Turning irrigation into power

MONTANA, Nov 11 2009 (Neo Natura) - An $11 million hydroelectric facility that will harness flows from an irrigation canal in the same way power is tapped from rivers is planned west of Fairfield, with NorthWestern Energy lined up to buy the electricity.

The Turnbull Hydroelectric Project, which will produce 13 megawatts of electricity, will be constructed 4 miles west of Fairfield on the Spring Valley Canal in the Greenfields Irrigation District. That district distributes water from the Sun River to farmers and ranchers, said hydroelectric engineer Ted Sorenson of Idaho Falls.

Turnbull Hydro LLC, which is building the facility, is a joint venture of Sorenson, rancher Wade Jacobsen and the Greenfields Irrigation District.

The 13 megawatts is enough electricity to power 8,000 to 10,000 homes. Most of the power probably will be used in the immediate vicinity, he said.

"All of Fairfield will be energized from this power," Sorenson said.

When the project is finished, Turnbull will be considered a "summer peaker" because it will provide power when water and air conditioner use is high. The system will operate during irrigation season from May to September. Construction is scheduled to begin in fall 2010.

Using irrigation canals to generate electricity at times of peak demand is common in Idaho and California, but the Greenfield's project is the first Sorenson knows of in Montana.

"It's a new application of old technology," said Sorenson, who was the project engineer on a 7.5-megawatt hydroelectric project completed at Tiber Dam in 2004.

Separate generating facilities will be placed at two concrete canal "drops," or flumes, known as Upper Turnbull and Lower Turnbull, along the Spring Valley Canal.

Upper Turnbull is 1,100 feet long and drops 100 feet, while the 2,600-foot Lower Turnbull descends 140 feet. The flumes carry water from Pishkun Reservoir across steep declines.

"They're kind of like a big waterslide," Sorenson said.

Pipelines parallel to each flume will divert the water. As the water descends through the contained pipelines, the resulting pressure will be captured at the bottom of the flumes with turbines, which will convert it into electricity.

It's the same concept as having a tank of water in the attic of a home that produces good faucet pressure on the main floor, Sorenson said. Energy from the flumes, which were constructed in 1928, is going to waste right now, Sorenson said.

The diverted water will be returned to the canal system without disrupting delivery to producers, Sorenson said.

NorthWestern Energy, which provides electricity and natural gas to 656,000 customers in Montana, South Dakota and Nebraska, announced Tuesday that it had signed a 20-year contract with Turnbull to purchase the power.

NorthWestern spokeswoman Claudia Rapkoch said the company requested bids for renewable energy supply agreements a year ago, then reached a deal with Turnbull after a lengthy negotiation.

"This particular project is very cost effective, very favorable to customers," she said.

The green power will help NorthWestern meet the state's renewable energy standards, which require public utilities to procure a minimum of 10 percent of their retail sales of electricity from renewable resources by 2010, and 15 percent by 2015, Rapkoch said.

MATL Transmission Line Permit Approved

MONTANA, Oct 29 2008 (Neo Natura) -Tonbridge Power Inc., 100% controlling shareholder of the Montana Alberta Tie Ltd. transmission line project to interconnect the electricity markets of Alberta and the US through a 300 MW transmission line announced that the Montana Department of Environmental Quality issued a Record of Decision authorizing the construction of MATL's 230kV merchant transmission line in Montana.

The specific authorization granted in the ROD is a Certificate of Compliance as required under the Montana Major Facilities Siting Act and is the state permit required to proceed with the project.

The ROD was issued 20 days after the DEQ and the Department of Energy, jointly
issued the environmental impact statement, for the MATL line on October 1, 2008.
The Governor of Montana, Brian Schweitzer, presented the permit to Johan van t Hof, Chief Executive Officer of Tonbridge Power at a press conference in Helena Montana this morning.

The Certificate of Compliance authorizes the construction of a transmission line along the preferred alternative that was selected by the DEQ and the US Department of Energy and was described in the Final Environmental Impact Statement. The preferred alternative is a combination of MATL's proposed alternative and an alternative developed by the agencies with some local routing
options.

The only outstanding permit required before construction can begin is the Presidential Permit. This permit allows the Company to construct, operate, maintain and connect the MATL line across the US-Canadian border and its issuance is the responsibility of the DOE. Legislation requires that the
DOE wait at least 30 days post issuance of the EIS before their ROD and Presidential Permit can be issued, which period expires in early November 2008.

MATL received all the Canadian permits required to build the line earlier this year.

"We are truly appreciative of the great effort that has gone into this permitting process from all stakeholders," remarked Johan van't Hof, CEO, Tonbridge Power Inc. "The affected land owners, the regulatory professionals and the responsible officials worked very hard to ensure this project would be properly vetted. Special recognition goes out to the Governor's office which, under Governor Brian Schweitzer's guidance, gave us tremendous support in guiding a project to benefit the citizens of Montana."

MONTANA, Oct 08 2008 (Neo Natura) - NorthWestern Energy has submitted two new filings to authorities regarding its proposed Mill Creek generating station.

The company submitted its application for an air quality permit with the State of Montana, and filed its request for advanced approval with the Montana Public Service Commission.

The Mill Creek generating station is expected to provide regulating resources to balance the company's transmission system in Montana to maintain reliability, and enable additional wind power to be integrated into the network to meet its future renewable energy portfolio needs.

The facility is designed to enable increasing or decreasing energy production within seconds to follow load fluctuations across the transmission system.

Bob Rowe, president and CEO of NorthWestern Energy, said: "This application moves us another step toward the price stability and operational benefits that utility-owned, rate-based supply can provide over the long-term."

DoE Releases New Powerline Report

MONTANA, Oct 01 2008 (Neo Natura) - Government regulators have chosen a preferred route for a high voltage transmission line from Great Falls to Lethbridge, Alta., in an effort to balance the developer's cost with the disruption caused to farmers.

