible Officer on letterhead of the Company confirming the Funding Instructions specified in Section 3 including (i) the name and address of the transferee bank, (ii) such transferee bank’s ABA number and (iii) the account name and number into which the purchase price for the Notes is to be deposited.

4.11

Credit Agreement.

The Company shall have entered into the Credit Agreement and you shall have received a copy of a fully executed counterpart thereof.

4.12

Proceedings and Documents.

All corporate and other proceedings in connection with the transactions contemplated by this Agreement and all documents and instruments incident to such transactions shall be reasonably satisfactory to you and your special counsel, and you and your special counsel shall have received all such counterpart originals or certified or other copies of such documents as you or they may reasonably request.

4.13

Release of Collateral.

You and your special counsel shall have received evidence satisfactory to you and your special counsel that the banks party to the Company’s prior credit agreement released all collateral securing the Company’s obligations under such credit agreement.

REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES OF THE COMPANY.

The Company represents and warrants to you that:

5.1

Organization; Power and Authority.

The Company is a corporation duly organized, validly existing and in good standing under the laws of the State of Montana, and is duly qualified as a foreign corporation and is in good standing in each jurisdiction in which such qualification is required by law, other than those jurisdictions as to which the failure to be so qualified or in good standing could not, individually or in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect. The Company has the corporate power and authority to own or hold under lease the properties it purports to own or hold under lease, to transact the business it transacts and proposes to transact, to execute and deliver this Agreement and the Notes and to perform the provisions hereof and thereof.

5.2

Authorization, etc.

This Agreement and the Notes have been duly authorized by all necessary corporate action on the part of the Company, and this Agreement constitutes, and upon execution and delivery thereof each Note will constitute, a legal, valid and binding obligation of the Company enforceable against the Company in accordance with its terms, except as such enforceability may be limited by (i) applicable bankruptcy, insolvency, reorganization, moratorium or other similar laws affecting the enforcement of creditors’ rights generally and (ii) general principles of equity (regardless of whether such enforceability is considered in a proceeding in equity or at law).

The Subsidiary Guaranty has been duly authorized by all necessary corporate action on the part of each Subsidiary Guarantor and upon execution and delivery thereof will constitute the legal, valid and binding obligation of such Subsidiary Guarantor, enforceable against such Subsidiary Guarantor in accordance with its terms, except as such enforceability may be limited by (i) applicable bankruptcy, insolvency, reorganization, fraudulent conveyance, fraudulent transfer, moratorium or other similar laws affecting the enforcement of creditors’ rights generally and (ii) general principles of equity (regardless of whether such enforceability is considered in a proceeding in equity or at law).

5.3

Disclosure.

The Company has made available to you, through its public filings, the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended June 30, 2006, its Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the quarters ended September 30, 2006, December 31, 2006 and March 31, 2007, and its Current Report on Form 8-K/A dated May 14, 2007, each of which has been filed with the SEC under the Exchange Act (such reports, together with such other reports as may be subsequently filed by the Company with the SEC pursuant to §13(a) or §15(d) of the Exchange Act, the “Disclosure Documents”). The Disclosure Documents, taken as a whole, do not contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state any material fact necessary to make the statements therein not misleading in light of the circumstances under which they were made. Except as disclosed in the Disclosure Documents, since June 30, 2006, there has been no change in the financial condition, operations, business or properties of the Company or any of its Subsidiaries except changes that individually or in the aggregate would not reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect.

5.4

Organization and Ownership of Shares of Subsidiaries.

(a) Schedule 5.4 contains (except as noted therein) complete and correct lists of (i) the Company’s Subsidiaries, showing, as to each Subsidiary, the correct name thereof, the jurisdiction of its organization, and the percentage of shares of each class of its capital stock or similar equity interests outstanding owned by the Company and each other Subsidiary, (ii) each other entity in which the Company holds a direct or indirect investment, other than Subsidiaries, and (iii) the Company’s directors and senior officers.

(b) All of the outstanding shares of capital stock or similar equity interests of each Subsidiary shown in Schedule 5.4 as being owned by the Company and its Subsidiaries have been validly issued, are fully paid and nonassessable and are owned by the Company or another Subsidiary free and clear of any Lien (except as otherwise disclosed in Schedule 5.4).

(c) Each Subsidiary identified in Schedule 5.4 is a corporation or other legal entity duly organized, validly existing and in good standing or equivalent status under the laws of its jurisdiction of organization, and is duly qualified as a foreign corporation or other legal entity and is in good standing in each jurisdiction in which such qualification is required by law, other than those jurisdictions as to which the failure to be so qualified or in good standing could not, individually or in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect. Each such Subsidiary has the corporate or other power and authority to own or hold under lease the properties it purports to own or hold under lease and to transact the business it transacts and proposes to transact.

(d) No Subsidiary is a party to, or otherwise subject to any legal, regulatory, contractual or other restriction (other than this Agreement, the agreements listed on Schedule 5.4 and customary limitations imposed by corporate law or similar statutes) restricting the ability of such Subsidiary to pay dividends out of profits or make any other similar distributions of profits to the Company or any of its Subsidiaries that owns outstanding shares of capital stock or similar equity interests of such Subsidiary.

5.5

Financial Statements; Material Liabilities.

The financial statements of the Company included in the Disclosure Documents (including in each case the related schedules and notes) fairly present in all material respects the consolidated financial position of the Company and its Subsidiaries as of the respective dates specified therein and the consolidated results of their operations and cash flows for the respective periods so specified and have been prepared in accordance with GAAP consistently applied throughout the periods involved except as set forth in the notes thereto (subject, in the case of any interim financial statements, to normal year-end adjustments). The Company and its Subsidiaries do not have any Material liabilities that are not disclosed on such financial statements or otherwise disclosed in the Disclosure Documents.

5.6

Compliance with Laws, Other Instruments, etc.

The execution, delivery and performance by the Company of this Agreement and the Notes will not (i) contravene, result in any breach of, or constitute a default under, or result in the creation of any Lien in respect of any property of the Company or any Subsidiary under, any indenture, mortgage, deed of trust, loan, purchase or credit agreement, lease, corporate charter or by-laws, or any other agreement or instrument to which the Company or any Subsidiary is bound or by which the Company or any Subsidiary or any of their respective properties may be bound or affected, (ii) conflict with or result in a breach of any of the terms, conditions or provisions of any order, judgment, decree, or ruling of any court, arbitrator or Governmental Authority applicable to the Company or any Subsidiary or (iii) violate any provision of any statute or other rule or regulation of any Governmental Authority applicable to the Company or any Subsidiary.

The execution, delivery and performance by each Subsidiary Guarantor of the Subsidiary Guaranty will not (i) contravene, result in any breach of, or constitute a default under, or result in the creation of any Lien in respect of any property of such Subsidiary Guarantor under, any indenture, mortgage, deed of trust, loan, purchase or credit agreement, lease, corporate charter or by-laws, or any other agreement or instrument to which such Subsidiary Guarantor is bound or by which such Subsidiary Guarantor or any of its properties may be bound or affected, (ii) conflict with or result in a breach of any of the terms, conditions or provisions of any order, judgment, decree, or ruling of any court, arbitrator or Governmental Authority applicable to such Subsidiary Guarantor or (iii) violate any provision of any statute or other rule or regulation of any Governmental Authority applicable to such Subsidiary Guarantor.

5.7

Governmental Authorizations, etc.

Each of the Montana Public Service Commission (the “Montana Commission”) and the Wyoming Public Service Commission (the “Wyoming Commission”) has entered one or more orders authorizing the issue and sale of the Notes by the Company on the terms and conditions not inconsistent with the terms and conditions set forth in or contemplated by this Agreement and no other consent, approval or authorization of, or registration, filing or declaration with, any Governmental Authority is required in connection with the execution, delivery or performance by the Company of this Agreement or the Notes or the execution, delivery or performance by each Subsidiary Guarantor of the Subsidiary Guaranty.

5.8

Litigation; Observance of Statutes and Orders.

(a) Except as set forth in the Disclosure Documents, there are no actions, suits, proceedings or investigations pending or, to the knowledge of the Company, threatened against or affecting the Company or any Subsidiary or any property of the Company or any Subsidiary in any court or before any kind of arbitrator or before or by any Governmental Authority that, individually or in the aggregate, could reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect.

(b) Neither the Company nor any Subsidiary is in default under any term of any agreement or instrument to which it is a party or by which it is bound, or any order, judgment, decree or ruling of any court, arbitrator or Governmental Authority or is in violation of any applicable law, ordinance, rule or regulation (including Environmental Laws and the USA Patriot Act) of any Governmental Authority, which default or violation, individually or in the aggregate, could reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect.

5.9

Taxes.

The Company and its Subsidiaries have filed all tax returns that are required to have been filed in any jurisdiction, and have paid all taxes shown to be due and payable on such returns and all other taxes and assessments levied upon them or their properties, assets, income or franchises, to the extent such taxes and assessments have become due and payable and before they have become delinquent, except for any taxes and assessments (i) the amount of which is not, individually or in the aggregate, Material or (ii) the amount, applicability or validity of which is currently being contested in good faith by appropriate proceedings and with respect to which the Company or a Subsidiary, as the case may be, has established adequate reserves in accordance with GAAP. The Company knows of no basis for any other tax or assessment that could reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect. The charges, accruals and reserves on the books of the Company and its Subsidiaries in respect of Federal, state or other taxes for all fiscal periods are adequate. The Federal income tax liabilities of the Company and its Subsidiaries have been finally determined (whether by reason of completed audits or the statute of limitations having run) for all fiscal years up to and including the fiscal year ended June 30, 2003.

5.10

Title to Property; Leases.

The Company and its Subsidiaries have good and sufficient title to their respective properties that individually or in the aggregate are Material, including all such properties that are individually or in the aggregate Material and are reflected in the most recent audited balance sheet included in the Disclosure Documents or purported to have been acquired by the Company or any Subsidiary after said date (except as sold or otherwise disposed of as disclosed in the Disclosure Documents or in the ordinary course of business), in each case free and clear of Liens prohibited by this Agreement. All leases that individually or in the aggregate are Material are valid and subsisting and are in full force and effect in all material respects.

5.11

Licenses, Permits, etc.

(a) The Company and its Subsidiaries own or possess all licenses, permits, franchises, authorizations, patents, copyrights, proprietary software, service marks, trademarks and trade names, or rights thereto, that individually or in the aggregate are Material, without known conflict with the rights of others.

(b) To the best knowledge of the Company, no product of the Company or any of its Subsidiaries infringes in any material respect any license, permit, franchise, authorization, patent, copyright, proprietary software, service mark, trademark, trade name or other right owned by any other Person.

(c) To the best knowledge of the Company, there is no Material violation by any Person of any right of the Company or any of its Subsidiaries with respect to any patent, copyright, proprietary software, service mark, trademark, trade name or other right owned or used by the Company or any of its Subsidiaries.

(d) The Company has valid and subsisting franchises, covering all municipalities in which it operates, that authorize the Company to carry on the respective utility businesses in which it is engaged in the municipalities covered by such franchises.

5.12

Compliance with ERISA.

(a) The Company and each ERISA Affiliate have operated and administered each Plan in compliance with all applicable laws except for such instances of noncompliance as have not resulted in and could not reasonably be expected to result in a Material Adverse Effect. Neither the Company nor any ERISA Affiliate has incurred any liability pursuant to Title I or IV of ERISA or the penalty or excise tax provisions of the Code relating to employee benefit plans (as defined in section 3 of ERISA), and no event, transaction or condition has occurred or exists that could reasonably be expected to result in the incurrence of any such liability by the Company or any ERISA Affiliate, or in the imposition of any Lien on any of the rights, properties or assets of the Company or any ERISA Affiliate, in either case pursuant to Title I or IV of ERISA or to such penalty or excise tax provisions or to section 401(a)(29) or 412 of the Code or section 4068 of ERISA, other than such liabilities or Liens as would not be individually or in the aggregate Material.

(b) The present value of the aggregate benefit liabilities under each of the Plans (other than Multiemployer Plans), determined as of the end of such Plan’s most recently ended plan year on the basis of the actuarial assumptions specified for funding purposes in such Plan’s most recent actuarial valuation report, did not exceed the aggregate current value of the assets of such Plan allocable to such benefit liabilities by an amount that, individually, or in the aggregate for all Plans, is Material. The term “benefit liabilities” has the meaning specified in section 4001 of ERISA and the terms “current value” and “present value” have the meaning specified in section 3 of ERISA.

(c) The Company and its ERISA Affiliates have not incurred withdrawal liabilities (and are not subject to contingent withdrawal liabilities) under section 4201 or 4204 of ERISA in respect of Multiemployer Plans that individually or in the aggregate are Material.

(d) The expected postretirement benefit obligation (determined as of the last day of the Company’s most recently ended fiscal year in accordance with Financial Accounting Standards Board Statement No. 106, without regard to liabilities attributable to continuation coverage mandated by section 4980B of the Code) of the Company and its Subsidiaries is not Material.

(e) The execution and delivery of this Agreement and the issuance and sale of the Notes hereunder will not involve any transaction that is subject to the prohibitions of section 406 of ERISA or in connection with which a tax could be imposed pursuant to section 4975(c)(1)(A)-(D) of the Code. The representation by the Company in the first sentence of this Section 5.12(e) is made in reliance upon and subject to the accuracy of your representation in Section 6.2 as to the sources of the funds used to pay the purchase price of the Notes to be purchased by you.

5.13

Private Offering by the Company.

Neither the Company nor anyone acting on its behalf has offered the Notes or any similar securities for sale to, or solicited any offer to buy any of the same from, or otherwise approached or negotiated in respect thereof with, any person other than you, the Other Purchasers and not more than 7 other Accredited Investors, each of which has been offered the Notes at a private sale for investment. Neither the Company nor anyone acting on its behalf has taken, or will take, any action that would subject the issuance or sale of the Notes to the registration requirements of Section 5 of the Securities Act or to the registration requirements of any securities or blue sky laws of any applicable jurisdiction.

5.14

Use of Proceeds; Margin Regulations.

The Company will apply the proceeds of the sale of the Notes to refinance Indebtedness of the Company as set forth in Schedule 5.14 and for general corporate purposes. No part of the proceeds from the sale of the Notes will be used, directly or indirectly, for the purpose of buying or carrying any margin stock within the meaning of Regulation U of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (12 CFR 221), or for the purpose of buying or carrying or trading in any securities under such circumstances as to involve the Company in a violation of Regulation X of said Board (12 CFR 224) or to involve any broker or dealer in a violation of Regulation T of said Board (12 CFR 220). Margin stock does not constitute more than 1% of the value of the consolidated assets of the Company and its Subsidiaries and the Company does not have any present intention that margin stock will constitute more than 1% of the value of such assets. As used in this Section, the terms “margin stock” and “purpose of buying or carrying” shall have the meanings assigned to them in said Regulation U.

5.15

Existing Debt; Future Liens.

(a) All outstanding Indebtedness of the Company and its Subsidiaries as of March 31, 2007 was properly included on the consolidated balance sheet of the Company and its Subsidiaries as of that date that was included in the Disclosure Documents. Since March 31, 2007, there has been no Material change in the amounts, interest rates, sinking funds, installment payments or maturities of the Indebtedness of the Company or its Subsidiaries except as described in Schedule 5.15 and except for the Credit Agreement, which is being entered into on the date of Closing. Neither the Company nor any Subsidiary is in default and no waiver of default is currently in effect, in the payment of any principal or interest on any Indebtedness of the Company or any Subsidiary and no event or condition exists with respect to any Indebtedness of the Company or any Subsidiary that would permit (or that with notice or the lapse of time, or both, would permit) one or more Persons to cause such Indebtedness to become due and payable before its stated maturity or before its regularly scheduled dates of payment.

(b) Except as disclosed in Schedule 5.15, neither the Company nor any Subsidiary has agreed or consented to cause or permit in the future (upon the happening of a contingency or otherwise) any of its property, whether now owned or hereafter acquired, to be subject to a Lien not permitted by Section 10.2.

(c) Other than the Credit Agreement, neither the Company nor any Subsidiary is a party to, or otherwise subject to any provision contained in, any instrument evidencing Indebtedness of the Company or such Subsidiary, any agreement relating thereto or any other agreement (including its charter or other organizational document) that limits the amount of, or otherwise imposes restrictions on the incurring of, Indebtedness of the Company, except as specifically indicated in Schedule 5.15.

5.16

Foreign Assets Control Regulations, etc.

(a) Neither the sale of the Notes by the Company hereunder nor its use of the proceeds thereof will violate (i) the Trading with the Enemy Act, as amended, (ii) any of the foreign assets control regulations of the United States Treasury Department (31 CFR, Subtitle B, Chapter V, as amended) or any enabling legislation or executive order relating thereto, (iii) the Anti-Terrorism Order or (iv) the United States Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1997, as amended. Without limiting the foregoing, neither the Company nor any Subsidiary (A) is a blocked person described in Section 1 of the Anti-Terrorism Order or (B) knowingly engages in any dealings or transactions, or is otherwise associated, with any such person.

(b) No part of the proceeds from the sale of the Notes hereunder will be used, directly or indirectly, in violation of the United States Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977, as amended, assuming in all cases that such act applies to the Company.

5.17

Status under Certain Statutes.

Neither the Company nor any Subsidiary is subject to regulation under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, the ICC Termination Act, as amended, or the Federal Power Act, as amended. The Company is not an “investment company” or “controlled” by an “investment company,” as such terms are defined in the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder. The Company is a public utility as defined in the statutes of the States of Montana and Wyoming and has the legal right to function and operate as a natural gas utility in the States of Montana and Wyoming.

5.18

Environmental Matters.

