MISSOULA, Mont. – Renewable energy advocates are praising Gov. Steve Bullock's new energy plan, which lays out a number of strategies to increase Montana's market for solar and wind projects.
The governor promoted his plan Wednesday at a panel discussion at the University of Montana in Missoula before 130 local leaders, clean energy advocates and students.
Diana Maneta, executive director of the Montana Renewable Energy Association, says the state's wind and solar resources still remain largely untapped but this plan is a big step in the right direction.
"Our wind resource is second best in the nation, but we're only 20th in terms of wind energy development,” he points out. “And while Montana's solar market is small today, the cost of solar power has dropped by half in the last five years. So the right policies will help us to seize this enormous clean energy potential."
The governor's plan calls for a doubling of solar power by 2025, and for the creation of a state energy infrastructure authority to facilitate more renewables.
It also directs state agencies to look at putting solar on their own buildings and begin scouting public property suitable for solar arrays.
Bullock also reaffirmed his commitment to defend the Renewable Portfolio Standard, which opponents have targeted in past legislative sessions.
"Hopefully going into this next legislative session folks will consider the renewable-energy portfolio standard and other things as opportunities, not things to roll back," he stated.
The plan also calls for a reduction in energy use by ten percent by 2025 through new energy efficiency measures.
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Despite last-minute concessions in the Trump administration's budget, which removes alternative energy tax incentives, rural Alaska power providers now face huge obstacles to distributing power to the most rural and isolated parts of the state.
Investments in wind and solar power now face an uphill battle. Alaska's extreme weather and challenging geography already make power generation difficult and expensive. Now, with fewer incentives to diversify, the state's most isolated places will be forced to continue relying on fossil fuels for their electricity.
Pierre Lonewolf, board member of the Kotzebue Electric Association, said the loss of tax incentives means critical alternative energy programs are dead in the water.
"That has put the kibosh on our wind projects, which we are partnering with the local tribe to install two more megawatt wind turbines, another megawatt or so of solar," Lonewolf explained.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, voted for the budget bill but only after she worked to secure some alternative energy tax incentives and funding for Native whale hunters back into the measure in the debate's eleventh hour.
Lonewolf added village and tribal members have worked to move away from diesel fuel for power generation and said a lack of incentives to diversify to wind and solar will fall directly on rural Alaska's consumers who need affordable power to heat their homes.
"We don't want to have to raise our prices on electricity but we have to cover our costs to pay our people," Lonewolf acknowledged.
Kotzebue is a gateway for the diesel fuel powering 10 villages in rural Alaska. What Lonewolf called a war on renewable energy will only cause prices to keep rising in parts of the state that can least afford it.
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Renewable energy got short shrift in the budget bill passed by Congress last week and a New Mexico trade association said companies and their employees will suffer.
The bill quickly phases out tax incentives and investments for wind and solar power passed under the Biden-era Inflation Reduction Act.
Jim DesJardins, executive director of the Renewable Energy Industries Association of New Mexico, said both consumers and businesses in the solar industry have made huge investments due to the incentives.
"There's people who've got loans on their homes, and overnight this bill is going to pull the rug out from underneath them," DesJardins asserted. "This will destroy thousands of businesses, will put tens of thousands of people out of work, for what? Why are we doing this?"
Since passage of the Inflation Reduction Act in 2022, a boom in renewable energy has led to more than $300 billion in spending. Another $500 billion dollars was allocated for clean energy projects but those could now be abandoned.
New Mexico is the second-largest crude oil producer in the U.S. and with more than 300 days of sunshine, it is considered among the top 10 states for potential solar development. Most experts are not predicting a collapse in the renewable energy industry but without federal subsidies and tax credits, solar and wind farms could become more expensive.
After signing a contract, DesJardins pointed out it can take years to get a solar project off the ground and Trump's new bill would let incentives expire before the end of 2027.
"There's just so much uncertainty for a large solar project you can't say, 'Oh, we're going to put it into operation on this day.' It just doesn't work like that," DesJardins stressed. "We need to stop this herky-jerky way of doing policy whether it's for farmers, whether it's for renewable energy, it's just very counterproductive."
Despite the setback to wind and solar, DesJardins believes renewable industries will persevere, one way or another.
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After being debated for days, Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, and Sen. John Curtis, R-Utah, are among those who voted to advance the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act" to push President Donald Trump's agenda forward.
Curtis was one of a handful of Republicans who wanted to preserve clean energy tax credits but the Senate made major cuts to tax incentives for wind and solar projects. Now, the bill does not allow for a project to get the tax credit if it does not begin producing electricity by 2028.
Sean Gallagher, senior vice president of policy for the Solar Energy Industries Association, said the change could reverse years of progress and innovation.
"It has really devastating impacts," Gallagher emphasized. "Not just to the solar industry, but to American energy security and national security. Solar energy is putting more new power on the grid than every other fuel source combined in the last several years."
Curtis was able to remove a provision that would've enacted a new tax on solar and wind projects and ended a ban on solar leasing. While Curtis expressed gratitude to Senate leaders for including his changes, Gallagher hopes the concessions do not hinder the industry's ability to meet demand. The budget bill now goes back to the U.S. House for what could be the final vote.
Projects started before the bill is enacted would be protected from penalties and setbacks. Current projects would also retain all of their tax-credit value through December 2027. Gallagher argued the tax credits, passed under the Inflation Reduction Act, are working.
"Every dollar spent on clean energy tax credits has a $2.67 return in the form of lower energy costs for consumers, and taxes paid by clean energy infrastructure projects, mostly property taxes," Gallagher pointed out.
The Trump administration has called for energy dominance and so far has focused on supporting more development of fossil fuels over renewable energy. And while wind and solar energy are still popular across the board, recent polling indicates some people, especially Republicans, are less supportive of renewable energy than in Trump's first term.
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