Montana's Department of Environmental Quality and the U.S. Department of Energy on Monday released a summary of a long-awaited final environmental impact statement for the 327-kilometre Montana Alberta Tie Line. The statement outlines the preferred alternative and several others.

The line would travel about 210 kilometres and cross six counties in Montana. The carrying capacity of 300 megawatts of electricity in each direction has been sold to prospective wind farm developers.

Federal and provincial authorities in Canada have already approved the line and a final decision by the U.S. and Montana departments could come within a month, regulators said.

The plan preferred by the federal and state authorities differs from the tie line group's preferred plan but doesn't go as far as some farmers had hoped, said Greg Hallsten, the environmental impact statement co-ordinator for the Montana authority.

"We basically sat down with the director and went through this segment by segment, trying to pick which would best serve MATL's needs as well as the landowners," Hallsten said. "It's turned out to be a balancing act."

Bob Williams, vice-president of regulatory affairs for the tie line group, said Monday afternoon he couldn't comment because he had not received the summary of the impact statement.

The 215-kilometre preferred alternative has 134 kilometres of single poles and 79 kilometres of wider H-frames.

The addition of single poles and reduction in lines running diagonally across cropland is a nod to farmers, who have complained about having to manoeuvre machinery around the double poles.

"One of the comments we heard loud and clear was to use monopoles on cultivated ground," the Montana department's Tom Ring said.

By comparison, the tie line group's favoured route is 207 kilometres long, slightly shorter than the government's, and has single poles planned on 43 fewer kilometres of land.

The single poles are taller and cost $359,429 per 1.6 kilometres while the H-frames cost $323,092, according to the environmental study.

The tie line needs a presidential permit from the Department of Energy because it crosses an international boundary and a certificate of compliance from the Montana Department of Environmental Quality, said Ellen Russell, project manager for the U.S. Department of Energy's Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability in Washington, D.C.

Fed Picks MT For School Wind Program

MONTANA, Aug 29 2008 (Neo Natura) - The United States Department of Energy (DOE) has selected Montana as one of six states to participate in the inaugural year of the Wind for Schools Program.

“This important program will not only provide wind energy for rural Montana schools, but will also educate tomorrow’s leaders on the value and importance of this renewable energy source," said Governor Brian Schweitzer. "In addition, wind energy is American energy, produced by American workers. It decreases our dependence on foreign energy supplies and provides jobs here at home."

The goal of Wind for Schools is to engage rural communities in a discussion of wind energy while encouraging a knowledge and skill base for the industry. The program will serve as a platform for teaching renewable energy principles and opportunities by providing schools with educational curriculum and access to state-of-the-art technology. Other states selected to participate in the program are Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Nebraska, and South Dakota.

DOE also funded the recent creation of the Wind Applications Center (WAC) at MSU-Bozeman to support Wind for Schools activities and to develop related coursework for engineering students considering a wind industry career. The MSU-WAC is expected to become a regional center for wind energy training, expertise, and outreach.

“I’m proud that our state is one of only six to be chosen for this program," commented Governor Brian Schweitzer. "It just goes to show that Montana is leading the nation in all types of wind energy development from community projects like this to industrial generation facilities.”

To supplement limited federal funding, NorthWestern Energy recently awarded a substantial grant to enable program activities in Cascade, Fairfield, Livingston, and Stanford school districts. The Montana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) has allotted funds from Montana-Dakota Utilities Co.’ Universal Systems Benefits Fund to help support the new Wind Applications Center at MSU-Bozeman.

Public support is now being actively sought to allow additional school districts to participate in the Wind for Schools program. Broadview, Joliet, and Glasgow have already been selected to become Host Schools, and other school districts will be able to join as funding allows. Besides financial contributions, in-kind support including electricians' labor, excavator time, concrete, and materials such as electrical wire and equipment are also needed. All donations are tax-deductible, and will earn recognition in regional media and on a permanent plaque to be placed at each Host School.

With consistent 25-30% annual growth over the last five years, wind energy may provide 20% of the country’s electricity by 2030. The DOE predicts Montana’s wind industry alone could grow from its current 166 MW to 10,000 MW of installed capacity in the next 25 years. Among its benefits, increasing use of wind energy is widely regarded as a way to create jobs and economic growth in rural communities.

Western Community Energy (WCE) of Bozeman has been contracted by the DOE to serve as State Facilitator for Wind for Schools Montana. "Montana is rich with virtually untapped wind and human resources," comments Sean Micken, WCE's Host School Coordinator. "The DOE selected our state to participate in Wind for Schools because it sees the need and opportunity for Montana to become one of the nation's wind energy leaders. Only by directly engaging rural communities and young people can we hope to meet this challenge."

DOE Investing $90m in Geothermal Research

MONTANA, Aug 28 2008 (Neo Natura) - The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today issued a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) for up to $90 million over four years to advance the research, development and demonstration of next-generation geothermal energy technology which will harness the earth's interior heat extracted from hot water or rocks. Currently, DOE has up to $10.5 million available for immediate award under this FOA, with the remainder subject to change and to Congressional appropriations. The FOA addresses the need for additional technical understanding of enhanced geothermal systems (EGS) to accelerate the technology to a state of commercial readiness.

"Geothermal energy is a clean, reliable, scalable, renewable energy source and these geothermal projects will help the U.S. tap domestic heat sources that were previously out of reach," Assistant Secretary of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Andy Karsner said. "Increasing the use of traditional hydrothermal and geothermal base load resources is an important component of the Administration's efforts to diversify our nation's energy sources in an effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and enhance our energy security."

EGS are systems of engineered reservoirs created by drilling deep wells into hot rock, fracturing the rock, and circulating a fluid through the wells to extract heat. According to a recent study by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) entitled, The Future of Geothermal Energy, EGS represents a large, indigenous resource that, with a reasonable investment in research and development (R&D), could provide the U.S. with 100,000 megawatts of cost-competitive electricity, generating capacity by 2050, or 20 percent of current electricity generation.