Except as disclosed in Schedule 5.18:

(a) Neither the Company nor any Subsidiary has knowledge of any claim or has received any notice of any claim, and no proceeding has been instituted raising any claim against the Company or any of its Subsidiaries or any of their respective real properties now or formerly owned, leased or operated by any of them or other assets, alleging any damage to the environment or violation of any Environmental Laws, except, in each case, such as could not reasonably be expected to result in a Material Adverse Effect.

(b) Neither the Company nor any Subsidiary has knowledge of any facts that would give rise to any claim, public or private, of violation of Environmental Laws or damage to the environment emanating from, occurring on or in any way related to real properties now or formerly owned, leased or operated by any of them or to other assets or their use, except, in each case, such as could not reasonably be expected to result in a Material Adverse Effect.

(c) Neither the Company nor any Subsidiary has stored any Hazardous Materials on real properties now or formerly owned, leased or operated by any of them and has not disposed of any Hazardous Materials in a manner contrary to any Environmental Laws in each case in any manner that could reasonably be expected to result in a Material Adverse Effect.

(d) All buildings on all real properties now owned, leased or operated by the Company or any Subsidiary are in compliance with applicable Environmental Laws, except where failure to comply could not reasonably be expected to result in a Material Adverse Effect.

6.		REPRESENTATIONS OF THE PURCHASERS.

6.1		Purchase for Investment.

You represent that you are an Accredited Investor and an Institutional Investor purchasing the Notes for your own account or for one or more separate accounts maintained by you or for the account of one or more pension or trust funds and not with a view to the distribution thereof, provided that the disposition of your or their property shall at all times be within your or their control. You understand that the Notes have not been registered under the Securities Act and may be resold or otherwise transferred only if registered pursuant to the provisions of the Securities Act or if an exemption from registration is available, except under circumstances where neither such registration nor such an exemption is required by law, and that the Company is not required to register the Notes.

6.2

Source of Funds.

You represent that at least one of the following statements is an accurate representation as to each source of funds (a “Source”) to be used by you to pay the purchase price of the Notes to be purchased by you hereunder:

(a) the Source is an “insurance company general account” (as the term is defined in the United States Department of Labor’s Prohibited Transaction Exemption (“PTE”) 95-60) in respect of which the reserves and liabilities (as defined by the annual statement for life insurance companies approved by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (the “NAIC Annual Statement”)) for the general account contract(s) held by or on behalf of any employee benefit plan together with the amount of the reserves and liabilities for the general account contract(s) held by or on behalf of any other employee benefit plans maintained by the same employer (or affiliate thereof as defined in PTE 95-60) or by the same employee organization in the general account do not exceed 10% of the total reserves and liabilities of the general account (exclusive of separate account liabilities) plus surplus as set forth in the NAIC Annual Statement filed with your state of domicile; or

(b) the Source is a separate account that is maintained solely in connection with your fixed contractual obligations under which the amounts payable, or credited, to any employee benefit plan (or its related trust) that has any interest in such separate account (or to any participant or beneficiary of such plan (including any annuitant)) are not affected in any manner by the investment performance of the separate account; or

(c) the Source is either (i) an insurance company pooled separate account, within the meaning of PTE 90-1 (issued January 29, 1990), or (ii) a bank collective investment fund, within the meaning of PTE 91-38 (issued July 12, 1991) and, except as you have disclosed to the Company in writing pursuant to this paragraph (c), no employee benefit plan or group of plans maintained by the same employer or employee organization beneficially owns more than 10% of all assets allocated to such pooled separate account or collective investment fund; or

(d) the Source constitutes assets of an “investment fund” (within the meaning of Part V of PTE 84-14 (the “QPAM Exemption”)) managed by a “qualified professional asset manager” or “QPAM” (within the meaning of Part V of the QPAM Exemption), no employee benefit plan’s assets that are included in such investment fund, when combined with the assets of all other employee benefit plans established or maintained by the same employer or by an affiliate (within the meaning of Section V(c)(1) of the QPAM Exemption) of such employer or by the same employee organization and managed by such QPAM, exceed 20% of the total client assets managed by such QPAM, the conditions of Part I(c) and (g) of the QPAM Exemption are satisfied, neither the QPAM nor a person controlling or controlled by the QPAM (applying the definition of “control” in Section V(e) of the QPAM Exemption) owns a 5% or more interest in the Company and (i) the identity of such QPAM and (ii) the names of all employee benefit plans whose assets are included in such investment fund have been disclosed to the Company in writing pursuant to this clause (d); or

(e) the Source constitutes assets of a “plan(s)” (within the meaning of Section IV of PTE 96-23 (the “INHAM Exemption”)) managed by an “in-house asset manager” or “INHAM” (within the meaning of Part IV of the INHAM exemption), the conditions of Part I(a), (g) and (h) of the INHAM Exemption are satisfied, neither the INHAM nor a person controlling or controlled by the INHAM (applying the definition of “control” in Section IV(h) of the INHAM Exemption) owns a 5% or more interest in the Company and (i) the identity of such INHAM and (ii) the name(s) of the employee benefit plan(s) whose assets constitute the Source have been disclosed to the Company in writing pursuant to this clause (e); or

(f) the Source is a governmental plan; or

(g) the Source is one or more employee benefit plans, or a separate account or trust fund comprised of one or more employee benefit plans, each of which has been identified to the Company in writing pursuant to this paragraph (g); or

(h) the Source does not include assets of any employee benefit plan, other than a plan exempt from the coverage of ERISA.

As used in this Section 6.2, the terms “employee benefit plan”, “governmental plan” and “separate account” shall have the respective meanings assigned to such terms in Section 3 of ERISA.

7.		INFORMATION AS TO COMPANY.

7.1		Financial and Business Information.

The Company will deliver to each holder of Notes that is an Institutional Investor:

(a) Quarterly Statements — within 60 days after the end of each quarterly fiscal period in each fiscal year of the Company (other than the last quarterly fiscal period of each such fiscal year), duplicate copies of,

(i) a consolidated balance sheet of the Company and its Subsidiaries as at the end of such quarter, and

(ii) consolidated statements of operations of the Company and its Subsidiaries for such quarter and (in the case of the second and third quarters) for the portion of the fiscal year ending with such quarter,

(iii) consolidated statements of cash flows of the Company and its Subsidiaries for such quarter or (in the case of the second and third quarters) for the portion of the fiscal year ending with such quarter,

setting forth in each case in comparative form the figures for the corresponding periods in the previous fiscal year, all in reasonable detail, prepared in accordance with GAAP applicable to quarterly financial statements generally, unaudited, and certified by a Senior Financial Officer as fairly presenting, in all material respects, the financial position of the companies being reported on and their results of operations and cash flows, subject to changes resulting from year-end adjustments and the absence of footnotes, provided that delivery within the time period specified above of copies of the Company’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q (the “Form 10-Q”) prepared in compliance with the requirements therefor and filed with the SEC shall be deemed to satisfy the requirements of this Section 7.1(a);

(b) Annual Statements — within 120 days after the end of each fiscal year of the Company, duplicate copies of

(i) a consolidated balance sheet of the Company and its Subsidiaries, as at the end of such year, and

(ii) consolidated statements of operations, changes in stockholders’ equity and cash flows of the Company and its Subsidiaries for such year,

setting forth in each case in comparative form the figures for the previous fiscal year, all in reasonable detail, prepared in accordance with GAAP, and accompanied by an opinion thereon of independent public accountants of recognized national standing, or other independent public accountants reasonably satisfactory to the Required Holders, which opinion shall state that such financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the companies being reported upon and their results of operations and cash flows and have been prepared in conformity with GAAP, and that the examination of such accountants in connection with such financial statements has been made in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards, and that such audit provides a reasonable basis for such opinion in the circumstances, provided that the delivery within the time period specified above of the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K (the “Form 10-K”) for such fiscal year (together with the Company’s annual report to shareholders, if any, prepared pursuant to Rule 14a-3 under the Exchange Act) prepared in accordance with the requirements therefor and filed with the SEC shall be deemed to satisfy the requirements of this Section 7.1(b);

(c) SEC and Other Reports — promptly upon their becoming available, one copy of (i) each financial statement, report, notice or proxy statement sent by the Company or any Subsidiary to its public securities holders generally and (ii) each regular or periodic report, each registration statement (without exhibits except as expressly requested by such holder), and each prospectus and all amendments thereto filed by the Company or any Subsidiary with the SEC;

(d) Notice of Default or Event of Default — promptly, and in any event within five Business Days after a Responsible Officer becoming aware of the existence of any Default or Event of Default or that any Person has given any notice or taken any action with respect to a claimed default hereunder or that any Person has given any notice or taken any action with respect to a claimed default of the type referred to in Section 11(e), a written notice specifying the nature and period of existence thereof, whether or not the Company agrees that any claimed default constitutes a Default or Event of Default, and what action the Company is taking or proposes to take with respect thereto;

(e) ERISA Matters — promptly, and in any event within five Business Days after a Responsible Officer becoming aware of any of the following, a written notice setting forth the nature thereof and the action, if any, that the Company or an ERISA Affiliate proposes to take with respect thereto:

(i) with respect to any Plan, any reportable event, as defined in section 4043(c) of ERISA and the regulations thereunder, for which notice thereof has not been waived pursuant to such regulations as in effect on the date hereof; or

(ii) the taking by the PBGC of steps to institute, or the threatening by the PBGC of the institution of, proceedings under section 4042 of ERISA for the termination of, or the appointment of a trustee to administer, any Plan, or the receipt by the Company or any ERISA Affiliate of a notice from a Multiemployer Plan that such action has been taken by the PBGC with respect to such Multiemployer Plan; or

(iii) any event, transaction or condition that could result in the incurrence of any liability by the Company or any ERISA Affiliate pursuant to Title I or IV of ERISA or the penalty or excise tax provisions of the Code relating to employee benefit plans, or in the imposition of any Lien on any of the rights, properties or assets of the Company or any ERISA Affiliate pursuant to Title I or IV of ERISA or such penalty or excise tax provisions, if such liability or Lien, taken together with any other such liabilities or Liens then existing, could reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect; and

(f) Notices from Governmental Authority — promptly, and in any event within 30 days of receipt thereof, copies of any notice to the Company or any Subsidiary from any Federal or state Governmental Authority relating to any order, ruling, statute or other law or regulation that could reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect; and

(g) Requested Information — with reasonable promptness, such other data and information relating to the business, operations, affairs, financial condition, assets or properties of the Company or any of its Subsidiaries (including actual copies of the Company’s Form 10-Q and Form 10-K) or relating to the ability of the Company to perform its obligations hereunder and under the Notes as from time to time may be reasonably requested by any such holder of Notes.

7.2

Officer’s Certificate.

Each set of financial statements delivered to a holder of Notes pursuant to Section 7.1(a) or Section 7.1(b) will be accompanied by a certificate of a Senior Financial Officer setting forth:

(a) Covenant Compliance — the information (including detailed calculations) required in order to establish whether the Company was in compliance with the requirements of Section 10.1 through Section 10.5, inclusive, during the quarterly or annual period covered by the statements then being furnished (including with respect to each such Section, where applicable, the calculations of the maximum or minimum amount, ratio or percentage, as the case may be, permissible under the terms of such Sections, and the calculation of the amount, ratio or percentage then in existence); and

(b) Event of Default — a statement that such Senior Financial Officer has reviewed the relevant terms hereof and has made, or caused to be made, under his or her supervision, a review of the transactions and conditions of the Company and its Subsidiaries from the beginning of the quarterly or annual period covered by the statements then being furnished to the date of the certificate and that such review shall not have disclosed the existence during such period of any condition or event that constitutes a Default or an Event of Default or, if any such condition or event existed or exists (including any such event or condition resulting from the failure of the Company or any Subsidiary to comply with any Environmental Law), specifying the nature and period of existence thereof and what action the Company shall have taken or proposes to take with respect thereto.

7.3

Electronic Delivery.

Financial statements and officers’ certificates required to be delivered by the Company pursuant to Sections 7.1(a), (b) or (c) and Section 7.2 shall be deemed to have been delivered if (i) the Company shall have timely filed such Form 10-Q or Form 10-K, satisfying the requirements of Section 7.1(a) or (b) as the case may be, with the SEC on “EDGAR” and shall have made such Form and the related certificate satisfying the requirements of Section 7.2 available on its home page on the worldwide web (at the date of this Agreement located at http://www.ewst.com) or (ii) such financial statements satisfying the requirements of Section 7.1(a) or (b) and related certificate satisfying the requirements of Section 7.2 are timely posted by or on behalf of the Company on IntraLinks or on any other similar website to which each holder of Notes has free access or (iii) the Company shall have filed any of the items referred to in Section 7.1(c) with the SEC on “EDGAR” and shall have made such items available on its home page on the worldwide web or if any of such items are timely posted by or on behalf of the Company on IntraLinks or on any other similar website to which each holder of Notes has free access; provided however, that in the case of any of clause (i), (ii) or (iii), the Company shall concurrently with such filing or posting give notice to each holder of Notes of such posting or filing and provided further, that upon request of any holder, the Company will thereafter deliver written copies of such forms, financial statements and certificates to such holder.

7.4

Visitation.

The Company shall permit the representatives of each holder of Notes that is an Institutional Investor:

(a) No Default — if no Default or Event of Default then exists, at the expense of such holder and upon reasonable prior notice to the Company, to visit the principal executive office of the Company during normal business hours, to discuss the affairs, finances and accounts of the Company and its Subsidiaries with the Company’s officers, and (with the consent of the Company, which consent will not be unreasonably withheld) to visit the other offices and properties of the Company and each Subsidiary, all at such reasonable times and as often as may be reasonably requested in writing; and

(b) Default — if a Default or Event of Default then exists, at the expense of the Company, to visit and inspect any of the offices or properties of the Company or any Subsidiary during normal business hours, to examine all their respective books of account, records, reports and other papers, to make copies and extracts therefrom, and to discuss their respective affairs, finances and accounts with their respective officers and independent public accountants (and by this provision the Company authorizes said accountants to discuss the affairs, finances and accounts of the Company and its Subsidiaries), all at such reasonable times and as often as may be reasonably requested.

8.		PREPAYMENT OF THE NOTES.

8.1		No Scheduled Prepayments.

No regularly scheduled prepayments are due on the Notes prior to their stated maturity.

8.2

Optional Prepayments with Make-Whole Amount.

The Company may, at its option, upon notice as provided below, prepay at any time all, or from time to time any part of, the Notes in an amount not less than $2,000,000 in the aggregate in the case of a partial prepayment, at 100% of the principal amount so prepaid, and the Make-Whole Amount determined for the prepayment date with respect to such principal amount. The Company will give each holder of Notes written notice of each optional prepayment under this Section 8.2 not less than 30 days and not more than 60 days prior to the date fixed for such prepayment. Each such notice shall specify such date (which shall be a Business Day), the aggregate principal amount of the Notes to be prepaid on such date, the principal amount of each Note held by such holder to be prepaid (determined in accordance with Section 8.4), and the interest to be paid on the prepayment date with respect to such principal amount being prepaid, and shall be accompanied by a certificate of a Senior Financial Officer as to the estimated Make-Whole Amount due in connection with such prepayment (calculated as if the date of such notice were the date of the prepayment), setting forth the details of such computation. Two Business Days prior to such prepayment, the Company shall deliver to each holder of Notes a certificate of a Senior Financial Officer specifying the calculation of such Make-Whole Amount as of the specified prepayment date.

8.3

Mandatory Offer to Prepay Upon Change of Control.

(a) Notice of Change of Control or Control Event — The Company will, within five Business Days after any Responsible Officer has knowledge of the occurrence of any Change of Control or Control Event, give notice of such Change of Control or Control Event to each holder of Notes unless notice in respect of such Change of Control (or the Change of Control contemplated by such Control Event) shall have been given pursuant to subparagraph (b) of this Section 8.3. If a Change of Control has occurred, such notice shall contain and constitute an offer to prepay Notes as described in paragraph (c) of this Section 8.3 and shall be accompanied by the certificate described in paragraph (g) of this Section 8.3.

(b) Condition to Company Action — The Company will not take any action that consummates or finalizes a Change of Control unless (i) at least 15 Business Days prior to such action it shall have given to each holder of Notes written notice containing and constituting an offer to prepay Notes accompanied by the certificate described in paragraph (g) of this Section 8.3, and (ii) subject to the provisions of paragraph (d) below, contemporaneously with such action, it prepays all Notes required to be prepaid in accordance with this Section 8.3.

(c) Offer to Prepay Notes — The offer to prepay Notes contemplated by paragraphs (a) and (b) of this Section 8.3 shall be an offer to prepay, in accordance with and subject to this Section 8.3, all, but not less than all, of the Notes held by each holder (in this case only, “holder” in respect of any Note registered in the name of a nominee for a disclosed beneficial owner shall mean such beneficial owner) on a date specified in such offer (the “Proposed Prepayment Date”). If such Proposed Prepayment Date is in connection with an offer contemplated by paragraph (a) of this Section 8.3, such date shall be not less than 30 days and not more than 60 days after the date of such offer.

(d) Acceptance; Rejection — A holder of Notes may accept the offer to prepay made pursuant to this Section 8.3 by causing a notice of such acceptance to be delivered to the Company on or before the date specified in the certificate described in paragraph (g) of this Section 8.3. A failure by a holder of Notes to respond to an offer to prepay made pursuant to this Section 8.3, or to accept an offer as to all of the Notes held by the holder, within such time period shall be deemed to constitute rejection of such offer by such holder.

(e) Prepayment — Prepayment of the Notes to be prepaid pursuant to this Section 8.3 shall be at 100% of the principal amount of such Notes, together with interest on such Notes accrued to the date of prepayment and shall not require the payment of any Make-Whole Amount. The prepayment shall be made on the Proposed Prepayment Date except as provided in paragraph (f) of this Section 8.3.

