HELENA, Mont. – The struggle is ramping up over the Colstrip coal-fired power plant and Montana's energy future.

A headline-grabbing measure in the Legislature, nicknamed the Save Colstrip bill, would have allowed the utility NorthWestern Energy to buy a unit of the coal plant without regulatory oversight and pass the costs on to customers.

That bill failed, but House Bill 467 passed. It allows interest rates of 2% to 3% to pay off Colstrip after the plant stops producing energy.

Customers are currently paying more than 8% interest as they pay down the $407 million plant until 2042.

Anne Hedges, deputy director of the Montana Environmental Information Center, says HB 467 could save Montanans $100 million.

"Do customers get stuck with a bill that they shouldn't, or do customers have some type of relief?” she raises. “And this bill is all about providing customers with relief."

Hedges says the lowered interest rate is comparable to refinancing a house and will save money when the plant is no longer operational – likely more than a decade before it is fully paid off.

Gov. Steve Bullock signed HB 467 last week.

NorthWestern Energy CEO Bob Rowe says Colstrip has been a year-round, reliable source of energy. He maintains the Save Colstrip bill was needed to provide financial certainty for the plant.

The Montana Environmental Information Center and Sierra Club counter there could be a faster way to bring down energy costs. They and other groups questioned NorthWestern's $400 million investment in Colstrip a decade ago, since the utility bought that stake for roughly $190 million.

Now, NorthWestern is in the middle of a rate case.

Mike Scott, a senior representative with Sierra Club's Beyond Coal campaign in Montana, says the regulatory commission overseeing the process should consider Colstrip's current value.

"We think it's appropriate that if they want to use this model of how to establish rates that they should take a look at what the value of the plant is now, not what it was 10 years ago,” he states. “And we think that's going to be a dramatic difference, and probably a good cost-savings for Montana ratepayers."

Hedges adds while NorthWestern is passing on costs for an unsustainable coal plant, it also is trying to hike rates for rooftop solar.

With renewables surpassing coal for energy production in the U.S. for the first time in April, Hedges describes Montana as in a struggle for its energy future.

"It is very much about the future of our energy system, because if NorthWestern gets overcompensated for coal and manages to functionally eliminate net-metering, you know where the state's going,” she stresses. “It's going in the opposite direction of every other utility and state in this nation."

A round of public testimony wrapped up this week as part of renewed efforts by a company seeking permit approval in North Dakota for an underground pipeline carrying carbon emissions. Economic benefits were again touted but the plan still has opponents.

Last year, North Dakota's Public Service Commission denied a permit request from Summit Carbon Solutions, which wants to build a maze of pipelines in several Midwestern states. Emissions from ethanol plants would be captured for underground storage in North Dakota.

Skott Skokos, executive director of the Dakota Resource Council, said they remain unconvinced it would be a worthwhile project.

"It felt like déjà vu," Skokos observed. "I don't think Summit did anything to relax the concerns of the public."

Company officials have submitted a new application with a revised route as they try to ease concerns about safety and landowner rights. During comment periods, Summit leaders and other speakers discussed how the project would provide economic boosts, including corn prices. However, skeptics restated their concerns about potential ruptures and lasting negative effects on the landscape.

Skokos pointed out large carbon-capture projects like these have yet to prove themselves, noting smaller initiatives are not as likely to rile up opponents. He pointed to the Red Trail ethanol plant in North Dakota.

"They're storing it, basically, almost on-site, next to the facility and they're not affecting a bunch of landowners in the process," Skokos emphasized.

The Summit regulatory case has two upcoming public hearings in North Dakota, one scheduled for May 24 and the other on June 4. The company has run into similar opposition and permitting headwinds in other states, including South Dakota.

Leaders concerned about pollution and climate change are raising awareness about a ballot measure this fall on whether the state should mandate buffer zones around new oil and gas wells.

Voters will be asked to uphold or revoke Senate Bill 1173, which would require a 3,200-foot setback around any new well near schools, neighborhoods and hospitals.

Meghan Sahli-Wells, former mayor of Culver City and a leader with the group Elected Officials to Protect America, fought to phase out the Inglewood oil field and said no community should be a sacrifice zone.

"A study from Harvard found that in California, 34,000 people died in 2018, prematurely, from fossil fuel air pollution," Sahli-Wells pointed out. "These figures are three times higher than other studies."

The Stop the Energy Shutdown campaign, supported by the California Independent Petroleum Association, opposes the setback rule, arguing it could constrict local supply and cost jobs in the industry. A court put the bill on hold pending the outcome of the November election. A "yes" vote would keep the setbacks. A "no" vote would rescind them.

Clean energy advocates are also speaking out against companies operating older low-producing wells rather than pay to shut them down and seal them up properly.

Ahmad Zahra, a city council member in Fullerton, said Assembly Bill 2716 would incentivize their closure by charging companies $10,000 a day to operate so-called "stripper wells."

"We have over 40,000 oil wells currently sitting orphaned or idle, leaking methane and volatile organic compounds into the air, water and soil," Zahra emphasized.

Other states are following California's lead. Rep. Debbie Sariñana, D-Albuquerque, New Mexico, is sponsoring a bill to require setbacks near sensitive locations since more than 32,000 children in the state attend school within a mile of an oil and gas extraction site.

"Over 80 schools in northwestern New Mexico - the San Juan Basin and southeastern New Mexico, the Permian Basin - are within one mile of an oil and gas well," Sariñana noted. "Some schools are surrounded by dozens and even hundreds of wells within a single mile."

The construction of more solar farms in the U.S. has been contentious but a new survey shows their size makes a difference in whether solar projects are favored by neighbors.

South Dakota's largest solar installation, the Wild Springs project in New Underwood, began operations in March and covers more than 1.5 square miles. The survey showed projects under 100 megawatts are generally favored by neighbors, while larger ones like Wild Springs are unpopular.

Kristi Pritzkau, finance officer for the City of New Underwood, said the construction traffic was tough on the town of just over 600 but the project's builder, National Grid Renewables, is giving back to the community.

"They had to use our well, so they paid for the water, and they paid for a new pump for it, too," Pritzkau pointed out. "They've been really great with the city."

Prtizkau noted the company donated to the town's pool and Lions Club and has created a school scholarship program, all part of the more than $500,000 of charitable giving it has promised in the project's first 20 years of operation. It is also expected to bring in $12 million of tax revenue to the county in the same time frame.

Sioux Falls-based Missouri River Energy Services has plans to build a new solar project near Brookings and build a transmission line from South Dakota into Minnesota.

Tim Blodgett, vice president of member services and communications for the company, said federal grant programs and tax credits provide incentives and South Dakota produces more energy than it can use.

"With the development of more wind, the development of solar, there's a lot planned right now to get these resources out of this area," Blodgett explained. "Into Minneapolis and other places where there's larger demand for the energy."

Currently, more than half the state's power generation comes from wind, followed by hydropower.


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