While EGS reservoirs have been designed, built, and tested in various locations throughout the world, a number of technical hurdles remain before EGS production facilities will reach commercial production rates and life spans. Through this FOA, DOE will concentrate on issues related to EGS reservoir creation, operation, and management. In the long-term, the work aims to create, sustain, replicate and commercialize EGS technologies, while in the short-term these projects will develop and demonstrate technologies that are useful to both hydrothermal and EGS geothermal projects.

Montana Gov. Switching To Electric Trucks

MONTANA, Jul 21 2008 (Neo Natura) - With his dog riding shotgun, Gov. Brian Schweitzer on Tuesday took a spin in a new solar-powered truck the state bought for maintenance work around the Capitol Complex.

The small truck has zero emissions and soon will be fueled by solar energy from batteries in the campus boiler plant. For now, it's being charged by electricity at a cost of 70 cents a day. The Miles ZX40St electric vehicle, purchased from Eco Auto Inc. of Bozeman for $17,695, gets 50 to 60 miles per charge.

The truck wouldn't start right away - but it did immediately once the seatbelt was fastened in the passenger seat to hold in Schweitzer's border collie, Jag.

Schweitzer drove the small white truck around the oval immediately south of the Capitol a couple of times and emerged from the vehicle with a smile.

"The nice thing about this car is it doesn't use gasoline," Schweitzer said. "It is clear we have got to decrease our consumption of oil. The last time I looked, we are not going to run out of solar and wind."

Schweitzer has a 20X10 energy initiative that directs state government agencies to reduce their energy consumption by 20 percent by 2010.

He praised the Department of Administration for buying the vehicle for its General Services Division employees to use for maintenance jobs.

State officials recently saw the truck demonstrated at an energy fair sponsored by the state Labor Department. After a test drive, state officials decided the electric truck would be a suitable replacement for the pick-up trucks now used by state maintenance workers.

Asked if more state purchases of electric trucks might be in the offing, Schweitzer said, "If it works. If this is able to replace a portion of our fleet, why wouldn't be get more of them?"

There's not much under the truck's hood. It is powered by six batteries under the vehicle, with a seventh battery providing electricity for accessories like heating and air conditioning. It has two gears - forward and reverse - and beeps while going in reverse.

The campus boiler plant has some solar panels on its roof from a NorthWestern Energy demonstration project in 2002. Those will be hooked up soon to charge the truck nightly. In the meantime, the truck is being charged by electricity.

New Shelby Wind Turbine

MONTANA, Jul 21 2008 (Neo Natura) - A ceremony attended by Gov. Brian Schweitzer marked the start of work on a wind energy project near Shelby.

The governor joined representatives of NaturEner, a wind-power company, at a groundbreaking ceremony Thursday.

The first phase of the project calls for 71 turbines producing 106.5 megawatts of electricity. Completion of that phase is scheduled for October.

NaturEner owns and operates wind energy ventures in North America and Europe. Since 1999, the company has developed 14 wind farms in Spain.

PSC Approves NW Power Rate Increase

MONTANA, Jul 09 2008 (Neo Natura) - The Montana Public Service Commission has given final approval to a $15 million annual rate increase for NorthWestern Energy's electric and natural gas customers in Montana.

Tuesday's vote was 3-2 to approve the increase.

In effect on a temporary basis since January, it raised rates about 2 percent for both electric and gas customers.

It's the first time in eight years that NorthWestern or its predecessor, Montana Power Co., has raised its rates on the cost of delivering electricity and natural gas.

However, the utility's 320,000 customers in Montana have seen several price increases since 2002 for the gas and electricity commodity, which NorthWestern must buy on the open, unregulated market.

NorthWestern customers now pay among the highest total electric rates in the region, when compared to other major utilities.

Northwestern Energy Price Hike

MONTANA, Jun 26 2008 (Neo Natura) - As regulators decide soon whether to grant NorthWestern Energy a $15 million annual rate increase, they may look at another aspect of company finances: NorthWestern’s unusually high payouts to stockholders.

For the past two years, NorthWestern paid dividends to its shareholder-owners in an amount more than the company’s entire net earnings, according to its financial statements.

In 2006 and 2007, NorthWestern reported $91 million of net income, but paid out $91.3 million in dividends to owners of company stock.

A critic of the rate increase says if the company needs more operating cash, it should reduce these dividends, instead of raising rates on customers.

NorthWestern is “paying out way more dividends to its shareholders and creditors than anyone should allow,” says Owen Orndorff, a Boise attorney and independent power-plant owner.

NorthWestern says Orndorff’s arguments on the dividends are irrelevant and have nothing to do with whether the $15 million rate increase is “just and reasonable” or necessary.

The dividend-to-income ratio also looks abnormally high, company officials say, because NorthWestern had to reduce its income by $19 million in 2006 because of a court judgment that is on appeal.

NorthWestern says restricting its dividend payouts could harm the company and drive up its cost of capital, by making the company less attractive for investors.

Public Service Commission Chairman Greg Jergeson, D-Chinook, says the five-member PSC may consider the dividend issue when it rules on the rate increase in early July.

“I’m sure we can have something to say about that,” he says. “The concern is if they pay dividends beyond what net earnings can reasonably support, they are reducing their equity, and that can’t go on indefinitely.”

The $15 million annual rate increase would be a 2 percent hike in electric and natural gas rates for NorthWestern’s 320,000 Montana customers.

It’s part of a proposed deal negotiated by NorthWestern and the Montana Consumer Counsel, a state office that represents utility consumers in rate cases before the PSC.

As part of the deal, NorthWestern also agreed to provide to consumers some electricity that is slightly discounted from market prices for the next 6½ years, and to reduce rates or rate increases in the future.

Orndorff, who owns two independent power plants in Montana that sell electricity to NorthWestern, has been the deal’s most vocal critic.