(f) Deferral Pending Change of Control — The obligation of the Company to prepay Notes pursuant to the offers required by paragraphs (a) and (b) and accepted in accordance with paragraph (d) of this Section 8.3 is subject to the occurrence of the Change of Control in respect of which such offers and acceptances shall have been made. In the event that such Change of Control does not occur on or prior to the Proposed Prepayment Date in respect thereof, the prepayment shall be deferred until and shall be made on the date on which such Change of Control occurs. The Company shall keep each holder of Notes reasonably and timely informed of (i) any such deferral of the date of prepayment, (ii) the date on which such Change of Control and the prepayment are reasonably expected to occur, and (iii) any determination by the Company that efforts to effect such Change of Control have ceased or been abandoned (in which case the offers and acceptances made pursuant to this Section 8.3 in respect of such Change of Control shall be deemed rescinded). Notwithstanding the foregoing, in the event that the prepayment has not been made within 90 days after such Proposed Prepayment Date by virtue of the deferral provided for in this Section 8.3(f), the Company shall make a new offer to prepay in accordance with paragraph (c) of this Section 8.3.

(g) Officer’s Certificate — Each offer to prepay the Notes pursuant to this Section 8.3 shall be accompanied by a certificate, executed by a Senior Financial Officer of the Company and dated the date of such offer, specifying: (i) the Proposed Prepayment Date, (ii) that such offer is made pursuant to this Section 8.3, (iii) the principal amount of each Note offered to be prepaid, (iv) the interest that would be due on each Note offered to be prepaid, accrued to the Proposed Prepayment Date, (v) that the conditions of this Section 8.3 have been fulfilled, (vi) in reasonable detail, the nature and date or proposed date of the Change of Control and (vii) the date by which any holder of a Note that wishes to accept such offer must deliver notice thereof to the Company, which date shall not be earlier than seven Business Days prior to the Proposed Prepayment Date or, in the case of a prepayment pursuant to Section 8.3(b), the date of the action referred to in Section 8.3(b)(i).

8.4

Allocation of Partial Prepayments.

In the case of each partial prepayment of Notes pursuant to Section 8.2, the principal amount of the Notes to be prepaid shall be allocated among all of the Notes at the time outstanding in proportion, as nearly as practicable, to the respective unpaid principal amounts thereof not theretofore called for prepayment.

8.5

Maturity; Surrender, etc.

In the case of each prepayment of Notes pursuant to this Section 8, the principal amount of each Note to be prepaid shall mature and become due and payable on the date fixed for such prepayment (which shall be a Business Day), together with interest on such principal amount accrued to such date and the applicable Make-Whole Amount, if any. From and after such date, unless the Company shall fail to pay such principal amount when so due and payable, together with the interest and Make-Whole Amount, if any, as aforesaid, interest on such principal amount shall cease to accrue. Any Note paid or prepaid in full shall be surrendered to the Company and canceled and shall not be reissued, and no Note shall be issued in lieu of any prepaid principal amount of any Note.

8.6

Purchase of Notes.

The Company will not and will not permit any Affiliate to purchase, redeem, prepay or otherwise acquire, directly or indirectly, any of the outstanding Notes except upon the payment or prepayment of the Notes in accordance with the terms of this Agreement and the Notes. The Company will promptly cancel all Notes acquired by it or any Affiliate pursuant to any payment or prepayment of Notes pursuant to any provision of this Agreement and no Notes may be issued in substitution or exchange for any such Notes.

8.7

Make-Whole Amount.

“Make-Whole Amount” means, with respect to any Note, an amount equal to the excess, if any, of the Discounted Value of the Remaining Scheduled Payments with respect to the Called Principal of such Note over the amount of such Called Principal, provided that the Make-Whole Amount may in no event be less than zero. For the purposes of determining the Make-Whole Amount, the following terms have the following meanings:

“Called Principal” means, with respect to any Note, the principal of such Note that is to be prepaid pursuant to Section 8.2 or has become or is declared to be immediately due and payable pursuant to Section 12.1, as the context requires.

“Discounted Value” means, with respect to the Called Principal of any Note, the amount obtained by discounting all Remaining Scheduled Payments with respect to such Called Principal from their respective scheduled due dates to the Settlement Date with respect to such Called Principal, in accordance with accepted financial practice and at a discount factor (applied on the same periodic basis as that on which interest on the Notes is payable) equal to the Reinvestment Yield with respect to such Called Principal.

“Reinvestment Yield” means, with respect to the Called Principal of any Note, .50% over the yield to maturity implied by (i) the yields reported as of 10:00 a.m. (New York City time) on the second Business Day preceding the Settlement Date with respect to such Called Principal, on the display designated as “Page PX1” (or such other display as may replace Page PX1 on Bloomberg Financial Markets (“Bloomberg”) or, if Page PX1 (or its successor screen on Bloomberg) is unavailable, the Telerate Access Service screen which corresponds most closely to Page PX1 for the most recently issued actively traded on-the-run U.S. Treasury securities having a maturity equal to the Remaining Average Life of such Called Principal as of such Settlement Date, or (ii) if such yields are not reported as of such time or the yields reported as of such time are not ascertainable (including by way of interpolation), the Treasury Constant Maturity Series Yields reported, for the latest day for which such yields have been so reported as of the second Business Day preceding the Settlement Date with respect to such Called Principal, in Federal Reserve Statistical Release H.15 (519) (or any comparable successor publication) for actively traded U.S. Treasury securities having a constant maturity equal to the Remaining Average Life of such Called Principal as of such Settlement Date. Such implied yield will be determined, if necessary, by (a) converting U.S. Treasury bill quotations to bond equivalent yields in accordance with accepted financial practice and (b) interpolating linearly between (1) the actively traded U.S. Treasury security with the maturity closest to and greater than such Remaining Average Life and (2) the actively traded U.S. Treasury security with the maturity closest to and less than such Remaining Average Life. The Reinvestment Yield shall be rounded to the number of decimal places as appears in the interest rate of the applicable Note.

“Remaining Average Life” means, with respect to any Called Principal, the number of years (calculated to the nearest one-twelfth year) obtained by dividing (i) such Called Principal into (ii) the sum of the products obtained by multiplying (a) the principal component of each Remaining Scheduled Payment with respect to such Called Principal by (b) the number of years (calculated to the nearest one-twelfth year) that will elapse between the Settlement Date with respect to such Called Principal and the scheduled due date of such Remaining Scheduled Payment.

“Remaining Scheduled Payments” means, with respect to the Called Principal of any Note, all payments of such Called Principal and interest thereon that would be due after the Settlement Date with respect to such Called Principal if no payment of such Called Principal were made prior to its scheduled due date, provided that if such Settlement Date is not a date on which interest payments are due to be made under the terms of the Notes, then the amount of the next succeeding scheduled interest payment will be reduced by the amount of interest accrued to such Settlement Date and required to be paid on such Settlement Date pursuant to Section 8.2 or 12.1.

“Settlement Date” means, with respect to the Called Principal of any Note, the date on which such Called Principal is to be prepaid pursuant to Section 8.2 or has become or is declared to be immediately due and payable pursuant to Section 12.1, as the context requires.

AFFIRMATIVE COVENANTS.

The Company covenants that so long as any of the Notes are outstanding:

9.1

Compliance with Law.

The Company will, and will cause each Subsidiary to, comply with all laws, ordinances or governmental rules or regulations to which each of them is subject, including ERISA, the USA Patriot Act and Environmental Laws, and will obtain and maintain in effect all licenses, certificates, permits, franchises and other governmental authorizations necessary to the ownership of their respective properties or to the conduct of their respective businesses, in each case to the extent necessary to ensure that non-compliance with such laws, ordinances or governmental rules or regulations or failures to obtain or maintain in effect such licenses, certificates, permits, franchises and other governmental authorizations could not, individually or in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect.

9.2

Insurance.

The Company will, and will cause each of its Subsidiaries to, maintain, with financially sound and reputable insurers, insurance with respect to their respective properties and businesses against such casualties and contingencies, of such types, on such terms and in such amounts (including deductibles, co-insurance and self-insurance, if adequate reserves are maintained with respect thereto) as is customary in the case of entities of established reputations engaged in the same or a similar business and similarly situated.

9.3

Maintenance of Properties.

The Company will, and will cause each of its Subsidiaries to, maintain and keep, or cause to be maintained and kept, their respective properties in good repair, working order and condition (other than ordinary wear and tear), so that the business carried on in connection therewith may be properly conducted at all times, provided that this Section shall not prevent the Company or any Subsidiary from discontinuing the operation and the maintenance of any of its properties if such discontinuance is desirable in the conduct of its business and the Company has concluded that such discontinuance could not, individually or in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect.

9.4

Payment of Taxes and Claims.

The Company will, and will cause each Subsidiary to, file all tax returns required to be filed in any jurisdiction and to pay and discharge all taxes shown to be due and payable on such returns and all other taxes, assessments, governmental charges, or levies imposed on them or any of their properties, assets, income or franchises, to the extent such taxes and assessments have become due and payable and before they have become delinquent and all claims for which sums have become due and payable that have or might become a Lien on properties or assets of the Company or any Subsidiary, provided that neither the Company nor any Subsidiary need pay any such tax or assessment or claims if (i) the amount, applicability or validity thereof is contested by the Company or such Subsidiary on a timely basis in good faith and in appropriate proceedings, and the Company or such Subsidiary has established adequate reserves therefor in accordance with GAAP on the books of the Company or such Subsidiary or (ii) the nonpayment of all such taxes, assessments and claims in the aggregate could not reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect.

9.5

Corporate Existence, etc.

Subject to Section 10.3, the Company will at all times preserve and keep in full force and effect its corporate existence. Subject to Sections 10.3 and 10.4, the Company will at all times preserve and keep in full force and effect the corporate (or, as applicable, limited liability company) existence of each Subsidiary (unless merged into the Company or a Wholly Owned Subsidiary) and all rights and franchises of the Company and its Subsidiaries unless, in the good faith judgment of the Company, the termination of or failure to preserve and keep in full force and effect such corporate existence, right or franchise could not, individually or in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect.

9.6

Subsidiary Guaranty; Release.

(a) Subsidiary Guarantors. The Company will cause each Subsidiary that becomes a borrower or guarantor of Indebtedness in respect of the Credit Agreement, within 10 Business Days of its becoming a borrower or a guarantor of Indebtedness in respect of the Credit Agreement, to become a party to the Subsidiary Guaranty, and shall deliver to each holder:

(i) an executed counterpart of a Joinder to the Subsidiary Guaranty;

(ii) copies of such directors’ or other authorizing resolutions, charter, bylaws and other constitutive documents of such Subsidiary as the Required Holders may reasonably request; and

(iii) an opinion of counsel reasonably satisfactory to the Required Holders covering the authorization, execution, delivery, compliance with law, no conflict with other documents, no consents and enforceability of the Subsidiary Guaranty against such Subsidiary in form and substance reasonably satisfactory to the Required Holders.

(b) Release of Subsidiary Guarantor. Each holder of a Note fully releases and discharges from the Subsidiary Guaranty a Subsidiary Guarantor, immediately and without any further act, upon such Subsidiary Guarantor being released and discharged as a borrower or guarantor under and in respect of the Credit Agreement; provided that (i) no Default or Event of Default exists or will exist immediately following such release and discharge; and (ii) at the time of such release and discharge, the Company delivers to each holder of Notes a certificate of a Responsible Officer certifying (x) that such Subsidiary Guarantor has been or is being released and discharged as a borrower or guarantor under and in respect of each of the Credit Agreement and (y) as to the matters set forth in clause (i). Any outstanding Indebtedness of a Subsidiary Guarantor shall be deemed to have been incurred by such Subsidiary Guarantor as of the date it is released and discharged from the Subsidiary Guaranty.

10.

NEGATIVE COVENANTS.

The Company covenants that so long as any of the Notes are outstanding:

10.1

Funded Debt.

The Company will not create, assume or incur additional Consolidated Funded Debt unless:

(a) Consolidated Net Income Available for Interest Charges in two of the three preceding fiscal years shall have exceeded 150% of the Pro Forma Annual Interest Charges of the Company and its Subsidiaries. If the proceeds from the additional Consolidated Funded Debt are to be used to acquire an operating company that will become a Subsidiary of the Company, Consolidated Net Income Available for Interest Charges will be determined as if such company was a Subsidiary of the Company during the three preceding fiscal years; and

(b) Consolidated Funded Debt of the Company, after giving effect to the additional Consolidated Funded Debt to be incurred and to the use of the proceeds therefrom, will not exceed 65% of the Total Capitalization of the Company.

10.2

Liens.

The Company will not, and the Company will not permit any Subsidiary to, create, assume or suffer to exist, directly or indirectly, any Lien on its properties or assets, whether now owned or hereafter acquired, or any interest therein or income or profits therefrom, without equally and ratably securing the Notes with a Lien ranking ratably with, and equal to, such secured indebtedness, except:

(a) Liens for taxes, assessments, or governmental charges or levies not yet due or which are being actively contested in good faith by appropriate proceedings;

(b) statutory Liens of landlords and Liens of carriers, warehousemen, mechanics and materialmen incurred in the ordinary course of business for sums not yet due or being contested in good faith and by appropriate proceedings promptly initiated and diligently conducted, if such reserve or other appropriate provision, if any, as shall be required by GAAP shall have been made therefor and if no material items of property would be lost, forfeited or materially damaged as a result of such contest;

(c) Liens incurred or deposits made in the ordinary course of business in connection with workmen’s compensation, unemployment insurance and other types of social security, or to secure the performance of tenders, statutory obligations, surety and appeal bonds, bids, leases, performance and return-of-money bonds and other similar obligations (exclusive of obligations for the payments of borrowed money);

(d) any judgment Lien, unless the judgment it secures shall not, within 60 days after the entry thereof, have been discharged or execution thereof stayed pending appeal, or shall not have been discharged within 60 days after the expiration of any such stay;

(e) leases or subleases granted to others in ordinary course of business and not interfering with the ordinary conduct of the business of the Company or any Subsidiary;

(f) easements, rights of way, restrictions and other similar charges or encumbrances incurred in the ordinary course of business and not interfering with the ordinary conduct of the business of the Company or any Subsidiary;

(g) Liens on the property or assets of any Subsidiary securing Indebtedness of such Subsidiary owing to the Company;

(h) Liens to secure the purchase price or construction cost of capital assets acquired by or constructed for the Company or any Subsidiary after the date hereof or existing on assets of the Company or any Subsidiary acquired at the time of acquisition provided that (i) each such Lien shall at all times be confined solely to the asset in question, (ii) the aggregate principal amount of Indebtedness secured by any such Lien shall not exceed 100% of the cost of the acquisition or construction of the asset subject thereto or the fair market value of such asset, whichever is lower and (iii) any such Lien on any property acquired, constructed or improved by the Company or any Subsidiary after the date of this Agreement shall be created or assumed contemporaneously with, or within 180 days after, such acquisition, or completion of such construction or improvement, or within six months thereafter pursuant to a firm commitment for financing arranged with a lender or investor within such 180 day period; and

(i) any other Liens or charges securing Indebtedness not exceeding $1,000,000 in the aggregate.

10.3

Mergers, Consolidations, etc.

The Company will not dissolve or otherwise dispose of all or substantially all of its assets, and will not consolidate with or merge into another corporation, partnership or other entity; provided that the Company may consolidate with or merge into a corporation or partnership organized and existing under the laws of one of the states of the United States, or sell or otherwise transfer to another domestic corporation or partnership all or substantially all of its assets and thereafter dissolve, if the surviving, resulting or transferee corporation or partnership, as the case may be (if other than the Company): (i) assumes all of the obligations of the Company under this Agreement and the Notes and further agrees that it will continue to operate its facilities as part of a system comprising a public utility regulated by the Public Service Commission of the State of Montana or another federal or state agency or authority; and (ii) has a net worth immediately subsequent to such acquisition, consolidation or merger equal to or greater than $10,000,000; (iii) immediately after such acquisition, consolidation or merger, is not in Default in the performance of any covenant or condition under this Agreement; and (iv) has caused to be delivered to each holder of any Notes an opinion of nationally recognized independent counsel, or other independent counsel reasonably satisfactory to the Required Holders, to the effect that all agreements or instruments effecting such assumption are enforceable in accordance with their terms and comply with the terms hereof. For purposes of this Section 10.3, the term “net worth” means the Consolidated assets of the Company and its Consolidated Subsidiaries, less the Consolidated liabilities of the Company and its Consolidated Subsidiaries as determined in accordance with GAAP.

No such conveyance, transfer or lease of substantially all of the assets of the Company shall have the effect of releasing the Company or any successor corporation or limited liability company that shall theretofore have become such in the manner prescribed in this Section 10.3 from its liability under this Agreement or the Notes.

10.4

Sale of Assets.

Except as limited by Section 10.6, the Company will not, and will not permit any Subsidiary to, directly or indirectly sell or otherwise dispose of any of its properties or assets (except (i) properties or assets disposed of in the ordinary course of business, (ii) properties or assets which the Company determines in good faith are no longer usable or of economic advantage in the conduct of any business by the Company or any Subsidiary or (iii) properties or assets transferred by the Company to a Subsidiary or by any Subsidiary to the Company or another Subsidiary) if, as a result of such sale or other disposition, the aggregate net book value of all properties and assets so disposed of after the date of this Agreement during the twelve-month period next preceding the date of such sale or other disposition would constitute more than 15% of the aggregate book value (on a consolidated basis for the Company and its Subsidiaries) of all Tangible Assets of the Company and its Subsidiaries; provided, however, that any such sale may be disregarded for the purposes of this Section 10.3 if the proceeds therefrom are (a) reinvested within twelve months in businesses related to the business of the Company or (b) applied to the payment or prepayment of the Notes or any other outstanding Indebtedness of the Company or any Subsidiary owed to a non-Affiliate ranking pari passu with or senior to the Notes.

