<Page>

                                                                    Exhibit 99.1

               EXCERPTS FROM PRESS RELEASE DATED FEBRUARY 15, 2002
    TELECOM COMPANY TOUCH AMERICA COMPLETES TRANSFORMATION, EMERGES AS UNIQUE
                      BROADBAND NETWORK AND SERVICES ENTITY

      BUTTE, Mont., Feb. 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Touch America Holdings,
Inc. (NYSE: TAA) announced today it has completed its transition to a
stand-alone fiber-optic network and broadband products and services
telecommunications company with the sale of its Montana electric and natural gas
utility subsidiary to NorthWestern Corporation (NYSE: NOR).

      MPC announced on March 28, 2000, it would divest all of its energy
companies, including its utility, to focus on the fiber-optic network and
broadband products and services business under Touch America. The sale of the
utility today completes the divestiture process and results in Touch America
becoming a stand-alone company.

      Touch America presently owns and operates a 23,000-route-mile,
state-of-the-art, high-speed fiber-optic network that will span 26,000-route
miles, serves some 300,000 wholesale, commercial and consumer customers with a
variety of products and services for transporting voice, data and video, and
provides Internet and, with a partner, managed security services.

      NorthWestern paid Touch America $602 million in cash and assumed $488
million in debt for the electric and natural gas transmission and distribution
company that spans the western two-thirds of Montana. The cash will be used by
Touch America to eliminate debt, buy back two issues of MPC preferred stock and
for normal business purposes.

       Forward-looking information is subject to risk and uncertainty. Portions
of this document may constitute "forward-looking statements" as defined by
federal law. Although the companies believe any such statements are based on
reasonable assumptions, there is no assurance that actual outcomes will not be
materially different. Any such statements are made in reliance on the "safe
harbor" protections provided under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act
of 1995. Additional information about issues that could lead to material changes
in performance are contained in the companies' Annual Reports on Form 10-K filed
with the Securities and Exchange Commission.