His power plants in Billings and Colstrip also buy power from NorthWestern, and he says the rate increase isn’t needed. He also says by paying out abnormally high dividends to shareholders, NorthWestern is putting the company at financial risk.

Since coming out of bankruptcy reorganization in late 2004, NorthWestern has paid out 85 percent of its net income in dividends to shareholders — the bulk of which are large investment funds.

As in most publicly held companies, NorthWestern executives and board members also hold significant amounts of stock, thus benefiting from the dividends. For example, President and Chief Executive Officer Mike Hanson owns nearly 32,000 shares and has received $83,000 in dividends since the company emerged from bankruptcy.

The industry average for dividend payouts is 60 percent to 70 percent of net earnings, according to NorthWestern and industry financial analysts.

Hanson says the 100 percent dividend payout of the past two years is an aberration, skewed by the $19 million income write-down stemming from the court judgment. The company hasn’t paid that money and has appealed the award, he said.

“When we normalize our income, we’ll be within the (standard) range for dividend payout,” he says.

The ability to pay dividends also is related more to the company’s cash flow, rather than net income, Hanson says.

An attorney representing NorthWestern says the company’s credit ratings have been improving and that Orndorff has offered no proof that the dividend payouts have negatively affected company finances.

Without that showing, the issue is irrelevant, John Alke of Helena wrote in documents filed with the Montana Public Service Commission last month.

“NorthWestern Energy’s cost of providing electric and natural gas service is not determined by the dividends paid by the corporation to its stockholders,” Alke wrote. “The payment of dividends by an investor-owned utility to its stockholders is a matter committed to the soundly exercised discretion of its management.”

Orndorff says dividend payouts at 100 percent of net earnings can’t be sustained, and that the Montana Public Service Commission should restrict the practice.

“There has to be a policeman on the beat, and that policeman is the PSC,” he says. “They’ve got to lay down the rules. They may not like it, but that’s the way it is.”

Glacier Wind Energy: New Wind Turbines

MONTANA, Jun 09 2008 (Neo Natura) - San Diego Gas & Electric said yesterday it has signed power-purchase agreements with a renewable energy company for electricity generated from two soon-to-be-constructed wind farms in Montana.

Under two 15-year contracts, Glacier Wind Energy will add 210 megawatts from wind energy facilities under development near Glacier National Park to SDG&E's total power-generating capacity. The wind facility is owned by a U.S. subsidiary of Naturener SA, a renewable energy company based in Madrid, Spain.

The wind farms are expected to increase the amount of electricity produced by renewable energy sources for San Diego's power grid by almost 4 percent by 2010, the utility said. Under a statewide mandate, 20 percent of SDG&E's power must be generated by renewable energy sources by 2010.

To meet that goal, state utility regulators allow California's major utilities to tap renewable energy sources throughout the western United States and Canada.

Yesterday, SDG&E said renewable energy sources now account for 6 percent of SDG&E's total energy mix, an upward adjustment from the 5.2 percent the utility used as recently as last month.

SDG&E said the contribution from the wind farms will bring its renewable energy total to 10 percent. But the company says meeting the 20-percent goal depends on completing its Sunrise Powerlink transmission line. That point is heatedly disputed by environmental opponents of the $1.5 billion, 150-mile power line from El Centro to Rancho Peñasquitos.

XTO Purchasing Bakken Land

MONTANA, May 28 2008 (Neo Natura) - XTO Energy Inc. announced today that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire producing properties and undeveloped acreage from privately-held Headington Oil Company for $1.85 billion. Consideration in the transaction includes $1.06 billion of cash and 11,742,391 shares of XTO common stock valued at approximately $790 million, or $67.35 per share. The purchase includes 352,000 net acres of Bakken Shale leasehold in Montana and North Dakota.

XTO Energy's internal engineers estimate proved reserves on the properties to be 68 million barrels of oil equivalent, of which 60% are proved developed. Upon closing, the acquisition will add about 10,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day to the Company's growing production base. The acquisition is scheduled to close on or before July 15, 2008.

"Since 2004, XTO has aggressively pursued the best shale basins -- in terms of geology, productivity and economics -- to stake a claim for long-term growth. Our successful development results in these plays have created value for our shareholders and motivated additional investment for our future. With this acquisition in the Bakken Shale, our Company is now established as a leading producer and leasehold owner in this emerging oil shale play," stated Bob R. Simpson, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "As in our other producing arenas, the XTO team will bring experience and expertise to this multi-zoned, over-pressured and complex basin. We expect to grow production and reserves from this prolific shale into an environment of strong commodity prices."

"Across the 15,000 square mile Williston Basin, results from new Bakken wells, utilizing progressive horizontal drilling and completion techniques, are revealing the true potential of this extraordinary hydrocarbon target," noted Keith A. Hutton, President. "With over 3 billion barrels of oil held in place within our acreage position, our team expects to more than double the acquired reserve volumes over time. Drilling and operational activities should grow our production in the region by 12% to 15% annually, with about one-third of cash flow. Given the $3 per barrel production cost and high economic margin of these flowing oil wells, this expansive shale acquisition is a superb addition to XTO's portfolio of premier properties."

In a recent report, the U.S. Geological Survey published a new assessment of the Bakken Shale play of North Dakota and Montana. The report cites that 3 billion to 4.3 billion barrels of undiscovered oil are technically recoverable with current technology and industry practices. This estimate by the USGS made the Bakken Shale the largest continuous oil accumulation in the lower 48 states. In addition, the USGS has estimated total oil-in-place at 200 to 400 billion barrels.

The acquired properties are located in the Bar Trend and Nesson Anticline of the Bakken Shale development. At present, the primary producing field is Elm Coulee in Montana. Undeveloped leasehold comprises about 215,000 net acres of the total. Production volumes are 88% oil, but the associated natural gas is Btu rich in composition, realizing a 30% premium to NYMEX pricing.

