Wind Power News: Montana
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These news and opinion items are gathered by National Wind Watch to help keep readers informed about developments related to industrial wind energy. They are the products of the organizations or individuals noted.
South-central Montana a hot spot for wind
A century ago, homesteaders Elbert and Alice Phipps no doubt cursed the relentless winds that raked their wide-open spaces. But today’s inhabitants, great-grandson Clarence Phipps and his wife, Lynn, and 8-year-old daughter, Emma, value the nonstop gale.
“We’ve got something to sell, and it’s wind,” Lynn said.
Montanans have long dealt in water, mineral and oil rights. But for the past few years, landowners like the Phippses have been leasing their “rights” to the wind.
The Phipps ranch . . .
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Cost of backing up wind key to NWE dispute
The green energy industry enjoys an exciting public image, from futuristic hybrid engines to caffeinated, playful work environments. But the real work of the green revolution is just that: work.
Generating power with renewable resources creates a host of logistical and legal challenges, and it falls to several blandly named government bodies to shape the future of alternative energy. In Montana, that government body is called the Public Service Commission.
An important recent decision by the PSC . . .
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At Montana's biggest wind farm, bat deaths surprise researchers
As wind power gears up in Montana, the effects of large-scale wind projects on wildlife remain a concern: Birds may be in the clear, but bats are running into trouble.
Turbine-related fatalities at Judith Gap Wind Energy Center near Harlowton were 1,206 bats and 406 birds, according to a 2007 preliminary study prepared by TRC Solutions’ Laramie, Wyo. office.
Roger Schoumacher, a biologist and consultant for TRC, said the bat fatality count is higher than what generally . . .
Views on wind farm sought
Travelers driving Interstate 90 west of Big Timber may one day glimpse wind turbines at the Coyote Wind project.
But well in advance of that day, the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation is seeking comments on the proposal that would occupy a state school section roughly 11 miles west of Big Timber, four miles northeast of Springdale and two miles north of Interstate 90 and the Yellowstone River.
Details remain sketchy as New Jersey-based Alternity Wind . . .
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Wind farm in Yellowstone Co.
An Irish energy company is looking to build up to 300 wind turbines in Big Horn and Yellowstone Counties. This project could bring millions of dollars to the area.
Bill Fisher owns property in the Pine Ridge area. He said he is currently in negotiations with the power company Gaelectric and is not allowed to talk about specifics. He said officials with the company are talking to several landowners in the Pine Ridge area about building . . .
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PSC compromises on wind fee
Dispute centered on what small projects would pay utilities
State utility regulators Tuesday settled a dispute that could affect the future of small wind power projects in Montana, setting a charge that one project must pay when selling its electricity to the state’s largest utility.
On a 4-1 vote, the Public Service Commission voted to set the charge for Two Dot Wind, which has been waiting many months to settle the issue and iron out its contracts . . .
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Wind farm operators: We’ll offer expanded power elsewhere in state
Operators of the Judith Gap wind-power project said Monday they’ll offer electricity from a proposed expansion to other Montana buyers, after being turned down by the state’s largest utility.
“It’s clean power produced in Montana,” said Doug Carter, senior vice president for Invenergy in Denver. “We think the other consumers in the state will look at this price and say, ‘We want this power.’” NorthWestern Energy, which buys the current output of power from Judith Gap, . . .
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The new gold rush
A new breed of prospector is scouring Montana’s hills, but wind is the resource it seeks.
Before these prospectors harvest that gold in the sky, however, they’ve got to secure the real key to the mother lode — permission from landowners to build towering wind turbines the size of a Boeing 747.
Across the state, from Circle in the east to Ennis in the west, the race is on to lock up the best sites by courting . . .
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Lease agreements confidential, except with school trust land
For competitive reasons, wind companies don’t disclose what they’re paying landowners to lease property for wind farms.
Oftentimes, landowners sign confidentiality agreements when leasing their property for such ventures.
However, leasing information is public when school trust land is involved.
Madison Valley Renewable Energy recently offered the state between $4.25 and $10.60 per acre annually for exploration and development rights in a request for proposals for a project involving school trust land near Ennis. The lease price differs . . .
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No easy way to settle debate about cost of wind energy
HELENA — If Montana is serious about wind power, those who control and regulate the state’s electricity need to answer what may seem a simple question: What’s the cost of wind-generated power?
You’d think the answer would be easy: The wind farm owners calculate their costs, add some profit, negotiate a contract to sell the power to your local utility, and off we go.
But it’s not that simple. Wind power, unlike electricity generated by a coal-burning . . .
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