For purposes of foregoing clause (b), if the Company elects to prepay the Notes, the Company shall offer to prepay (on a Business Day not less than 30 or more than 60 days following such offer) the Notes on a pro rata basis with any such other Indebtedness that the Company elects to include in such offer at a price of 100% of the principal amount of the Notes to be prepaid (without any Make-Whole Amount) together with interest accrued to the date of prepayment; provided that if any holder of the Notes declines or rejects such offer, the proceeds that would have been paid to such holder shall be offered pro rata to the other holders of the Notes that have accepted the offer. A failure by a holder of Notes to respond in writing not later than 10 Business Days prior to the proposed prepayment date to an offer to prepay made pursuant to this Section 10.4 shall be deemed to constitute an acceptance of such offer by such holder. Solely for the purposes of foregoing clause (b), whether or not such offers are accepted by the holders, the entire principal amount of the Notes subject thereto shall be deemed to have been prepaid.

10.5

Dividends.

The Company will not declare or pay any dividends (other than dividends payable solely in shares of Common Stock of the Company or solely in rights to purchase Capital Stock of the Company) on, or set apart any sum for the payment of any dividends on, or make any other distribution, by reduction of capital or otherwise, in respect of, any shares of any class of Capital Stock of the Company unless after giving effect to such action the aggregate amount of dividend payments and related distributions made in the immediately preceding 60-month period would not exceed Consolidated Net Income for such period.

10.6

Nature of Business.

The Company will not, and will not permit any Subsidiary to, engage in any business if, as a result, the general nature of the business in which the Company and its Subsidiaries, taken as a whole, would then be engaged would be substantially changed from the general nature of the business in which the Company and its Subsidiaries, taken as a whole, are engaged on the date of this Agreement as described in the Disclosure Documents. The Company will not transfer or sell a currently regulated business of the Company to its Subsidiaries.

10.7

Transactions with Affiliates.

The Company will not, and will not permit any Subsidiary to, enter into directly or indirectly any Material transaction or Material group of related transactions (including the purchase, lease, sale or exchange of properties of any kind or the rendering of any service) with any Affiliate (other than the Company or another Subsidiary), except in the ordinary course and pursuant to the reasonable requirements of the Company’s or such Subsidiary’s business and upon fair and reasonable terms no less favorable to the Company or such Subsidiary than would be obtainable in a comparable arm’s-length transaction with a Person not an Affiliate.

10.8

Terrorism Sanctions Regulations.

The Company will not and will not permit any Subsidiary to (a) become a Person described or designated in the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List of the Office of Foreign Assets Control or in Section 1 of the Anti Terrorism Order or (b) knowingly engage in any dealings or transactions with any such Person.

11.

EVENTS OF DEFAULT.

An “Event of Default” shall exist if any of the following conditions or events shall occur and be continuing:

(a) the Company defaults in the payment of any principal or Make-Whole Amount, if any, on any Note when the same becomes due and payable, whether at maturity or at a date fixed for prepayment or by declaration or otherwise; or

(b) the Company defaults in the payment of any interest on any Note for more than 10 days after the same becomes due and payable; or

(c) the Company defaults in the performance of or compliance with any term contained herein (other than those referred to in paragraphs (a) and (b) of this Section 11) and such default is not remedied within 30 days after the earlier of (i) a Responsible Officer obtaining actual knowledge of such default and (ii) the Company receiving written notice of such default from any holder of a Note (any such written notice to be identified as a “notice of default” and to refer specifically to this paragraph (c) of Section 11); or

(d) any representation or warranty made in writing by or on behalf of the Company or any Subsidiary Guarantor or by any officer of the Company or a Subsidiary Guarantor in this Agreement, the Subsidiary Guaranty or in any writing furnished in connection with the transactions contemplated hereby or thereby proves to have been false or incorrect in any material respect on the date as of which made; or

(e) (i) the Company or any Subsidiary is in default (as principal or as guarantor or other surety) in the payment of any principal of or premium or make-whole amount or interest on any Indebtedness that is outstanding in an aggregate principal amount of at least $1,000,000 beyond any period of grace provided with respect thereto, or (ii) the Company or any Subsidiary is in default in the performance of or compliance with any term of any evidence of any Indebtedness that is outstanding in an aggregate principal amount of at least $1,000,000 or of any mortgage, indenture or other agreement relating thereto or any other condition exists thereunder, and as a consequence of such default or condition such Indebtedness has become, or has been declared (or one or more Persons are entitled to declare such Indebtedness to be), due and payable before its stated maturity or before its regularly scheduled dates of payment, or (iii) as a consequence of the occurrence or continuation of any event or condition (other than the passage of time or the right of the holder of Indebtedness to convert such Indebtedness into equity interests), the Company or any Subsidiary has become obligated to purchase or repay Indebtedness before its regular maturity or before its regularly scheduled dates of payment in an aggregate outstanding principal amount of at least $1,000,000; or

(f) the Company or any Significant Subsidiary pursuant to or within the meaning of any Bankruptcy Law (i) commences a voluntary case, (ii) consents to the entry of an order for relief against it in an involuntary case, (iii) consents to the appointment of a Custodian of it or for all or substantially all of its property, or (iv) makes a general assignment for the benefit of its creditors; or

(g) a court of competent jurisdiction enters an order or decree under any Bankruptcy Law, and the order or decree remains unstayed and in effect for 60 days, that (i) is for relief against the Company or any Significant Subsidiary, in an involuntary case,(ii) appoints a Custodian of the Company, or any Significant Subsidiary, or for all or substantially all of the property of the Company, or any Significant Subsidiary, or (iii) orders the liquidation of the Company, or any Significant Subsidiary; or

(h) if (i) any Plan shall fail to satisfy the minimum funding standards of ERISA or the Code for any plan year or part thereof or a waiver of such standards or extension of any amortization period is sought or granted under section 412 of the Code, (ii) a notice of intent to terminate any Plan shall have been or is reasonably expected to be filed with the PBGC or the PBGC shall have instituted proceedings under ERISA section 4042 to terminate or appoint a trustee to administer any Plan or the PBGC shall have notified the Company or any ERISA Affiliate that a Plan may become a subject of any such proceedings, (iii) the aggregate “amount of unfunded benefit liabilities” (within the meaning of section 4001(a)(18) of ERISA) under all Plans determined in accordance with Title IV of ERISA, shall exceed $1,000,000, (iv) the Company or any ERISA Affiliate shall have incurred or is reasonably expected to incur any liability pursuant to Title I or IV of ERISA or the penalty or excise tax provisions of the Code relating to employee benefit plans, (v) the Company or any ERISA Affiliate withdraws from any Multiemployer Plan, or (vi) the Company or any Subsidiary establishes or amends any employee welfare benefit plan that provides post-employment welfare benefits in a manner that would increase the liability of the Company or any Subsidiary thereunder; and any such event or events described in clauses (i) through (vi) above, either individually or together with any other such event or events, could reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect; or

(i) the Subsidiary Guaranty ceases to be in full force and effect (except in accordance with and by reason of the provisions of Section 9.6(b)) or is declared to be null and void in whole or in material part by a court or other governmental or regulatory authority having jurisdiction or the validity or enforceability thereof shall be contested by the Company or any Subsidiary Guarantor or any of them renounces any of the same or denies that it has any or further liability thereunder.

As used in Section 11(h), the terms “employee benefit plan” and “employee welfare benefit plan” shall have the respective meanings assigned to such terms in section 3 of ERISA.

12.		REMEDIES ON DEFAULT, ETC.

12.1		Acceleration.

(a) If an Event of Default with respect to the Company described in paragraph (f) or (g) of Section 11, all the Notes then outstanding shall automatically become immediately due and payable.

(b) If any other Event of Default has occurred and is continuing, any holder or holders of at least 51% in principal amount of the Notes at the time outstanding may at any time at its or their option, by notice or notices to the Company, declare all the Notes then outstanding to be immediately due and payable.

(c) If any Event of Default described in paragraph (a) or (b) of Section 11 has occurred and is continuing, any holder or holders of Notes at the time outstanding affected by such Event of Default may at any time, at its or their option, by notice or notices to the Company, declare all the Notes held by it or them to be immediately due and payable.

Upon any Notes becoming due and payable under this Section 12.1, whether automatically or by declaration, such Notes will forthwith mature and the entire unpaid principal amount of such Notes, plus (x) all accrued and unpaid interest thereon (including, but not limited to, interest accrued thereon at the Default Rate) and (y) the Make-Whole Amount determined in respect of such principal amount (to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law), shall all be immediately due and payable, in each and every case without presentment, demand, protest or further notice, all of which are hereby waived. The Company acknowledges, and the parties hereto agree, that each holder of a Note has the right to maintain its investment in the Notes free from repayment by the Company (except as herein specifically provided for) and that the provision for payment of a Make-Whole Amount by the Company in the event that the Notes are prepaid or are accelerated as a result of an Event of Default, is intended to provide compensation for the deprivation of such right under such circumstances.

12.2

Other Remedies.

If any Default or Event of Default has occurred and is continuing, and irrespective of whether any Notes have become or have been declared immediately due and payable under Section 12.1, the holder of any Note at the time outstanding may proceed to protect and enforce the rights of such holder by an action at law, suit in equity or other appropriate proceeding, whether for the specific performance of any agreement contained herein or in any Note, or for an injunction against a violation of any of the terms hereof or thereof, or in aid of the exercise of any power granted hereby or thereby or by law or otherwise.

12.3

Rescission.

At any time after any Notes have been declared due and payable pursuant to clause (b) or (c) of Section 12.1, the holder or holders of at least 51% in principal amount of the Notes then outstanding, by written notice to the Company, may rescind and annul any such declaration and its consequences if (a) the Company has paid all overdue interest on the Notes, all principal of and Make-Whole Amount, if any, on any Notes that are due and payable and are unpaid other than by reason of such declaration, and all interest on such overdue principal and Make-Whole Amount, if any, and (to the extent permitted by applicable law) any overdue interest in respect of the Notes, at the Default Rate, (b) neither the Company nor any other Person shall have paid any amounts that have become due solely by reason of such declaration; (c) all Events of Default and Defaults, other than non-payment of amounts that have become due solely by reason of such declaration, have been cured or have been waived pursuant to Section 17, and (d) no judgment or decree has been entered for the payment of any monies due pursuant hereto or to the Notes. No rescission and annulment under this Section 12.3 will extend to or affect any subsequent Event of Default or Default or impair any right consequent thereon.

12.4

No Waivers or Election of Remedies, Expenses, etc.

No course of dealing and no delay on the part of any holder of any Note in exercising any right, power or remedy shall operate as a waiver thereof or otherwise prejudice such holder’s rights, powers or remedies. No right, power or remedy conferred by this Agreement or by any Note upon any holder thereof shall be exclusive of any other right, power or remedy referred to herein or therein or now or hereafter available at law, in equity, by statute or otherwise. Without limiting the obligations of the Company under Section 15, the Company will pay to the holder of each Note on demand such further amount as shall be sufficient to cover all costs and expenses of such holder incurred in any enforcement or collection under this Section 12, including reasonable attorneys’ fees, expenses and disbursements.

13.		REGISTRATION; EXCHANGE; SUBSTITUTION OF NOTES.

13.1		Registration of Notes.

The Company shall keep at its principal executive office a register for the registration and registration of transfers of Notes. The name and address of each holder of one or more Notes, each transfer thereof and the name and address of each transferee of one or more Notes shall be registered in such register. Prior to due presentment for registration of transfer, the Person in whose name any Note shall be registered shall be deemed and treated as the owner and holder thereof for all purposes hereof, and the Company shall not be affected by any notice or knowledge to the contrary. The Company shall give to any holder of a Note that is an Institutional Investor, promptly upon request therefor, a complete and correct copy of the names and addresses of all registered holders of Notes.

13.2

Transfer and Exchange of Notes.

Upon surrender of any Note to the Company at the address and to the attention of the designated officer (all as specified in Section 18(iii)), for registration of transfer or exchange (and in the case of a surrender for registration of transfer accompanied by a written instrument of transfer duly executed by the registered holder of such Note or such holder’s attorney duly authorized in writing and accompanied by the relevant name, address and other information for notices of each transferee of such Note or part thereof), the Company shall execute and deliver within 10 Business Days, at the Company’s expense (except as provided below), one or more new Notes (as requested by the holder thereof) in exchange therefor, in an aggregate principal amount equal to the unpaid principal amount of the surrendered Note. Each such new Note shall be payable to such Person as such holder may request and shall be substantially in the form of Exhibit 1.1. Each such new Note shall be dated and bear interest from the date to which interest shall have been paid on the surrendered Note or dated the date of the surrendered Note if no interest shall have been paid thereon. The Company may require payment of a sum sufficient to cover any stamp tax or governmental charge imposed in respect of any such transfer of Notes. Notes shall not be transferred in denominations of less than $500,000, provided that if necessary to enable the registration of transfer by a holder of its entire holding of Notes, one Note may be in a denomination of less than $500,000. Any transferee, by its acceptance of a Note registered in its name (or the name of its nominee), shall be deemed to have made the representations set forth in Sections 6.1 and 6.2.

13.3

Replacement of Notes.

Upon receipt by the Company at the address and to the attention of the designated officer (all as specified in Section 18(iii)) of evidence reasonably satisfactory to it of the ownership of and the loss, theft, destruction or mutilation of any Note (which evidence shall be, in the case of an Institutional Investor, notice from such Institutional Investor of such ownership and such loss, theft, destruction or mutilation), and

(a) in the case of loss, theft or destruction, of indemnity reasonably satisfactory to it (provided that if the holder of such Note is, or is a nominee for, an original Purchaser or another holder of a Note with a minimum net worth of at least $50,000,000 or a Qualified Institutional Buyer, such Person’s own unsecured agreement of indemnity shall be deemed to be satisfactory), or

(b) in the case of mutilation, upon surrender and cancellation thereof,

the Company at its own expense shall execute and deliver within 10 Business Days, in lieu thereof, a new Note, dated and bearing interest from the date to which interest shall have been paid on such lost, stolen, destroyed or mutilated Note or dated the date of such lost, stolen, destroyed or mutilated Note if no interest shall have been paid thereon.

14.		PAYMENTS ON NOTES.

14.1		Place of Payment.

Subject to Section 14.2, payments of principal, Make-Whole Amount, if any, and interest becoming due and payable on the Notes shall be made in New York, New York at the principal office of JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. in such jurisdiction. The Company may at any time, by notice to each holder of a Note, change the place of payment of the Notes so long as such place of payment shall be either the principal office of the Company in such jurisdiction or the principal office of a bank or trust company in such jurisdiction.

14.2

Home Office Payment.

So long as you or your nominee shall be the holder of any Note, and notwithstanding anything contained in Section 14.1 or in such Note to the contrary, the Company will pay all sums becoming due on such Note for principal, Make-Whole Amount, if any, and interest by the method and at the address specified for such purpose below your name in Schedule A, or by such other method or at such other address as you shall have from time to time specified to the Company in writing for such purpose, without the presentation or surrender of such Note or the making of any notation thereon, except that upon written request of the Company made concurrently with or reasonably promptly after payment or prepayment in full of any Note, you shall surrender such Note for cancellation, reasonably promptly after any such request, to the Company at its principal executive office or at the place of payment most recently designated by the Company pursuant to Section 14.1. Prior to any sale or other disposition of any Note held by you or your nominee you will, at your election, either endorse thereon the amount of principal paid thereon and the last date to which interest has been paid thereon or surrender such Note to the Company in exchange for a new Note or Notes pursuant to Section 13.2. The Company will afford the benefits of this Section 14.2 to any Institutional Investor that is the direct or indirect transferee of any Note purchased by you under this Agreement and that has made the same agreement relating to such Note as you have made in this Section 14.2.

15.		EXPENSES, ETC.

15.1		Transaction Expenses.

Whether or not the transactions contemplated hereby are consummated, the Company will pay all costs and expenses (including reasonable attorneys’ fees of one special counsel and, if reasonably required by the Required Holders, local or other counsel) incurred by you and each Other Purchaser or holder of a Note in connection with such transactions and in connection with any amendments, waivers or consents under or in respect of this Agreement or the Notes (whether or not such amendment, waiver or consent becomes effective), including, without limitation: (a) the costs and expenses incurred in enforcing or defending (or determining whether or how to enforce or defend) any rights under this Agreement or the Notes or in responding to any subpoena or other legal process or informal investigative demand issued in connection with this Agreement or the Notes, or by reason of being a holder of any Note, (b) the costs and expenses, including financial advisors’ fees, incurred in connection with the insolvency or bankruptcy of the Company or any Subsidiary or in connection with any work-out or restructuring of the transactions contemplated hereby and by the Notes and (c) the costs and expenses incurred in connection with the initial filing of this Agreement and all related documents and financial information with the SVO. The Company will pay, and will save you and each Other Purchaser or holder of a Note harmless from, all claims in respect of any fees, costs or expenses, if any, of brokers and finders (other than those, if any, retained by a Purchaser or other holder in connection with its purchase of the Notes).

15.2

Survival.

The obligations of the Company under this Section 15 will survive the payment or transfer of any Note, the enforcement, amendment or waiver of any provision of this Agreement or the Notes, and the termination of this Agreement.

16.

SURVIVAL OF REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES; ENTIRE AGREEMENT.

All representations and warranties contained herein shall survive the execution and delivery of this Agreement and the Notes, the purchase or transfer by you of any Note or portion thereof or interest therein and the payment of any Note, and may be relied upon by any subsequent holder of a Note, regardless of any investigation made at any time by or on behalf of you or any other holder of a Note. All statements contained in any certificate or other instrument delivered by or on behalf of the Company pursuant to this Agreement shall be deemed representations and warranties of the Company under this Agreement. Subject to the preceding sentence, this Agreement and the Notes embody the entire agreement and understanding between you and the Company and supersede all prior agreements and understandings relating to the subject matter hereof.