"They come into a basin and they're very aggressive," Brian Corales, an analyst at Coker & Palmer in Metairie, Louisiana, who rates XTO shares a buy and doesn't own any, said in a telephone interview. The Bakken Shale "is a very hot play."

XTO said drilling and operational activities should increase production in the region by 12 percent to 15 percent annually. The acquisition brings the total of XTO's purchases this year to more than $4 billion.

"With over 3 billion barrels of oil held in place within our acreage position, our team expects to more than double the acquired reserve volumes over time,'' Keith Hutton, XTO's president, said in the statement.

A federal magistrate fined XTO Energy Inc. $10,000 and ordered it to pay another $10,000 in restitution in the deaths of two golden eagles electrocuted in 2006 by power lines leading to energy production sites near Gillette. They were charged on May 22, 2008.

Chief Executive Officer Dominic Domenici, resident agent in charge of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for Wyoming and Montana, said Wednesday that XTO Energy, Inc. pleaded guilty last month to a misdemeanor violation of the federal
Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act.

Dominic Domenici, the federal magistrate that charged them, said U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Special Agent Tim Eicher of Cody found the dead eagles during a survey. Domenici said the birds were electrocuted after they touched improperly constructed power lines.

The Fish and Wildlife Service together with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department investigated the case, which was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney's Office.

In addition to the court fine and restitution, Domenici said the company spent $988,000 on an avian protection plan that involved retrofitting miles of power line to make it safe for birds.

Jackson lawyer Hadassah M. Reimer represents XTO Energy. She said the company examined 95 miles of existing power lines and made improvements as necessary to make sure all of it was safe for birds.

According to a Fish and Wildlife Service statement, electrocution has been identified as one of the leading killers of eagles, hawks and owls since the 1960s. The agency said current standards in the electrical industry require power lines be placed at least 5 feet apart or insulated to make them safe for birds.

The agency statement says the $10,000 restitution that XTO Energy agreed to pay will go to the Murie Audubon Society in Casper, which rehabilitates sick or injured migratory birds.

John R. Barksdale, assistant U.S. Attorney in Casper, prosecuted the case. He said the company was responsive when contacted by his office and had already taken steps to address its power lines.

"We don't like to have any birds killed, but XTO was responsive when we contacted them," Barksdale said.

New Mexico-based Yates Petroleum Corp. last year also agreed to make improvements to its power line facilities in Wyoming and New Mexico to help prevent bird deaths.

A settlement between Yates, the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service stemmed from the discovery of four dead eagles found near power lines owned by Yates at its coal-bed methane facilities in the Powder River Basin of northwest Wyoming.

Utilities Required To Create Renewable Energy

MONTANA, May 27 2008 (Neo Natura) - Montana code 69-3-2004 requires most energy providers to produce atleast 5% of their energy through renewable resources. In 2010 they are required to produce 10%, and in 2015 they are required to produce 15% from renewables.

The law lists the accepted types of renewables energy sources as wind, solar, geothermal, water power below 10MW, biogas, nontoxic biomass, and hydrogen fuel cells. The law mirrors the federal bill regarding nuclear power in the manner that it is not considered renewable.

Natural Gas Power Plant Expansion

MONTANA, May 21 2008 (Neo Natura) - Montgomery Energy officials said Tuesday they plan to expand a proposed natural gas-fired power plant north of Great Falls.

That surprising news came after Montgomery Energy was rebuffed Friday by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. The federal commission ruled Texas-based Montgomery had no right to leapfrog ahead of other power-plant projects that are waiting in line to hook up to transmission lines in the Great Falls area.

But Montgomery Energy officials said they simply had been trying to move ahead of projects that were struggling.

"The FERC ruling will have absolutely no impact on our project," said Dan Hudson, president of Montgomery Energy Partners. Instead, Montgomery officials said they not only plan to build north of Great Falls a 275-megawatt baseload power plant, estimated to cost up to $300 million, but also another 125-megawatt peaking plant, estimated to cost $96 million, which would be used to fulfill extreme power needs.

The combined facility would produce 400 megawatts of electricity, cost about $400 million to build and provide power flexibly to Montana's power grid, company officials said.

"Any time we have $100 million invested in energy in Montana, it's continuing evidence of the potential we have in all forms of energy," said Evan Barrett, chief business development officer in the governor's office.

"We're number one in coal potential and number one in wind potential, but natural gas is a resource we want to use as well," Barrett said Tuesday. "To be able to use this for peaking will allow us to use the whole combination better."

Cascade County Commissioner Peggy Beltrone praised Tuesday's announcement, saying the project "strengthens Montana's position as a national provider of clean energy." She said the plant would mean more jobs and tax base for the county. Interest in wind power is growing in Montana, and electricity produced by natural gas can be use to supplement wind energy.

In an interview, Hudson said the negative FERC ruling was "no big deal" to the company because of some positive negotiations between Montgomery Energy and NorthWestern Energy, the dominant utility in Montana. In fact, Hudson said Montgomery Energy and NorthWestern Energy had discussed mutually withdrawing the complaint several weeks ago, but the issue was too far along.

NorthWestern and Montgomery have been working in recent months to winnow down a huge estimated cost of $146.7 million for Montgomery to connect to NorthWestern's transmission lines.

That figure has now been reduced to about 2 percent of the original figure, or between $2.5 million and $3 million, he said. According to Hudson, the large cost was the principal basis for Montgomery's complaint to the federal energy regulatory board.

Hudson explained the smaller connection fee of less than $3 million is "a straight interconnect," rather than a more complex arrangement to join NorthWestern's larger network.

Mike Cashell, chief transmission officer for NorthWestern Energy in Butte, said Tuesday he could not confirm the figure of less than $3 million, but he agreed it is substantially less than before.

"There are two types of interconnections," Cashell explained.

One type of connection looks at integrating a proposed project into NorthWestern's network, and determines what type of "significant upgrades" would be needed, Cashell said. In the case of the natural gas plant, NorthWestern figured a new 238-kilivolt line would need to be built for the gas plant starting at Great Falls. That would have given Montgomery Energy all the room it needed on area transmission lines, any time of the day or night, he explained.

"We have to clear the congestion that might exist when this plant comes on," Cashell said.

Instead, Montgomery Energy opted for the second kind of connection, a simple hookup to NorthWestern lines, and to use NorthWestern's lines "if there is excess transmission available," Cashell said. "They would only get access as the transmission capacity is available."

That might be a problem for a power plant, except Hudson said his plant's prospective customers already have plenty of space reserved on transmission lines to more than cover the size of the Montgomery Energy plant.

Cashell agreed it's possible Montgomery's customers could clear the way for Montgomery to access those transmission lines.

Hudson said Montgomery Energy is still working to line up customers for what it hopes will be its 400-megawatt project, and that construction could begin late this year or in the spring of 2009.

"We need a couple things to fall into line," he said. "The design is completed."

Montgomery has a number of potential customers, including rural electric cooperatives, NorthWestern Energy itself, the city of Great Falls and customers in Alberta who could be reached through a proposed new transmission line between Great Falls and Lethbridge, Alberta, he said.

Great Falls has said it gets its power through the umbrella group Southern Montana Electric Generation & Transmission Cooperative, and SME officials have criticized wind power and natural-gas power as too expensive.

But Hudson contends SME and Great Falls may still be interested in buying power from Montgomery Energy, and/or wind farms, if plans for the proposed coal-fired power plant near Great Falls do not pan out.

"It's very hard to finance coal plants right now," Hudson said. He said Montgomery already has the money to build its project. The Rural Utilities Service earlier this year declined to finance SME's Highwood Generating Station.

Brett Doney, president of the Great Falls Development Authority, said one long-term solution is to build more transmission lines.

"We obviously want to see both projects go ahead," Doney said.

Montgomery Energy Partners' chief executive, Frank Giacalone, added, "We have the track record, are farther along in the development process, and have the ability to provide the relief to the energy needs of Montana sooner than anyone else." He said the company has built four similar facilities in the last two years, twice each in Odessa and Wharton, Tex.

Hudson said his company has been working with wind developers in Montana, since energy generated by wind turbines can complement natural-gas-fired electricity. He said Montgomery Energy's gas-fired facilities at Odessa manage 4,000 megawatts of total wind power being produced in the area.

"Our plant manages all the wind production for that area," Hudson said. "We really know how to manage it." He suggested the company could do the same in Montana, where wind development is on the rise, and said the Great Falls Energy Center is being designed to handle more than 2,000 megawatts of wind power.

Hudson said the Great Falls main plant might be expected to run about 40 to 60 percent of the time, while the smaller peaking plant might run between 15 and 40 percent of the time to accommodate customers' "extreme needs."

Hudson conceded natural gas is more expensive to burn than coal, but he noted natural gas generators are less costly to build than coal plants. The estimated cost of Montgomery Energy's 400-megawatt facility is about $400 million, half the estimated $800 million cost of the 250-megawatt coal-fired Highwood Generating Station.

Gail Gutsche Runs For Public Service Commission

MONTANA, May 16 2008 (Neo Natura) - Gail Gutsche explains that she is running for the Public Service Commission because "this is a really critical time for a change in the energy future of Montana."

She said she will work to help find solutions to the dramatic price increases consumers have seen since the Montana legislature deregulated electricity.

"We need to think about how we're going to do energy in the future and clearly it's going to be in a carbon-constrained world--Congress is going to set carbon standards," she said. "I want to help create jobs for Montanans, and help shield them from the expected dramatic increases in fossil-fuel-based electricity. Montana has the opportunity to bring back fair and reasonable utility rates, but we can't do it by maintaining the status quo."

The PSC is a regulatory body that examines rates set by the energy utility companies. The PSC commissioners work closely with legislators to promote changes that can benefit Montana ratepayers.

Gutsche said she wants to work with the PSC and the utilities to develop Montana-based generation facilities, while solving the problems caused by deregulation.

Gutsche, a Democrat and former Montana state legislator from Missoula, is seeking the seat held by former Republican legislator Doug Mood, Seeley Lake. As a legislator, Mood was a staunch supporter who voted for deregulation, she pointed out.

"What happened with deregulation is that Montana Power sold its generating dams on the rivers and its interest in coal-fired power plants to Pennsylvania Power and Light (PP&L). In this new deregulated environment, the only restriction was competition from other suppliers on the open marketplace," she explained.

Deregulation failed because Montana's small population and large distances were not attractive to companies and they did not compete for the Montana market, she said. The end result was the worst of all possible worlds: no competition, a sole supplier, and no way to control rates.

That means that Montanans saw dramatic price increases while purchasing the bulk of their power from the deregulated PP&L. The dams and the coal plants owned by PP&L are not regulated by the PSC.

The PSC does regulate the transmission and distribution system, and can work to ensure that Northwest Energy has fairly priced services for its customers, but the PSC has no say over PP&L, she pointed out. "We don't have any say over what PP&L does. Therein is the problem."

Everybody's energy bills utility bills have dramatically increased some peoples bills have as much as doubled since we deregulated. "I'd like to work to find some solutions to that," she said.

The last legislative session enacted partial re-regulation, allowing PSC oversight of any new generation facilities that Northwest Energy acquires. But the PSC still won't be able to affect anything happening in Pennsylvania.

"There are other things we can do to rein in PP&L, mostly through legislation," she pointed out.

For example, the PSC could lobby legislators to generate revenue for rate relief, either by increasing the wholesale energy transaction tax, or adjusting the property tax relief on large power generators, or enacting a hydroelectricity production tax.

Interestingly, the PSC is made up of all former legislators and would be able to work with the Montana legislature on developing new policy.

Gutsche served four two-year terms in the Montana House of Representatives during the legislative sessions in 1999, 2001, 2003, and 2005. She served on the Judiciary Committee, the Fish, Wildlife and Parks committees, and was vice-chair of the Natural Resources Committee. She also chaired the Law and Justice interim committee. She was elected Democratic Whip in 2005.