17.		AMENDMENT AND WAIVER.

17.1		Requirements.

This Agreement, the Notes and the Subsidiary Guaranty may be amended, and the observance of any term hereof or thereof may be waived (either retroactively or prospectively), with (and only with) the written consent of the Company and the Required Holders (and the Subsidiary Guarantors, in the case of the Subsidiary Guaranty), except that (a) no amendment or waiver of any of the provisions of Section 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 or 21 hereof, or any defined term (as it is used therein), will be effective as to you unless consented to by you in writing, and (b) no such amendment or waiver may, without the written consent of the holder of each Note at the time outstanding affected thereby, (i) subject to the provisions of Section 12 relating to acceleration or rescission, change the amount or time of any prepayment or payment of principal of, or reduce the rate or change the time of payment or method of computation of interest or of the Make-Whole Amount on, the Notes, (ii) change the percentage of the principal amount of the Notes the holders of which are required to consent to any such amendment or waiver, or (iii) amend any of Sections 8, 11(a), 11(b), 12, 17 or 20.

17.2

Solicitation of Holders of Notes.

(a) Solicitation. The Company will provide each holder of the Notes (irrespective of the amount of Notes then owned by it) with sufficient information, sufficiently far in advance of the date a decision is required, to enable such holder to make an informed and considered decision with respect to any proposed amendment, waiver or consent in respect of any of the provisions hereof or of the Notes. The Company will deliver executed or true and correct copies of each amendment, waiver or consent effected pursuant to the provisions of this Section 17 to each holder of outstanding Notes promptly following the date on which it is executed and delivered by, or receives the consent or approval of, the requisite holders of Notes.

(b) Payment. The Company will not directly or indirectly pay or cause to be paid any remuneration, whether by way of supplemental or additional interest, fee or otherwise, or grant any security, to any holder of Notes as consideration for or as an inducement to the entering into by any holder of Notes of any waiver or amendment of any of the terms and provisions hereof unless such remuneration is concurrently paid, or security is concurrently granted, on the same terms, ratably to each holder of Notes then outstanding that also enters into any such waiver or amendment of any of the terms and provisions hereto. If any such remuneration is paid to any holder of Notes that for any reason does not enter into any waiver or amendment of any of the terms and provisions hereof, such remuneration shall also be paid to all other non-consenting holders.

17.3

Binding Effect, etc.

Any amendment or waiver consented to as provided in this Section 17 applies equally to all holders of Notes and is binding upon them and upon each future holder of any Note and upon the Company without regard to whether such Note has been marked to indicate such amendment or waiver. No such amendment or waiver will extend to or affect any obligation, covenant, agreement, Default or Event of Default not expressly amended or waived or impair any right consequent thereon. No course of dealing between the Company and the holder of any Note nor any delay in exercising any rights hereunder or under any Note shall operate as a waiver of any rights of any holder of such Note. As used herein, the term “this Agreement” or “the Agreement” and references thereto shall mean this Note Purchase Agreement as it may from time to time be amended or supplemented.

17.4

Notes held by Company, etc.

Solely for the purpose of determining whether the holders of the requisite percentage of the aggregate principal amount of Notes then outstanding approved or consented to any amendment, waiver or consent to be given under this Agreement or the Notes, or have directed the taking of any action provided herein or in the Notes to be taken upon the direction of the holders of a specified percentage of the aggregate principal amount of Notes then outstanding, Notes directly or indirectly owned by the Company or any of its Affiliates shall be deemed not to be outstanding.

18.

NOTICES.

All notices and communications provided for hereunder shall be in writing and sent (a) by telecopy if the sender on the same day sends a confirming copy of such notice by a recognized overnight delivery service (charges prepaid), or (b) by registered or certified mail with return receipt requested (postage prepaid), or (c) by a recognized overnight delivery service (with charges prepaid). Any such notice must be sent:

(i) if to you or your nominee, to you or it at the address specified for such communications in Schedule A, or at such other address as you or it shall have specified to the Company in writing,

(ii) if to any other holder of any Note, to such holder at such address as such other holder shall have specified to the Company in writing, or

(iii) if to the Company, to the Company at its address set forth at the beginning hereof to the attention of Vice President Administration, or at such other address as the Company shall have specified to the holder of each Note in writing.

Notices under this Section 18 will be deemed given only when actually received.

19.

REPRODUCTION OF DOCUMENTS.

This Agreement and all documents relating hereto, including (a) consents, waivers and modifications that may hereafter be executed, (b) documents received by you at a Closing (except the Notes themselves), and (c) financial statements, certificates and other information previously or hereafter furnished to you, may be reproduced by you by any photographic, photostatic, electronic, digital or other similar process and you may destroy any original document so reproduced. The Company agrees and stipulates that, to the extent permitted by applicable law, any such reproduction shall be admissible in evidence as the original itself in any judicial or administrative proceeding (whether or not the original is in existence and whether or not such reproduction was made by you in the regular course of business) and any enlargement, facsimile or further reproduction of such reproduction shall likewise be admissible in evidence. This Section 19 shall not prohibit the Company or any other holder of Notes from contesting any such reproduction to the same extent that it could contest the original, or from introducing evidence to demonstrate the inaccuracy of any such reproduction.

20.

CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION.

For the purposes of this Section 20, “Confidential Information” means information delivered to any Purchaser by or on behalf of the Company or any Subsidiary in connection with the transactions contemplated by or otherwise pursuant to this Agreement that is proprietary in nature and that was clearly marked or labeled or otherwise adequately identified when received by you as being confidential information of the Company or such Subsidiary, provided that such term does not include information that (a) was publicly known or otherwise known to you prior to the time of such disclosure, (b) subsequently becomes publicly known through no act or omission by you or any Person acting on your behalf, (c) otherwise becomes known to you other than through disclosure by the Company or any Subsidiary, or (d) constitutes financial statements delivered to you under Section 7.1 that are otherwise publicly available. You will maintain the confidentiality of such Confidential Information in accordance with procedures adopted by you in good faith to protect confidential information of third parties delivered to you, provided that you may deliver or disclose Confidential Information to (i) your directors, officers, employees, agents, attorneys and affiliates (to the extent such disclosure reasonably relates to the administration of the investment represented by your Notes), (ii) your financial advisors and other professional advisors who agree to hold confidential the Confidential Information substantially in accordance with the terms of this Section 20, (iii) any other holder of any Note, (iv) any Institutional Investor to which you sell or offer to sell such Note or any part thereof or any participation therein (if such Person has agreed in writing prior to its receipt of such Confidential Information to be bound by the provisions of this Section 20), (v) any Person from which you offer to purchase any security of the Company (if such Person has agreed in writing prior to its receipt of such Confidential Information to be bound by the provisions of this Section 20), (vi) any federal or state regulatory authority having jurisdiction over you, (vii) the NAIC or the SVO or, in each case, any similar organization, or any nationally recognized rating agency that requires access to information about your investment portfolio or (viii) any other Person to which such delivery or disclosure may be necessary or appropriate (w) to effect compliance with any law, rule, regulation or order applicable to you, (x) in response to any subpoena or other legal process, (y) in connection with any litigation to which you are a party or (z) if an Event of Default has occurred and is continuing, to the extent you may reasonably determine such delivery and disclosure to be necessary or appropriate in the enforcement or for the protection of the rights and remedies under your Notes and this Agreement. Each holder of a Note, by its acceptance of a Note, will be deemed to have agreed to be bound by and to be entitled to the benefits of this Section 20 as though it were a party to this Agreement. On reasonable request by the Company in connection with the delivery to any holder of a Note of information required to be delivered to such holder under this Agreement or requested by such holder (other than a holder that is a party to this Agreement or its nominee), such holder will enter into an agreement with the Company embodying the provisions of this Section 20.

21.

SUBSTITUTION OF PURCHASER.

You shall have the right to substitute any one of your Affiliates as the purchaser of the Notes that you have agreed to purchase hereunder, by written notice to the Company, which notice shall be signed by both you and such Affiliate, shall contain such Affiliate’s agreement to be bound by this Agreement and shall contain a confirmation by such Affiliate of the accuracy with respect to it of the representations set forth in Section 6. Upon receipt of such notice, wherever the word “you” is used in this Agreement (other than in this Section 21), such word shall be deemed to refer to such Affiliate in lieu of you. In the event that such Affiliate is so substituted as a purchaser hereunder and such Affiliate thereafter transfers to you all of the Notes then held by such Affiliate, upon receipt by the Company of notice of such transfer, wherever the word “you” is used in this Agreement (other than in this Section 21), such word shall no longer be deemed to refer to such Affiliate, but shall refer to you, and you shall have all the rights of an original holder of the Notes under this Agreement.

22.		MISCELLANEOUS.

22.1		Successors and Assigns.

All covenants and other agreements contained in this Agreement by or on behalf of any of the parties hereto bind and inure to the benefit of their respective successors and assigns (including any subsequent holder of a Note) whether so expressed or not.

22.2

Payments Due on Non-Business Days.

Anything in this Agreement or the Notes to the contrary notwithstanding (but without limiting the requirement in Section 8.2 that the notice of any optional prepayment specify a Business Day as the date fixed for such prepayment), any payment of principal of or Make-Whole Amount or interest on any Note that is due on a date other than a Business Day shall be made on the next succeeding Business Day without including the additional days elapsed in the computation of the interest payable on such next succeeding Business Day; provided that if the maturity date of any Note is a date other than a Business Day, the payment otherwise due on such maturity date shall be made on the next succeeding Business Day and shall include the additional days elapsed in the computation of interest payable on such next succeeding Business Day.

22.3

Accounting Terms.

All accounting terms used herein that are not expressly defined in this Agreement have the meanings respectively given to them in accordance with GAAP. Except as otherwise specifically provided herein, (i) all computations made pursuant to this Agreement shall be made in accordance with GAAP and (ii) all financial statements shall be prepared in accordance with GAAP.

22.4

Severability.

Any provision of this Agreement that is prohibited or unenforceable in any jurisdiction shall, as to such jurisdiction, be ineffective to the extent of such prohibition or unenforceability without invalidating the remaining provisions hereof, and any such prohibition or unenforceability in any jurisdiction shall (to the fullest extent permitted by law) not invalidate or render unenforceable such provision in any other jurisdiction.

22.5

Construction.

Each covenant contained herein shall be construed (absent express provision to the contrary) as being independent of each other covenant contained herein, so that compliance with any one covenant shall not (absent such an express contrary provision) be deemed to excuse compliance with any other covenant. Where any provision herein refers to action to be taken by any Person, or which such Person is prohibited from taking, such provision shall be applicable whether such action is taken directly or indirectly by such Person.

For the avoidance of doubt, all Schedules and Exhibits attached to this Agreement shall be deemed to be a part hereof.

22.6

Counterparts.

This Agreement may be executed in any number of counterparts, each of which shall be an original but all of which together shall constitute one instrument. Each counterpart may consist of a number of copies hereof, each signed by less than all, but together signed by all, of the parties hereto.

22.7

Governing Law.

This Agreement shall be construed and enforced in accordance with, and the rights of the parties shall be governed by, the law of the state of New York excluding choice of law principles of the law of such state that would require the application of the laws of a jurisdiction other than such state.

22.8

Jurisdiction and Process; Waiver of Jury Trial.

(a) The Company irrevocably submits to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of any New York state or federal court sitting in the Borough of Manhattan, The City of New York, over any suit, action or proceeding arising out of or relating to this Agreement or the Notes. To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, the Company irrevocably waives and agrees not to assert, by way of motion, as a defense or otherwise, any claim that it is not subject to the jurisdiction of any such court, any objection that it may now or hereafter have to the laying of the venue of any such suit, action or proceeding brought in any such court and any claim that any such suit, action or proceeding brought in any such court has been brought in an inconvenient forum.

(b) The Company consents to process being served by or on behalf of any holder of Notes in any suit, action or proceeding of the nature referred to in Section 22.8(a) by mailing a copy thereof by registered or certified mail (or any substantially similar form of mail), postage prepaid, return receipt requested, to it at its address specified in Section 18 or at such other address of which such holder shall then have been notified pursuant to said Section. The Company agrees that such service upon receipt (i) shall be deemed in every respect effective service of process upon it in any such suit, action or proceeding and (ii) shall, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, be taken and held to be valid personal service upon and personal delivery to it. Notices hereunder shall be conclusively presumed received as evidenced by a delivery receipt furnished by the United States Postal Service or any reputable commercial delivery service.

(c) Nothing in this Section 22.8 shall affect the right of any holder of a Note to serve process in any manner permitted by law, or limit any right that the holders of any of the Notes may have to bring proceedings against the Company in the courts of any appropriate jurisdiction or to enforce in any lawful manner a judgment obtained in one jurisdiction in any other jurisdiction.

(d) THE PARTIES HERETO WAIVE TRIAL BY JURY IN ANY ACTION BROUGHT ON OR WITH RESPECT TO THIS AGREEMENT, THE NOTES OR ANY OTHER DOCUMENT EXECUTED IN CONNECTION HEREWITH OR THEREWITH.

If you are in agreement with the foregoing, please sign the form of agreement on a counterpart of this Agreement and return it to the Company, whereupon this Agreement shall become a binding agreement between you and the Company.


Very truly yours, ENERGY WEST, INCORPORATED
By:	/s/ David A. Cerotzke
	Name:	David A. Cerotzke
	Title:	President and Chief Executive Officer

S-1

This Agreement is accepted and
agreed to as of the date thereof.

ALLSTATE LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY


By:		/s/ John W. Kunkle

Name:		John W. Kunkle

By:		/s/ Jerry D. Zinkula

Name:		Jerry D. Zinkula

Authorized Signatories

S-2

CUNA MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY
CUNA MUTUAL INSURANCE SOCIETY
CUMIS INSURANCE SOCIETY, INC.
MEMBERS LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY


By:		MEMBERS Capital Advisors, Inc., acting as Investment Advisor

By:		/s/ John Petchler

Name:		John Petchler
Title:		Managing Director, Investments

S-3

SCHEDULE A

INFORMATION RELATING TO PURCHASERS


		Principal Amount of
Name and Address of Purchaser		Notes to be Purchased

Allstate Life Insurance Company		$6,500,000

(1)

All payments by Fedwire transfer of immediately available funds or ACH Payment, identifying the name of the Issuer, the Private Placement Number and the payment as principal, interest or premium, in the format as follows:

Bank: Citibank
ABA #: 021000089
Account Name: Allstate Life Insurance Company Collection Account — PP
Account #: 30547007
Reference: OBI [Insert 9-digit Private Placement No., Credit Name, Coupon, Maturity here], Payment Due Date (MM/DD/YY) and the type and amount of payment being made.
     For example:
     P _____ (Enter “P” and amount of principal being remitted,
     for example, ###-###-####.00) -
     I _____ (Enter “I” and amount of interest being remitted,
     for example, I225000.00)

(2)

All notices of scheduled payments and written confirmations of such wire transfer to be sent to:

Allstate Investments LLC
Investment Operations — Private Placements
3075 Sanders Road, STE G4A
Northbrook, IL 60062-7127
Telephone: (847) ###-###-#### Private Placements
Telecopy: (847) ###-###-####
E-Mail: ***@***

(3)

All financial reports, compliance certificates and all other written communications, including notice of prepayments, to be sent by email ( ***@***) or hard copy to:

Allstate Investments LLC
Private Placements Department
3075 Sanders Road, STE G3A
Northbrook, Illinois 60062-7127
Telephone: (847) ###-###-####
Telecopy: (847) ###-###-####

Schedule A

(4)

Address for delivery of Notes:

Citibank N.A.
333 West 34th Street
3rd Floor Securities Vault
New York, N.Y. 10001
Attn: Danny Reyes
For Allstate Life Insurance Company/Safekeeping Account No. 846627

(5)

E-mail Address for Electronic Delivery:

***@***

(6)

One manually executed set of closing documents and two conformed copies to be sent to:

Allstate Investments LLC
Attention: Kevin E. Trabaris
3075 Sanders Road, STE G5A
Northbrook, Illinois 60062-7127
Telephone: (847) ###-###-####

(7)

Tax ID No.: 36 ###-###-####

Schedule A

INFORMATION RELATING TO PURCHASERS


		Principal Amount of
Name and Address of Purchaser		Notes to be Purchased

CUNA MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY		$2,925,000

		Register Notes in Name of: TURNSPEED + CO

(1)		All payments by wire transfer of immediately available funds to:

State Street Bank
DTC/New York Window
55 Water Street
Plaza Level — 3rd Floor
New York, NY 10041
Account: State Street Bank
ABA #: 011000028
A/C: CUNA Mutual Life Insurance Company
A/C Number: ZT2A

with sufficient information to identify the source and application of such funds.

(2)

All notices of payments and written confirmations of such wire transfers:

State Street Bank
Attn: Brian Kershner
801 Pennsylvania
Kansas City, MO 64105
FAX: 816 ###-###-####
E-Mail: ***@***

With copy to:

CUNA Mutual Insurance Society
Attn: Rosie Pope
5910 Mineral Point Road
Madison, WI ###-###-####
FAX: 608 ###-###-####
E-Mail: ***@***

Schedule A

(3)

All other communications:

CUNA Mutual Insurance Society
Attn: Managing Director — Investments
5910 Mineral Point Road
Madison, WI ###-###-####
Telephone: 608 ###-###-####
FAX: 608 ###-###-####
E-Mail: ***@***

With copy to:

CUNA Mutual Insurance Society
Attn: Associate General Counsel
5910 Mineral Point Road
Madison, WI ###-###-####
Telephone: 608 ###-###-####
FAX: 608 ###-###-####
E-Mail: ***@***

(4)

Address for delivery of Notes to DTC:

DTC / New York Window
Attn: Robert Mendez
55 Water Street
New York, New York 10041

(5)

Tax ID No.: 42-0388260

Schedule A

INFORMATION RELATING TO PURCHASERS


Name and Address of Purchaser		Principal Amount of Notes to be Purchased

CUNA MUTUAL INSURANCE SOCIETY		$1,950,000

		Register Notes in Name of: TURNKEYS + CO

(1)		All payments by wire transfer of immediately available funds to:

State Street Bank
DTC/New York Window
55 Water Street
Plaza Level — 3rd Floor
New York, NY 10041
Account: State Street Bank
ABA #: 011000028
A/C: CUNA Mutual Insurance Society
A/C Number: ZT1E

with sufficient information to identify the source and application of such funds.

(2)

All notices of payments and written confirmations of such wire transfers:

Schedule A

(3)

All other communications:

(4)

Address for delivery of Notes to DTC:

DTC / New York Window
Attn: Robert Mendez
55 Water Street
New York, New York 10041

(5)

Tax ID No.: 39-0230590

Schedule A

INFORMATION RELATING TO PURCHASERS


		Principal Amount of
Name and Address of Purchaser		Notes to be Purchased

CUMIS INSURANCE SOCIETY		$975,000

		Register Notes in Name of: TURNJETTY + CO

(1)		All payments by wire transfer of immediately available funds to:

State Street Bank
DTC/New York Window
55 Water Street
Plaza Level — 3rd Floor
New York, NY 10041
Account: State Street Bank
ABA #: 011000028
A/C: CUMIS Insurance Society
A/C Number: ZT1I

with sufficient information to identify the source and application of such funds.

(2)

All notices of payments and written confirmations of such wire transfers:

Schedule A

(3)

All other communications:

(4)

Address for delivery of Notes to DTC:

DTC / New York Window
Attn: Robert Mendez
55 Water Street
New York, New York 10041

(5)

Tax ID No.: 39-0972608

Schedule A

INFORMATION RELATING TO PURCHASERS


		Principal Amount of
Name and Address of Purchaser		Notes to be Purchased

MEMBERS LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY		$650,000

		Register Notes in Name of: TURNLAUNCH + CO

(1)		All payments by wire transfer of immediately available funds to:

State Street Bank
DTC/New York Window
55 Water Street
Plaza Level — 3rd Floor
New York, NY 10041
Account: State Street Bank
ABA #: 011000028
A/C: Members Life Insurance Company
A/C Number: ZT1J

with sufficient information to identify the source and application of such funds.

(2)

All notices of payments and written confirmations of such wire transfers:

Schedule A

(3)

All other communications:

(4)

Address for delivery of Notes to DTC:

DTC / New York Window
Attn: Robert Mendez
55 Water Street
New York, New York 10041

(5)

Tax ID No.: 39-1236386

Schedule A

SCHEDULE B

DEFINED TERMS

As used herein, the following terms have the respective meanings set forth below or set forth in the Section hereof following such term:

“Affiliate” means, at any time, and with respect to any Person, (a) any other Person that at such time directly or indirectly through one or more intermediaries Controls, or is Controlled by, or is under common Control with, such first Person, and, with respect to the Company, shall include (b) any Person beneficially owning or holding, directly or indirectly, 10% or more of any class of voting or equity interests of the Company or any Subsidiary or any corporation of which the Company and its Subsidiaries beneficially own or hold, in the aggregate, directly or indirectly, 10% or more of any class of voting or equity interests. As used in this definition, “Control” means the possession, directly or indirectly, of the power to direct or cause the direction of the management and policies of a Person, whether through the ownership of voting securities, by contract or otherwise. Unless the context otherwise clearly requires, any reference to an “Affiliate” is a reference to an Affiliate of the Company.

“Anti-Terrorism Order” means Executive Order 13224 of September 23, 2001, Blocking Property and Prohibiting Transactions With Persons Who Commit, Threaten to Commit, or Support Terrorism (66 Fed. Reg. 49079 (2001)).

“Bankruptcy Law” means Title 11, U.S. Code or any similar Federal and State law for the relief of debtors.

“Business Day” means any day other than a Saturday, a Sunday or a day on which commercial banks in New York City are required or authorized to be closed.

“Capitalized Lease” means any lease of property (real, personal or mixed) which in accordance with GAAP is required to be capitalized on a balance sheet of the lessee.

“Capitalized Lease Obligation” means at any time, the aggregate amount included as a liability on the balance sheet of the lessee with respect to the present value of the minimum rental commitment under a Capitalized Lease of the lessee.

“Capital Stock” means any and all shares, interests, participations or other equivalents (however designated) of corporate stock.

“Change of Control” means an event or series of events by which any person or “group” (within the meaning of Sections 13(d) and 14(d)(2) of the Exchange Act) (such person or persons hereinafter referred to as an “Acquiring Person”) becomes the “beneficial owner” (as defined in Rule 13d-3 under the Exchange Act), directly or indirectly, of more than 50% of the voting power of the then outstanding Voting Stock of the Company; provided that, notwithstanding the foregoing, a “Change in Control” shall not be deemed to have occurred if the Company (or the Acquiring Person if either (x) the Company is no longer in existence or (y) the Acquiring Person has acquired all or substantially all of the assets thereof) shall have an Investment Grade Rating immediately following such Acquiring Person becoming the “beneficial owner” or consummating such acquisition.

Schedule B

“Closing” is defined in Section 3.

“Code” means the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended from time to time, and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder from time to time.

“Common Stock” means the common stock, par value $0.15 per share, of the Company as the same exists at the date of this Agreement or as such stock shall be constituted from time to time.

“Company” means Energy West, Incorporated, a Montana corporation.

“Confidential Information” is defined in Section 20.

“Consolidated” when used in conjunction with any other defined term means the aggregate amount of the items included within the defined term of the Company and any Subsidiary (provided, however, that in the case of a Subsidiary, the amount of the items included within the defined term of such Subsidiary shall be calculated only with respect to the Company’s percentage ownership interest in such Subsidiary) on a consolidated basis eliminating inter-company items.

“Consolidated Net Income” for any period means the aggregate of the net income or loss of the Company and its Subsidiaries for such period after eliminating all inter-company items and portions of earnings properly attributable to minority interests, if any, in shares of capital stock of such Subsidiaries, and after eliminating any extraordinary gains or losses on the sale or other disposition of investments, fixed assets or capital assets, and any tax deductions or credits on account of such excluded gains or losses, all computed in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles.

“Consolidated Net Income Available for Interest Charges” for any period means Consolidated Net Income for such period, plus (without duplication) all amounts deducted in the computation thereof on account of (i) Interest Charges on Consolidated Indebtedness, and (ii) taxes in respect of income and excess profits.

“Control Event” means:

(a) the execution by the Company or any of its Subsidiaries or Affiliates of any agreement with respect to any proposed transaction or event or series of transactions or events that, individually or in the aggregate, may reasonably be expected to result in a Change of Control, or

(b) the execution of any written agreement that, when fully performed by the parties thereto, would result in a Change of Control.

Schedule B

“Credit Agreement” means the Credit Agreement dated as of June 29, 2007 by and among Energy West, Incorporated, various financial institutions and LaSalle Bank National Association, as Agent, as such agreement may be amended, restated, supplemented, modified, refinanced, extended or replaced.

“Custodian” means any receiver, trustee, assignee, liquidator or similar official under any Bankruptcy Law.

“Default” means an event or condition the occurrence or existence of which would, with the lapse of time or the giving of notice or both, become an Event of Default.

“Default Rate” means that rate of interest that is the greater of (i) 2% per annum above the rate of interest stated in clause (a) of the first paragraph of the Notes or (ii) 2% over the rate of interest publicly announced by JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. as its “base” or “prime” rate.

“Deferred Income Taxes” means all taxes in respect of income and excess profits not due within one year from the date of accrual thereof in accordance with GAAP.

“Disclosure Documents” is defined in Section 5.3.

“Environmental Laws” means any and all Federal, state, local, and foreign statutes, laws, regulations, ordinances, rules, judgments, orders, decrees, permits, concessions, grants, franchises, licenses, agreements or governmental restrictions relating to pollution and the protection of the environment or the release of any materials into the environment, including those related to Hazardous Materials.

“ERISA” means the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended from time to time, and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder from time to time in effect.

“ERISA Affiliate” means any trade or business (whether or not incorporated) that is treated as a single employer together with the Company under section 414 of the Code.

“Event of Default” is defined in Section 11.

“Exchange Act” means the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.

“Form 10-K” is defined in Section 7.1(b).

“Form 10-Q” is defined in Section 7.1(a).

“Funded Debt” means without duplication (i) all Indebtedness maturing one year or more from the date of the creation thereof and (ii) all Indebtedness under any revolving credit facility measured at its lowest amount outstanding during any 30 consecutive day period within the prior twelve months. Deferred Income Taxes do not constitute Funded Debt.

Schedule B

“Funding Instructions” is defined in Section 3.

“GAAP” means generally accepted accounting principles as in effect from time to time in the United States of America.

“Governmental Authority” means

(a) the government of

(i) the United States of America or any state or other political subdivision thereof, or

(ii) any jurisdiction in which the Company or any Subsidiary conducts all or any part of its business, or which asserts jurisdiction over any properties of the Company or any Subsidiary, or

(b) any entity exercising executive, legislative, judicial, regulatory or administrative functions of, or pertaining to, any such government.

“Guaranty” of a Person means any guaranty, assumption, endorsement, or contingent agreement to purchase or provide funds for the payment of, or otherwise become liable upon, the obligation of any other Person, or any agreement to maintain the net worth or working capital or other financial condition of any other Person or any other assurance to any creditor of any Person against loss, including any comfort letter, operating agreement, take-or-pay contract, or the contingent liability of such Person in connection with any application for a letter of credit, excepting from the foregoing contingent liabilities the amount of such Person’s obligations with respect to bonds, deposits, standby letters of credit or other evidences of contingent obligations given to governmental entities in compliance with local and state requirements that have not been drawn or called upon.

“Hazardous Material” means any and all pollutants, toxic or hazardous wastes or other substances that might pose a hazard to health and safety, the removal of which may be required or the generation, manufacture, refining, production, processing, treatment, storage, handling, transportation, transfer, use, disposal, release, discharge, spillage, seepage or filtration of which is or shall be restricted, prohibited or penalized by any applicable law including, but not limited to, asbestos, urea formaldehyde foam insulation, polychlorinated biphenyls, petroleum, petroleum products, lead based paint, radon gas or similar restricted, prohibited or penalized substances.

“holder” means, with respect to any Note, the Person in whose name such Note is registered in the register maintained by the Company pursuant to Section 13.1.

“INHAM Exemption” is defined in Section 6.2(e).

“Indebtedness” with respect to any Person means, at any time, without duplication

Schedule B

(a) all amounts in respect of borrowed money (excluding capital stock, earned and capital surplus and general contingency reserves) which would be shown on the liabilities side of a balance sheet of such Person prepared in accordance with GAAP;

(b) all indebtedness secured by any mortgage, pledge, lien, security interest or conditional sale or other title retention agreement to which any property or asset owned or held by such Person is subject, whether or not the indebtedness secured thereby shall have been assumed;

(d) all Guaranties by such Person.

For the purpose of computing the Indebtedness of any Person, there shall be excluded any particular Indebtedness to the extent that, upon or prior to the maturity thereof, there shall have been deposited with the proper depository in trust the necessary funds, or evidences of such Indebtedness, if permitted by the instrument creating such Indebtedness, for the payment, redemption or satisfaction of such Indebtedness.

“Institutional Investor” means (a) any original purchaser of a Note, (b) any holder of $5,000,000 or more in aggregate principal amount of the Notes and (c) any bank, trust company, savings and loan association or other financial institution, any pension plan, any investment company, any insurance company, any broker or dealer, or any other similar financial institution or entity, regardless of legal form.

“Interest Charges” on any Indebtedness of any Person for any period, means all amounts which would, in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, be deducted in computing net income for such Person for such period on account of interest on such Indebtedness, including imputed interest in respect of Capitalized Lease Obligations and amortization of debt discount and expense.

“Investment Grade Rating” in respect of any Person means, at the time of determination, at least two of the following ratings of its senior, unsecured long-term indebtedness for borrowed money: (i) by Standard & Poor’s Rating Services, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies, or any successor thereof (“S&P”), “BBB-” or better, (ii) by Moody’s Investors Service, Inc., or any successor thereof (“Moody’s”), “Baa3” or better, or (iii) by another rating agency of recognized national standing, an equivalent or better rating.

“Lien” as applied to the property of any Person means any mortgage, lien, charge or encumbrance on, or security interest in, or pledge of, or conditional sale or other title retention agreement.

“Make-Whole Amount” is defined in Section 8.7.

Schedule B

“Material” means material in relation to the business, operations, affairs, financial condition, assets, properties or prospects of the Company and its Subsidiaries taken as a whole.

“Material Adverse Effect” means a material adverse effect on (a) the business, operations, financial condition, assets or properties of the Company and its Subsidiaries taken as a whole, (b) the ability of the Company to perform its obligations under this Agreement or the Notes, (c) the ability of any Subsidiary Guarantor to perform its obligations under the Subsidiary Guaranty, or (d) the validity or enforceability of this Agreement, the Notes or the Subsidiary Guaranty.

“Multiemployer Plan” means any Plan that is a “multiemployer plan” (as such term is defined in section 4001(a)(3) of ERISA).

“NAIC” means the National Association of Insurance Commissioners or any successor thereto.

“NAIC Annual Statement” is defined in Section 6.2(a).

“Notes” is defined in Section 1.

“Officer’s Certificate” means a certificate of a Senior Financial Officer or of any other officer of the Company whose responsibilities extend to the subject matter of such certificate.

“Other Purchasers” is defined in Section 2.

“PBGC” means the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation referred to and defined in ERISA or any successor thereto.

“Person” means an individual or a corporation, partnership, trust, incorporated or unincorporated association, joint venture, joint stock company, limited liability company, government (or an agency or political subdivision thereof) or other entity of any kind.

“Plan” means an “employee benefit plan” (as defined in section 3(3) of ERISA) that is or, within the preceding five years, has been established or maintained, or to which contributions are or, within the preceding five years, have been made or required to be made, by the Company or any ERISA Affiliate or with respect to which the Company or any ERISA Affiliate may have any liability.

“Pro Forma Annual Interest Charges” means as of any date, the net amount (without duplication) of (i) Interest Charges in respect of Consolidated Indebtedness outstanding on such date, after giving effect to any Consolidated Indebtedness being retired out of the proceeds of any Indebtedness being created, assumed, incurred or guaranteed on such date, for the period of 12 full calendar months next preceding such date, plus (ii) Interest Charges in respect of any Indebtedness being created, assumed, incurred or guaranteed on such date for the period of 12 full calendar months next succeeding such date.

Schedule B

“property” or “properties” means, unless otherwise specifically limited, real or personal property of any kind, tangible or intangible, choate or inchoate.

“Proposed Prepayment Date” is defined in Section 8.3(c).

“PTE” is defined in Section 6.2(a).

“Purchaser” means each purchaser listed in Schedule A.

“QPAM Exemption” is defined in Section 6.2(d).

“Qualified Institutional Buyer” means any Person that is a “qualified institutional buyer” within the meaning of such term as set forth in Rule 144A(a)(1) under the Securities Act.

“Required Holders” means, at any time, the holders of at least 51% in principal amount of the Notes at the time outstanding (exclusive of Notes then owned by the Company or any of its Affiliates).

“Responsible Officer” means any Senior Financial Officer and any other officer of the Company with responsibility for the administration of the relevant portion of this Agreement, including the President and Chief Executive Officer, the Chief Financial Officer, the Vice President Administration or the Controller.

“SEC” shall mean the Securities and Exchange Commission of the United States, or any successor thereto.

“Securities Act” means the Securities Act of 1933, as amended from time to time.

“Senior Financial Officer” means the chief financial officer, principal accounting officer, treasurer, Vice President Administration or controller of the Company.

“Source” is defined in Section 6.2.

“Significant Subsidiary” means any Subsidiary within the meaning of Rule 12b-2 under the Exchange Act, as the same may be amended from time to time.

“Subsidiary” means any corporation, partnership, association, limited liability company, or other business entity of which 50% or more of the Voting Stock or other equity interests, as appropriate, is at the time directly or indirectly owned by the Company and one or more other Subsidiaries, or by one or more other Subsidiaries.

“Stockholders’ Equity” means, as applied to any Person on any date of determination, the amount which would be shown on the balance sheet of such Person as the difference between such Person’s total assets and total liabilities, which amount will include capital stock, capital surplus and retained earnings, all as calculated in accordance with GAAP.

Schedule B

“Subsidiary Guarantor” is defined in Section 1.2.

“Subsidiary Guaranty” is defined in Section 1.2.

“SVO” means the Securities Valuation Office of the NAIC or any successor to such Office.

“Tangible Assets” means, as applied to any Person at any date, all assets other than those which would be treated as intangibles under GAAP, including, without limitation, as intangibles such items as good will, trademark, trade names, service marks, brand names, copyrights, patents, licenses and rights with respect to the foregoing, unamortized debt discount and expense, and organization expenses.

“this Agreement” or “the Agreement” is defined in Section 17.3.

“Total Capitalization” means as applied to any Person on any date of determination, the sum of such Person’s Funded Debt and Stockholder’s Equity.

“USA Patriot Act” means United States Public Law 107-56, Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism (USA PATRIOT ACT) Act of 2001, as amended from time to time, and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder from time to time in effect.

“Voting Stock” means, with respect to any Person, any class of shares of stock or other equity interests of such Person having general voting power under ordinary circumstances to elect a majority of the board of directors or other managing entities, as appropriate, of such Person (irrespective of whether or not at the time stock of any other class or classes or other equity interests of such Person shall have or might have voting power by reason of the happening of any contingency).

“Wholly Owned Subsidiary” means, at any time, any Subsidiary 100% of all of the Voting Stock (except directors’ qualifying shares and other minority shares held solely to satisfy organization requirements of the applicable jurisdiction) and voting interests of which are owned by any one or more of the Company and its Wholly Owned Subsidiaries at such time.