She recalled serving at the same time as former Rep. Paul Clark (HD-13), who is now running for Sen. Jim Elliott's former seat in Senate District 7.

Her main legislative interests involved public access to land, improving habitat for wildlife, preserving clean air and water, and health care, especially for low-income folks and women.

Since leaving the House, she has served on an advisory council for the Department of Corrections.

On the PSC, she said she would seek to develop Montana's renewable resources, especially wind power, but also solar power and geothermal.

In 2005, the Montana legislature passed a renewable energy standard that requires utilities to obtain 15 percent of their energy from renewables by 2015, she noted. The Northwest Energy Judith Gap project is already halfway to that goal, and costs less than the average cost of the rest of the portfolio.

"I think the PSC's role is to encourage Northwest Energy to look at renewable sources, and to work with the legislature to work with the utilities again," she said. "There are many opportunities in Montana for renewables and energy efficiency. Conservation and energy efficiency is our best response because using less energy has significant benefits over developing any new sources of power." Consumers can help hasten the transformation by demanding more efficient and more renewable energy, she suggested. "It's certainly an important part of the recipe."

New technologies like "smart grids" will create jobs, and Montana can be at the forefront, she suggested. Smart grids increase energy effeciency through methods such as setting your appliances to come on and off at off-peak hours

"We need to do what we can to rein in outlandish energy prices, especially when large energy companies are posting huge profits. PP&L is making record profits, charging record prices. We need to hold these companies accountable," she said.

If she serves on the PSC, she promised to keep a lid on rising rates for working folks and others who have to make the choice between paying for food, medicine, and energy. "I want to be an advocate for those folks," she said.

Gail Gutsche is also a staff member of the Wild Rockies Field Institute.

Colstrip Power Contamination Lawsuit

MONTANA, May 15 2008 (Neo Natura) - An attorney in a water contamination lawsuit against eastern Montana's Colstrip power plant says the plant's five corporate owners have agreed to pay $25 million to settle the case.

The 57 plaintiffs - including some plant workers - alleged plant officials knew the plant was contaminating water supplies beneath at least one Colstrip subdivision for four years before notifying the community. A second subdivision and trailer park also suffered contamination, the plaintiffs claimed.

Plaintiffs attorney Jory Ruggiero said no sicknesses resulted, but he said many homeowners and the Colstrip Moose Lodge lost use of their underground wells.

"These companies fought every step of the way," Ruggiero said. "You can't hide the facts when you're testing wells and they're coming up contaminated."

The lawsuit, filed in 2003, had been scheduled to go to trial in early June. The defendants were PPL Montana, Puget Sound Energy, Portland General Electric, Avista Corp., and PacifiCorp.

The corporations jointly own the 2,100 megawatt plant, which is operated by PPL Montana to generate electricity for West Coast markets.

The contamination came from pollutants removed from the power plant's smokestacks to meet clean air requirements. At least two of the holding ponds where that waste was kept leaked.

The lawsuit also alleged another reservoir - Castle Rock Lake, which provides water to operate the plant - leaked in volumes great enough to raise the water level under the town and cause structural damage to some homes.

A PPL Montana spokesman, David Hoffman, said his company has acknowledged contamination, but only near the surface of Colstrip's aquifers and not in the vicinity of deeper residential wells.

PPL Montana bought into the plant in 1999 when it acquired the Montana Power Co. - two years after the contamination problems emerged publicly.

"We certainly believe this tentative agreement is in the best interest of all parties involved," Hoffman said. "We recognize there had been some evidence of contamination in the shallow aquifer."

He said the two holding ponds where the contamination originated have since
been lined with a rubber material meant to prevent further leaks.

In a seperate lawsuit former employees who sued Montana Power Co. 10 years ago will finally get a trial - but it's still two years away.

District Judge Kurt Krueger set a trial date of Jan. 11, 2010, in the lawsuit filed by past Montana Power employees. They are seeking workers' compensation benefits they claim they were due from Montana Power.

Montana Power eventually went bankrupt and was bought by several entities, including NorthWestern Energy. The lawsuit alleges the company breached its contract with the former employees.

NW Energy Unsure On Future Energy Costs

MONTANA, Apr 17 2008 (Neo Natura) - NorthWestern Energy Corp. told regulators Wednesday that rising fuel costs and the potential for carbon taxes are making it difficult to map the utility's energy future.

The Public Service Commission is reviewing the company's plan for buying electricity in the coming years. NorthWestern wants to get back into the energy production business that was lost during deregulation and the transformation from the old Montana Power Co.

But NorthWestern says it is hard to predict what will happen with carbon rules in Congress. Such rules, and the potential for a special tax, could impact decisions in trying to find the cheapest power sources for Montana consumers.

The company says the tax, and rising fuel costs, mean that Montanans will likely be paying more for electricity in coming years regardless of what is done.

"You are attempting to make a forecast predicting, when you have no idea what is going to happen," said commissioner Doug Mood. "We ought to be warning people in this state that we have no idea what is going to happen to the price of electricity."

Currently, NorthWestern does not have its own electricity production. The cost that NorthWestern pays for electricity, from such companies as PPL Montana, a unit of PPL Corp., is largely passed onto consumers.

John Hines, NorthWestern's chief supply officer, said the company is phasing in more long-term contracts out past five years as a way to steady market turmoil.

Hines said the company is carefully taking "baby steps" toward building its own energy production to further steady energy prices. It could take 20 years or more to become "fully integrated."

Such a move was allowed by legislation last year that undid some of the state's so-called deregulation laws of the 1990s. Deregulation banned the utility from also owning the power production.

Hines said there is an "incredible amount of risk" until then because the company will be subject to the cost of power on the open market.

Commissioner Ken Toole told the company that he believes there are strategies, such as conservation, that could mitigate the risk of fuel prices.