Schedule B

SCHEDULE 5.4

ORGANIZATION AND OWNERSHIP OF SHARES OF SUBSIDIARIES


Name	Jurisdiction	% Owned

Energy West Resources, Inc.	Montana		100.00	%
Energy West Propane, Inc.	Montana		100.00	%
Energy West Development, Inc.	Montana		100.00	%

Directors and Senior Officers

Directors:

W.E. ‘Gene’ Argo
Steve A. Calabrese
David A. Cerotzke
Mark D. Grossi
Richard M. Osborne
James R. Smail
Thomas J. Smith
James E. Sprague

Senior Officers:

David A. Cerotzke, President and Chief Executive Officer
Wade F. Brooksby, Chief Financial Officer and Corporate Secretary
Kevin Degenstein, Senior Vice-President Operations
Jed Henthorne, Vice-President Administration

Schedule 5.4

SCHEDULE 5.14

USE OF PROCEEDS

Proceeds of the Notes will be used principally to repay Indebtedness outstanding under its outstanding credit agreement (that is being terminated on the date of Closing and replaced by the Credit Agreement) that was incurred to repay:

	1.		Series 1997 notes — principal outstanding $7,830,000; total payoff: $7,870,781.25

	2.		Series 1993 notes — principal outstanding $4,290,000; total payoff: $4,312,518.76

	3.		Cascade County, Montana Series 1992B Industrial Development Revenue Obligations — principal outstanding $775,000; total payoff: $799,895.00

Schedule 5.14

SCHEDULE 5.15

EXISTING INDEBTEDNESS

The following is our long-term indebtedness as of June 21, 2007 (See Schedule 5.14).

	1.		Series 1997 notes — principal outstanding $7,830,000; total payoff: $7,870,781.25

	2.		Series 1993 notes — principal outstanding $4,290,000; total payoff: $4,312,518.76

	3.		Cascade County, Montana Series 1992B Industrial Development Revenue Obligations — principal outstanding $775,000; total payoff: $799,895.00

Schedule 5.15

SCHEDULE 5.18

ENVIRONMENTAL MATTERS

The Company owns property on which it operated a manufactured gas plant from 1909 to 1928. The site is currently used as an office facility for Company field personnel and a storage location for certain equipment and materials. The coal gasification process utilized in the plant resulted in the production of certain by-products which have been classified by the federal government and the State of Montana as hazardous to the environment.

The Company has completed its remediation of soil contaminants and in April of 2002 received a closure letter from the Montana Department of Environmental Quality (“MDEQ”) approving the completion of such remediation program. The Company and its consultants continue to work with the MDEQ relating to the remediation plan for water contaminants. The MDEQ has established regulations that allow water contaminants at a site to exceed standards if it is technically impracticable to achieve them. Although the MDEQ has not established guidance to attain a technical waiver, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) has developed such guidance. The EPA guidance lists factors which render remediation technically impracticable. The Company has filed a request for a waiver respecting compliance with certain standards with the MDEQ.

Schedule 5.18

EXHIBIT 1.1

[FORM OF SENIOR NOTE]

ENERGY WEST, INCORPORATED

6.16% Senior Unsecured Note due June 29, 2017



No. R-[___]		[Date]
$[_____]		PPN: 29274A A*6

FOR VALUE RECEIVED, the undersigned, ENERGY WEST, INCORPORATED (herein called the “Company”), a corporation organized and existing under the laws of the state of Montana promises to pay to [_____], or registered assigns, the principal sum of $[_____] on June 29, 2017, with interest (computed on the basis of a 360-day year of twelve 30-day months) (a) on the unpaid balance thereof at the rate of 6.16% per annum from the date hereof, payable semiannually, on June 29 and December 29 in each year, commencing with the June 29 or December 29 next succeeding the date hereof, until the principal hereof shall have become due and payable, and (b) to the extent permitted by law, at a rate per annum from time to time equal to the greater of (i) 8.16% or (ii) 2% over the rate of interest publicly announced by JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. from time to time in New York, New York as its “base” or “prime” rate, on any overdue payment of interest and, during the continuance of an Event of Default, on the unpaid balance hereof and on any overdue payment of any Make-Whole Amount, payable semiannually as aforesaid (or, at the option of the registered holder hereof, on demand).

Payments of principal of, interest on and any Make-Whole Amount with respect to this Note are to be made in lawful money of the United States of America at the principal office of JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. in New York, New York or at such other place as the Company shall have designated by written notice to the holder of this Note as provided in the Note Purchase Agreement referred to below.

This Note is one of a series of Senior Notes (herein called the “Notes”) issued pursuant to the Note Purchase Agreement dated as of June 29, 2007 (as from time to time amended, the “Note Purchase Agreement”), between the Company and the respective Purchasers named therein and is entitled to the benefits thereof. Each holder of this Note will be deemed, by its acceptance hereof, (i) to have agreed to the confidentiality provisions set forth in Section 20 of the Note Purchase Agreement and (ii) to have made the representation set forth in Section 6.2 of the Note Purchase Agreement. Unless otherwise indicated, capitalized terms used in this Note shall have the respective meanings ascribed to such terms in the Note Purchase Agreement.

This Note is a registered Note and, as provided in the Note Purchase Agreement, upon surrender of this Note for registration of transfer, duly endorsed, or accompanied by a written instrument of transfer duly executed, by the registered holder hereof or such holder’s attorney duly authorized in writing, a new Note for a like principal amount will be issued to, and registered in the name of, the transferee. Prior to due presentment for registration of transfer, the Company may treat the Person in whose name this Note is registered as the owner hereof for the purpose of receiving payment and for all other purposes, and the Company will not be affected by any notice to the contrary.

Exhibit 1.1

This Note is subject to optional prepayment, in whole or from time to time in part, at the times and on the terms specified in the Note Purchase Agreement, but not otherwise.

If an Event of Default occurs and is continuing, the principal of this Note may be declared or otherwise become due and payable in the manner, at the price (including any applicable Make-Whole Amount) and with the effect provided in the Note Purchase Agreement.

This Note shall be construed and enforced in accordance with, and the rights of the parties shall be governed by, the law of the state of New York excluding choice-of-law principles of the law of such state that would require the application of the laws of a jurisdiction other than such state.


ENERGY WEST, INCORPORATED
By:
	Name:	David A. Cerotzke
	Title:	President and Chief Executive Officer

Exhibit 1.1

EXHIBIT 1.2

[FORM OF SUBSIDIARY GUARANTY]

THIS GUARANTY (this “Guaranty”) dated as of June 29, 2007 is made by the undersigned (each, a “Guarantor”), in favor of the holders from time to time of the Notes hereinafter referred to, including each purchaser named in the Note Purchase Agreement hereinafter referred to, and their respective successors and assigns (collectively, the “Holders” and each individually, a “Holder”).

W I T N E S S E T H:

WHEREAS, Energy West, Incorporated a Montana corporation (the “Company”), and the initial Holders have entered into a Note Purchase Agreement dated as of June 29, 2007 (the Note Purchase Agreement as amended, restated or otherwise modified from time to time in accordance with its terms and in effect, the “Note Purchase Agreement”);

WHEREAS, the Note Purchase Agreement provides for the issuance by the Company of $13,000,000 aggregate principal amount of Notes (as defined in the Note Purchase Agreement);

WHEREAS, the Company directly or indirectly owns all or a substantial portion of the issued and outstanding capital stock of each Guarantor and, by virtue of such ownership and otherwise, each Guarantor will derive substantial benefits from the purchase by the Holders of the Company’s Notes;

WHEREAS, it is a condition precedent to the obligation of the Holders to purchase the Notes that each Guarantor shall have executed and delivered this Guaranty to the Holders; and

WHEREAS, each Guarantor desires to execute and deliver this Guaranty to satisfy the conditions described in the preceding paragraph;

NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the premises and other benefits to each Guarantor, and of the purchase of the Company’s Notes by the Holders, and for other good and valuable consideration, the receipt and sufficiency of which are acknowledged, each Guarantor makes this Guaranty as follows:

1) Definitions. Any capitalized terms not otherwise herein defined shall have the meanings attributed to them in the Note Purchase Agreement.

Exhibit 1.2

2) Guaranty. Each Guarantor, jointly and severally with each other Guarantor, unconditionally and irrevocably guarantees to the Holders the due, prompt and complete payment by the Company of the principal of, make-whole amount, if any, prepayment premium, if any, breakage amount, if any, and interest on, and each other amount due under, the Notes or the Note Purchase Agreement, when and as the same shall become due and payable (whether at stated maturity or by required or optional prepayment or by acceleration or otherwise) in accordance with the terms of the Notes and the Note Purchase Agreement (the Notes and the Note Purchase Agreement being sometimes hereinafter collectively referred to as the “Note Documents” and the amounts payable by the Company under the Note Documents, and all other monetary obligations of the Company thereunder (including any attorneys’ fees and expenses), being sometimes collectively hereinafter referred to as the “Obligations”). This Guaranty is a guaranty of payment and not just of collectibility and is in no way conditioned or contingent upon any attempt to collect from the Company or upon any other event, contingency or circumstance whatsoever. If for any reason whatsoever the Company shall fail or be unable duly, punctually and fully to pay such amounts as and when the same shall become due and payable, each Guarantor, without demand, presentment, protest or notice of any kind, will forthwith pay or cause to be paid such amounts to the Holders under the terms of such Note Documents, in lawful money of the United States, at the place specified in the Note Purchase Agreement, or perform or comply with the same or cause the same to be performed or complied with, together with interest (to the extent provided for under such Note Documents) on any amount due and owing from the Company. Each Guarantor, promptly after demand, will pay to the Holders the reasonable costs and expenses of collecting such amounts or otherwise enforcing this Guaranty, including, without limitation, the reasonable fees and expenses of counsel. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the right of recovery against each Guarantor under this Guaranty is limited to the extent it is judicially determined with respect to any Guarantor that entering into this Guaranty would violate Section 548 of the United States Bankruptcy Code or any comparable provisions of any state law, in which case such Guarantor shall be liable under this Guaranty only for amounts aggregating up to the largest amount that would not render such Guarantor’s obligations hereunder subject to avoidance under Section 548 of the United States Bankruptcy Code or any comparable provisions of any state law.

3) Guarantor’s Obligations Unconditional. The obligations of each Guarantor under this Guaranty shall be primary, absolute and unconditional obligations of each Guarantor, shall not be subject to any counterclaim, set-off, deduction, diminution, abatement, recoupment, suspension, deferment, reduction or defense based upon any claim each Guarantor or any other person may have against the Company or any other person, and to the full extent permitted by applicable law shall remain in full force and effect without regard to, and shall not be released, discharged or in any way affected by (other than a release of Guarantor herefrom pursuant to Section 9.6(b) of the Note Purchase Agreement), any circumstance or condition whatsoever (whether or not each Guarantor or the Company shall have any knowledge or notice thereof), including:

(a) any termination, amendment or modification of or deletion from or addition or supplement to or other change in any of the Note Documents or any other instrument or agreement applicable to any of the parties to any of the Note Documents;

(b) any furnishing or acceptance of any security, or any release of any security, for the Obligations, or the failure of any security or the failure of any person to perfect any interest in any collateral;

Exhibit 1.2

(c) any failure, omission or delay on the part of the Company to conform or comply with any term of any of the Note Documents or any other instrument or agreement referred to in paragraph (a) above, including, without limitation, failure to give notice to any Guarantor of the occurrence of a “Default” or an “Event of Default” under any Note Document;

(d) any waiver of the payment, performance or observance of any of the obligations, conditions, covenants or agreements contained in any Note Document, or any other waiver, consent, extension, indulgence, compromise, settlement, release or other action or inaction under or in respect of any of the Note Documents or any other instrument or agreement referred to in paragraph (a) above or any obligation or liability of the Company, or any exercise or non-exercise of any right, remedy, power or privilege under or in respect of any such instrument or agreement or any such obligation or liability;

(e) any failure, omission or delay on the part of any of the Holders to enforce, assert or exercise any right, power or remedy conferred on such Holder in this Guaranty, or any such failure, omission or delay on the part of such Holder in connection with any Note Document, or any other action on the part of such Holder;

(f) any voluntary or involuntary bankruptcy, insolvency, reorganization, arrangement, readjustment, assignment for the benefit of creditors, composition, receivership, conservatorship, custodianship, liquidation, marshaling of assets and liabilities or similar proceedings with respect to the Company, any Guarantor or to any other person or any of their respective properties or creditors, or any action taken by any trustee or receiver or by any court in any such proceeding;

(g) any discharge, termination, cancellation, frustration, irregularity, invalidity or unenforceability, in whole or in part, of any of the Note Documents or any other agreement or instrument referred to in paragraph (a) above or any term hereof;

(h) any merger or consolidation of the Company or any Guarantor into or with any other corporation, or any sale, lease or transfer of any of the assets of the Company or any Guarantor to any other person;

(i) any change in the ownership of any shares of capital stock of the Company or any change in the corporate relationship between the Company and any Guarantor, or any termination of such relationship;

(j) any release or discharge, by operation of law, of any Guarantor from the performance or observance of any obligation, covenant or agreement contained in this Guaranty; or

(k) any other occurrence, circumstance, happening or event whatsoever, whether similar or dissimilar to the foregoing, whether foreseen or unforeseen, and any other circumstance which might otherwise constitute a legal or equitable defense or discharge of the liabilities of a guarantor or surety or which might otherwise limit recourse against any Guarantor.

Exhibit 1.2

4) Full Recourse Obligations. The obligations of each Guarantor set forth herein constitute the full recourse obligations of such Guarantor enforceable against it to the full extent of all its assets and properties.

5) Waiver. Each Guarantor unconditionally waives, to the extent permitted by applicable law, (a) notice of any of the matters referred to in Section 3, (b) notice to such Guarantor of the incurrence of any of the Obligations, notice to such Guarantor or the Company of any breach or default by such Guarantor or the Company with respect to any of the Obligations or any other notice that may be required, by statute, rule of law or otherwise, to preserve any rights of the Holders against such Guarantor, (c) presentment to or demand of payment from the Company or the Guarantor with respect to any amount due under any Note Document or protest for nonpayment or dishonor, (d) any right to the enforcement, assertion or exercise by any of the Holders of any right, power, privilege or remedy conferred in the Note Purchase Agreement or any other Note Document or otherwise, (e) any requirement of diligence on the part of any of the Holders, (f) any requirement to exhaust any remedies or to mitigate the damages resulting from any default under any Note Document, (g) any notice of any sale, transfer or other disposition by any of the Holders of any right, title to or interest in the Note Purchase Agreement or in any other Note Document and (h) any other circumstance whatsoever which might otherwise constitute a legal or equitable discharge, release (other than a release of such Guarantor herefrom pursuant to Section 9.6(b) of the Note Purchase Agreement) or defense of a guarantor or surety (other than the defense of payment) or which might otherwise limit recourse against such Guarantor.

6) Subrogation, Contribution, Reimbursement or Indemnity. Until all Obligations have been indefeasibly paid in full, each Guarantor agrees not to take any action pursuant to any rights which may have arisen in connection with this Guaranty to be subrogated to any of the rights (whether contractual, under the United States Bankruptcy Code, as amended, including Section 509 thereof, under common law or otherwise) of any of the Holders against the Company or against any collateral security or guaranty or right of offset held by the Holders for the payment of the Obligations. Until all Obligations have been indefeasibly paid in full, each Guarantor agrees not to take any action pursuant to any contractual, common law, statutory or other rights of reimbursement, contribution, exoneration or indemnity (or any similar right) from or against the Company which may have arisen in connection with this Guaranty. So long as any Obligations remain outstanding, if any amount shall be paid by or on behalf of the Company to any Guarantor on account of any of the rights waived in this Section 6, such amount shall be held by such Guarantor in trust, segregated from other funds of such Guarantor, and shall, forthwith upon receipt by such Guarantor, be turned over to the Holders (duly endorsed by such Guarantor to the Holders, if required), to be applied against the Obligations, whether matured or unmatured, in such order as the Holders may determine. The provisions of this Section 6 shall survive the term of this Guaranty and the payment in full of the Obligations.

7) Effect of Bankruptcy Proceedings, etc. This Guaranty shall continue to be effective or be automatically reinstated, as the case may be, if at any time payment, in whole or in part, of any of the sums due to any of the Holders pursuant to the terms of the Note Purchase Agreement or any other Note Document is rescinded or must otherwise be restored or returned by such Holder upon the insolvency, bankruptcy, dissolution, liquidation or reorganization of the Company or any other person, or upon or as a result of the appointment of a custodian, receiver, trustee or other officer with similar powers with respect to the Company or other person or any substantial part of its property, or otherwise, all as though such payment had not been made. If an event permitting the acceleration of the maturity of the principal amount of the Notes shall at any time have occurred and be continuing, and such acceleration shall at such time be prevented by reason of the pendency against the Company or any other person of a case or proceeding under a bankruptcy or insolvency law, each Guarantor agrees that, for purposes of this Guaranty and its obligations hereunder, the maturity of the principal amount of the Notes and all other Obligations shall be deemed to have been accelerated with the same effect as if any Holder had accelerated the same in accordance with the terms of the Note Purchase Agreement or other applicable Note Document, and such Guarantor shall forthwith pay such principal amount, Make-Whole Amount, if any, and interest thereon and any other amounts guaranteed hereunder without further notice or demand.

8) Term of Agreement. This Guaranty and all guaranties, covenants and agreements of each Guarantor contained herein shall continue in full force and effect and shall not be discharged until such time as all of the Obligations shall be paid and performed in full and all of the agreements of such Guarantor hereunder shall be duly paid and performed in full; provided that each Guarantor shall be automatically and immediately released herefrom without any further act by any Person as provided in Section 9.6(b) of the Note Purchase Agreement.

9) Representations and Warranties. Each Guarantor represents and warrants to each Holder that:

(a) such Guarantor is duly organized, validly existing and in good standing under the laws of its jurisdiction of organization and has the requisite power and authority to own and operate its property, to lease the property it operates as lessee and to conduct the business in which it is currently engaged;

(b) such Guarantor has the requisite power and authority and the legal right to execute and deliver, and to perform its obligations under, this Guaranty, and has taken all necessary action to authorize its execution, delivery and performance of this Guaranty;

(c) this Guaranty constitutes a legal, valid and binding obligation of such Guarantor enforceable in accordance with its terms, except as enforceability may be limited by bankruptcy, insolvency, reorganization, moratorium or similar laws affecting the enforcement of creditors’ rights generally and by general equitable principles (regardless of whether such enforceability is considered in a proceeding in equity or at law);

Exhibit 1.2

(d) the execution, delivery and performance of this Guaranty will not (i) contravene, result in any breach of, or constitute a default under, or result in the creation of any Lien in respect of any property of such Guarantor under any indenture, mortgage, deed of trust, loan, credit agreement, corporate charter or by-laws, or any other agreement evidencing Debt, (ii) contravene, result in any breach of, or constitute a default under, or result in the creation of any Lien in respect of any property of such Guarantor under, any other agreement or instrument to which such Guarantor is bound or by which such Guarantor or any of its properties may be bound or affected, except as could not reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect, (iii) conflict with or result in a breach of any of the terms, conditions or provisions of any order, judgment, decree, or ruling of any court, arbitrator or Governmental Authority applicable to such Guarantor, except as could not reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect, or (iv) violate any provision of any statute or other rule or regulation of any Governmental Authority applicable to such Guarantor, except as could not reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect;

(e) no consent, approval or authorization of, or registration, filing or declaration with, any Governmental Authority is required in connection with the execution, delivery or performance by such Guarantor of this Guaranty;

(f) no litigation, investigation or proceeding of or before any arbitrator or governmental authority is pending or, to the knowledge of such Guarantor, threatened by or against such Guarantor or any of its properties or revenues (i) with respect to this Guaranty or any of the transactions contemplated hereby or (ii) that could reasonably be expected to have a material adverse effect upon the business, operations or financial condition of such Guarantor and its Subsidiaries taken as a whole;

(g) such Guarantor (after giving due consideration to any rights of contribution) has received fair consideration and reasonably equivalent value for the incurrence of its obligations hereunder or as contemplated hereby and after giving effect to the transactions contemplated herein, (i) the fair value of the assets of such Guarantor (both at fair valuation and at present fair saleable value) exceeds its liabilities, (ii) such Guarantor is able to and expects to be able to pay its debts as they mature, and (iii) such Guarantor has capital sufficient to carry on its business as conducted and as proposed to be conducted.

10) Notices. All notices and communications provided for hereunder shall be in writing and sent (a) by facsimile if the sender on the same day sends a confirming copy of such notice by a recognized overnight delivery service (charges prepaid), (b) by registered or certified mail with return receipt requested (postage prepaid), or (c) by a recognized overnight delivery service (with charges prepaid), addressed (a) if to the Company or any Holder at the address or telecopy number set forth in the Note Purchase Agreement or (b) if to a Guarantor, in care of the Company at the Company’s address or telecopy number set forth in the Note Purchase Agreement, or in each case at such other address or telecopy number as the Company, any Holder or such Guarantor shall from time to time designate in writing to the other parties. Any notice so addressed shall be deemed to be given when actually received.

Exhibit 1.2

11) Survival. All warranties, representations and covenants made by each Guarantor herein or in any certificate or other instrument delivered by it or on its behalf hereunder shall be considered to have been relied upon by the Holders and shall survive the execution and delivery of this Guaranty, regardless of any investigation made by any of the Holders. All statements in any such certificate or other instrument shall constitute warranties and representations by such Guarantor hereunder.

12) Jurisdiction and Process; Waiver of Jury Trial.

(a) Each Guarantor irrevocably submits to the non exclusive jurisdiction of any New York State or federal court sitting in the Borough of Manhattan, The City of New York, over any suit, action or proceeding arising out of or relating solely to this Agreement or the Notes. To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, each Guarantor irrevocably waives and agrees not to assert, by way of motion, as a defense or otherwise, any claim that it is not subject to the jurisdiction of any such court, any objection that it may now or hereafter have to the laying of the venue of any such suit, action or proceeding brought in any such court and any claim that any such suit, action or proceeding brought in any such court has been brought in an inconvenient forum.

(b) Each Guarantor consents to process being served in any suit, action or proceeding solely of the nature referred to in Section 12(a) by mailing a copy thereof by registered or certified or priority mail, postage prepaid, return receipt requested, or delivering a copy thereof in the manner for delivery of notices specified in Section 10, to it. Each Guarantor agrees that such service upon receipt (i) shall be deemed in every respect effective service of process upon it in any such suit, action or proceeding and (ii) shall, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, be taken and held to be valid personal service upon and personal delivery to it. Notices hereunder shall be conclusively presumed received as evidenced by a delivery receipt furnished by the United States Postal Service or any reputable commercial delivery service.

(c) Nothing in this Section 12 shall affect the right of any holder of a Note to serve process in any manner permitted by law, or limit any right that the holders of any of the Notes may have to bring proceedings against any Guarantor in the courts of any appropriate jurisdiction or to enforce in any lawful manner a judgment obtained in one jurisdiction in any other jurisdiction.

(d) EACH GUARANTOR WAIVES TRIAL BY JURY IN ANY ACTION BROUGHT ON OR WITH RESPECT TO THIS AGREEMENT, THE NOTES OR ANY OTHER DOCUMENT EXECUTED IN CONNECTION HEREWITH OR THEREWITH.

13) Miscellaneous. Any provision of this Guaranty which is prohibited or unenforceable in any jurisdiction shall, as to such jurisdiction, be ineffective to the extent of such prohibition or unenforceability without invalidating the remaining provisions hereof, and any such prohibition or unenforceability in any jurisdiction shall not invalidate or render unenforceable such provision in any other jurisdiction. To the extent permitted by applicable law, each Guarantor hereby waives any provision of law that renders any provisions hereof prohibited or unenforceable in any respect. The terms of this Guaranty shall be binding upon, and inure to the benefit of, each Guarantor and the Holders and their respective successors and assigns. No term or provision of this Guaranty may be changed, waived, discharged or terminated orally, but only by an instrument in writing signed by each Guarantor and the Required Holders. The section and paragraph headings in this Guaranty and the table of contents are for convenience of reference only and shall not modify, define, expand or limit any of the terms or provisions hereof, and all references herein to numbered sections, unless otherwise indicated, are to sections in this Guaranty. This Guaranty shall in all respects be governed by, and construed in accordance with, the laws of the State of New York, including all matters of construction, validity and performance.

Exhibit 1.2

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, each Guarantor has caused this Guaranty to be duly executed as of the day and year first above written.


	ENERGY WEST RESOURCES, INC.
	By:
		Name:
		Title:

	ENERGY WEST PROPANE, INC.
	By:
		Name:
		Title:

	ENERGY WEST DEVELOPMENT, INC.
	By:
		Name:
		Title:

Exhibit 1.2

FORM OF JOINDER TO SUBSIDIARY GUARANTY

The undersigned (the “Guarantor”), joins in the Subsidiary Guaranty dated as of June 29, 2007 from the Guarantors named therein in favor of the Holders, as defined therein, and agrees to be bound by all of the terms thereof and represents and warrants to the Holders that:

(a) the Guarantor is duly organized, validly existing and in good standing under the laws of its jurisdiction of organization and has the requisite power and authority to own and operate its property, to lease the property it operates as lessee and to conduct the business in which it is currently engaged;

(b) the Guarantor has the requisite power and authority and the legal right to execute and deliver this Joinder to Subsidiary Guaranty (“Joinder”) and to perform its obligations hereunder and under the Subsidiary Guaranty and has taken all necessary action to authorize its execution and delivery of this Joinder and its performance of the Subsidiary Guaranty;

(c) the Subsidiary Guaranty constitutes a legal, valid and binding obligation of the Guarantor enforceable in accordance with its terms, except as enforceability may be limited by bankruptcy, insolvency, reorganization, moratorium or similar laws affecting the enforcement of creditors’ rights generally and by general equitable principles (regardless of whether such enforceability is considered in a proceeding in equity or at law);

(d) the execution, delivery and performance of this Joinder and performance of the Subsidiary Guaranty will not (i) contravene, result in any breach of, or constitute a default under, or result in the creation of any Lien in respect of any property of such Guarantor under any indenture, mortgage, deed of trust, loan, credit agreement, corporate charter or by-laws, or any other agreement evidencing Debt, (ii) contravene, result in any breach of, or constitute a default under, or result in the creation of any Lien in respect of any property of such Guarantor under, any other agreement or instrument to which such Guarantor is bound or by which such Guarantor or any of its properties may be bound or affected, except as could not reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect, (iii) conflict with or result in a breach of any of the terms, conditions or provisions of any order, judgment, decree, or ruling of any court, arbitrator or Governmental Authority applicable to such Guarantor, except as could not reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect, or (iv) violate any provision of any statute or other rule or regulation of any Governmental Authority applicable to such Guarantor, except as could not reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect;

Exhibit 1.2

(f) except as disclosed in writing to the holders, no litigation, investigation or proceeding of or before any arbitrator or governmental authority is pending or, to the knowledge of the Guarantor, threatened by or against the Guarantor or any of its properties or revenues (i) with respect to this Joinder, the Subsidiary Guaranty or any of the transactions contemplated hereby or (ii) that could reasonably be expected to have a material adverse effect on the business, operations or financial condition of the Guarantor and its subsidiaries taken as a whole;

Capitalized Terms used but not defined herein have the meanings ascribed in the Subsidiary Guaranty.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the undersigned has caused this Joinder to Subsidiary Guaranty to be duly executed as of __________, _____.


	[Name of Guarantor]
	By:
		Name:
		Title:

Exhibit 1.2

EXHIBIT 4.4(a)

FORM OF OPINION OF COUNSEL
FOR THE COMPANY

The opinions of Rogers & Hool LLP, counsel for the Company and the Subsidiary Guarantors, and Browning, Kaleczyc, Berry and Hoven, P.C., special Montana counsel for the Company and the Subsidiary Guarantors, shall be to the effect that:

1. Each of the Company and each Subsidiary Guarantor is a corporation duly incorporated, validly existing and in good standing under the laws of its jurisdiction of incorporation, and each has all requisite corporate power and authority to own and operate its properties, to carry on its business as now conducted, and, in the case of the Company, to enter into and perform the Note Purchase Agreement and to issue and sell the Notes and, in the case of each Subsidiary Guarantor, to enter into and perform the Subsidiary Guaranty.

2. The Note Purchase Agreement and the Notes have been duly authorized by proper corporate action on the part of the Company, have been duly executed and delivered by an authorized officer of the Company, and constitute the legal, valid and binding agreements of the Company, enforceable in accordance with their terms, except to the extent that enforcement thereof may be limited by applicable bankruptcy, insolvency, reorganization, fraudulent conveyance, fraudulent transfer, moratorium or similar laws of general application relating to or affecting the enforcement of the rights of creditors or by equitable principles, regardless of whether enforcement is sought in a proceeding in equity or at law.

3. The Subsidiary Guaranty has been duly authorized by proper corporate action on the part of each Subsidiary Guarantor, has been duly executed and delivered by an authorized officer each such Subsidiary Guarantor, and constitutes the legal, valid and binding obligation of each Subsidiary Guarantor, enforceable in accordance with its terms, except to the extent the enforcement thereof may be limited by applicable bankruptcy, insolvency, fraudulent conveyance, reorganization, moratorium or similar laws of general application relating to or affecting the enforcement of the rights of creditors or by equitable principles, regardless of whether enforcement is sought in a proceeding in equity or at law.

4. In any action or proceeding arising out of or relating to the Agreement, the Notes or the Subsidiary Guaranty in any federal court sitting in the State of Montana or any Montana state court, such court would recognize and give effect to the governing law provisions of such documents choosing the laws of the State of New York; or alternatively, if Montana law were deemed to govern the Agreement, the Notes and the Subsidiary Guaranty, each such agreement would be enforceable against the Company or the Subsidiary Guarantors, as the case may be, in accordance with its terms, except to the extent the enforcement thereof may be limited by applicable bankruptcy, insolvency, fraudulent conveyance, reorganization, moratorium or similar laws of general application relating to or affecting the enforcement of the rights of creditors or by equitable principles, regardless of whether enforcement is sought in a proceeding in equity or at law.

Exhibit 4.4(a)

5. Based on the representations set forth in the Agreement, the offering, sale and delivery of the Notes and delivery of the Subsidiary Guaranty do not require the registration of the Notes or the Subsidiary Guaranty under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the qualification of an indenture under the Trust Indenture Act of 1939, as amended.

6. No authorization, approval or consent of, and no designation, filing, declaration, registration and/or qualification with, any Governmental Authority is necessary or required in connection with the execution, delivery and performance by the Company of the Note Purchase Agreement or the offering, issuance and sale by the Company of the Notes, and no authorization, approval or consent of, and no designation, filing, declaration, registration and/or qualification with, any Governmental Authority is necessary or required in connection with the execution, delivery and performance by any Subsidiary Guarantor of the Subsidiary Guaranty.

7. The issuance and sale of the Notes by the Company, the performance of the terms and conditions of the Notes and the Note Purchase Agreement by the Company and the execution and delivery of the Note Purchase Agreement by the Company do not conflict with, or result in any breach or violation of any of the provisions of, or constitute a default under, or result in the creation or imposition of any Lien on, the property of the Company pursuant to the provisions of (i) the articles of incorporation or bylaws of the Company, (ii) any loan agreement known to such counsel to which the Company is a party or by which the Company or its property is bound, (iii) any other Material agreement or instrument known to such counsel to which the Company is a party or by which the Company or its property is bound, (iv) any law (including usury laws) or regulation applicable to the Company, or (v) to the knowledge of such counsel, any order, writ, injunction or decree of any court or Governmental Authority applicable to the Company.

8. The execution, delivery and performance of the Subsidiary Guaranty will not conflict with, or result in any breach or violation of any of the provisions of, or constitute a default under, or result in the creation or imposition of any Lien on, the property of any Subsidiary Guarantor pursuant to the provisions of (i) the articles of incorporation or bylaws of such Subsidiary Guarantor, (ii) any loan agreement known to such counsel to which such Subsidiary Guarantor is a party or by which such Subsidiary Guarantor or its property is bound, (iii) any other Material agreement or instrument known to such counsel to which the Subsidiary Guarantor is a party or by which the Subsidiary Guarantor or its property is bound, (iv) any law (including usury laws) or regulation applicable to the Subsidiary Guarantor, or (v) to the knowledge of such counsel, any order, writ, injunction or decree of any court or Governmental Authority applicable to the Subsidiary Guarantor.

9. Neither the Company nor any Subsidiary is (i) a “public utility” as defined in the Federal Power Act, as amended, or (ii) an “investment company” or a company “controlled” by an “investment company,” as such terms are defined in the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended.

10. Based on the representations set forth in the Note Purchase Agreement, the issuance of the Notes and the intended use of the proceeds of the sale of the Notes do not violate or conflict with Regulation U, T or X of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.

The opinion of Rogers & Hool LLP shall cover such other matters relating to the sale of the Notes as the Purchasers may reasonably request. With respect to matters of fact on which such opinion is based, such counsel shall be entitled to rely on appropriate certificates of public officials and officers of the Company and with respect to matters governed by the laws of any jurisdiction other than the United States of America, the laws of the State of Montana or Wyoming, such counsel may rely upon the opinions of counsel deemed (and stated in their opinion to be deemed) by them to be competent and reliable.. The opinion shall state that subsequent transferees and assignees of the Notes and Foley & Lardner LLP may rely thereon.

Exhibit 4.4(a)

EXHIBIT 4.4(b)

FORM OF OPINION OF SPECIAL COUNSEL
TO THE PURCHASERS

The opinion of Foley & Lardner LLP, special counsel to the Purchasers, shall be to the effect that:

1. The Agreement and the Notes constitute the legal, valid and binding agreements of the Company, enforceable in accordance with their terms, except to the extent that enforcement thereof may be limited by applicable bankruptcy, insolvency, reorganization, fraudulent conveyance, fraudulent transfer, moratorium or similar laws of general application relating to or affecting the enforcement of the rights of creditors or by equitable principles, regardless of whether enforcement is sought in a proceeding in equity or at law.

2. The Subsidiary Guaranty constitutes the legal, valid and binding agreement of each Subsidiary Guarantor, enforceable in accordance with its terms, except to the extent that enforcement thereof may be limited by applicable bankruptcy, insolvency, reorganization, fraudulent conveyance, fraudulent transfer, moratorium or similar laws of general application relating to or affecting the enforcement of the rights of creditors or by equitable principles, regardless of whether enforcement is sought in a proceeding in equity or at law.

3. Based on the representations set forth in the Agreement, the offering, sale and delivery of the Notes and delivery of the Subsidiary Guaranty do not require the registration of the Notes or the Subsidiary Guaranty under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the qualification of an indenture under the Trust Indenture Act of 1939, as amended.

4. No approval, consent or withholding of objection on the part of, or filing, registration or qualification with, any Federal governmental body is necessary in connection with the execution and delivery of the Note Agreement or the Notes.

Foley & Lardner LLP may rely upon the opinion of Browning, Kaleczyc, Berry and Hoven, P.C., special Montana counsel for the Company as to the due authorization, execution and delivery of the Agreement, the Notes and the Subsidiary Guaranty. Such opinion shall state that the opinion of Browning, Kaleczyc, Berry and Hoven, P.C. is satisfactory in form and scope to it, and that, in its opinion, the Purchasers and it are justified in relying thereon and shall cover such other matters relating to the sale of the Notes as the Purchasers may reasonably request.

Exhibit 4.4(b)