Other commissioners also talked about the need to develop resources that don't use fossil fuels, such as geothermal and compressed air storage.

Commissioner Chairman Greg Jergeson said he is critical of Northwestern for not analyzing the possibility of allowing the utility arm of the company to buy the corporate parent's interest in a Colstrip coal-fired power plant - which NorthWestern is considering selling.

Jergeson said that plant could provide valuable energy and help the utility.

"I think there are ways they could make that a valuable rate-based asset in their portfolio," he said.

The PSC will offer written comments in the plan in a couple of months, which will help the company make decisions down the road, Jergeson said.

Invenergy Plans 52MW Wind Farm

MONTANA, Apr 15 2008 (Neo Natura) - The owner of Montana’s largest operating wind farm, near Judith Gap, has proposed adding 35 1.5MW wind turbines, which would increase its power-production capacity nearly 40 percent, officials at NorthWestern Energy have confirmed.

Invenergy, based in Chicago, has pitched the expansion to NorthWestern, the utility buying the electricity currently produced by the wind farm north of Harlowton in central Montana.

NorthWestern should decide soon whether it wants to buy power that would be produced by the additional turbines, said John Hines, chief supply officer for NorthWestern. “We’re evaluating their offer and looking at it (versus) other electricity portfolio alternatives,” he said Thursday.

NorthWestern has 320,000 customers in Montana, and obtains most of its wholesale electricity on the open market or through long-term contracts with energy producers, such as Invenergy. That power is then sold to NorthWestern’s residential and business customers across Montana.

Invenergy, which operates the 135-megawatt wind farm, did not return a message seeking comment.

Under its 20-year contract to sell power to NorthWestern, Invenergy must give NorthWestern the first shot at buying electricity from any expansion up to 188 megawatts.

If NorthWestern turns down the offer, Invenergy can sell the power somewhere else, but not for a lower price than offered to NorthWestern, Hines said.

Hines said Invenergy is proposing to add 52.5 megawatts of production to the wind farm, or 35 new turbines. Each turbine can produce up to 1.5 megawatts of power. The project currently has 90 turbines, each of which is a large tower with a single blade.

The Judith Gap expansion is one of many Invenergy has planned for 2009. The energy company plans to secure 800 MW of wind turbines for 2009 projects in both North America and Europe.

GE Energy will provide an additional 600 megawatts (MW) of wind turbines to Invenergy Wind LLC for its 2008 projects in the U.S. and Canada. This order, which brings the total to 1,200 MW of GE 1.5-MW wind turbines for Invenergy projects over the next two years, replicates Invenergy's order last fall for projects planned for 2007.

One megawatt of wind power provides enough electricity for 240 to 300 homes.

At 135 megawatts, Judith Gap is the only major wind-power project in Montana.

NorthWestern is paying about $30 per megawatt-hour for electricity purchased from the Judith Gap wind farm, which began operating in 2006. Other costs associated with the power increase the bill to about $38 per mwh, but those costs are projected to increase this year, NorthWestern officials have said.

The cost is considerably less than the $56 per mwh that NorthWestern is charging customers for its “portfolio” power, which is electricity from a variety of sources, purchased on the market.

NW Energy Small Wind Farm Tax

MONTANA, Apr 15 2008 (Neo Natura) - Developers of small wind-power projects in Montana have their eyes on the Public Service Commission this week, as it may decide a crucial price issue affecting their ability to succeed.

NorthWestern Energy, the state's dominant electric utility and the primary purchaser of wind power in Montana, wants to charge small wind farms for the cost of “integrating” their power into the NorthWestern system, which serves 320,000 customers.

The utility says if wind-power developers don't pay that cost, then NorthWestern consumers end up absorbing it.

“To have a cost shifted to ratepayers, I don't think is in their best interest,” says John Hines, chief supply officer for NorthWestern.

Yet developers of small wind-power projects that sell, or hope to sell, to NorthWestern say the company hasn't shown that those costs really exist.

And even if some costs do exist, they're less than the charge NorthWestern wants to levy, developers say - a charge they say would make it all but impossible to do business in Montana.

“If they end up with (a charge) the way NorthWestern has proposed, it's a serious impediment and it doesn't reflect the cost of those smaller generators,” says Bill Pascoe, a Butte consultant who works with wind-power developers. “My view is that it's very damaging to small producers.”

The PSC, the five-member body that regulates utilities in Montana, could decide Tuesday whether and how NorthWestern can charge these small projects for integration costs.

Put simply, integration costs are what the utility believes it must pay for additional power to balance the intermittent nature of wind power.

Because wind-power production occurs only when the wind blows, NorthWestern or any electric-system operator says it must buy what it calls “regulating power” to keep the system within a certain range of voltage.

The cost of that regulating power, which must be available at all times, should be charged to wind-power producers, NorthWestern says.

NorthWestern wants to base the integration charge for small producers on what it says are the costs of buying regulating power for the state's largest wind farm, the 135-megawatt Judith Gap project north of Harlowton.

Under that proposal, small wind-power producers would pay anywhere from $8 to $22 per megawatt-hour of power produced.

Two Dot Wind, the operator of 33 small wind turbines in central Montana, has challenged this charge as unjustified and exorbitant.

NorthWestern buys power from these small wind projects at about $50 per megawatt-hour - a price the producers point out is already below market value and below what NorthWestern customers pay for electricity.

Taking $8 to $22 out of that price for integration costs is not only unfair and unjustified, but also would essentially halt all future small wind-power development in Montana, says Mike Uda, the attorney for Two Dot Wind.

“If the commission wishes to drive wind development out of the state of Montana, then it should by all means adopt NorthWestern's proposal,” Uda wrote in arguments submitted March 27 to the PSC.

Two Dot Wind and others say the costs of integrating small projects' power is negligible, if anything, and certainly should not be calculated based on the cost of one, large project like Judith Gap.

Pascoe earlier proposed that the PSC order NorthWestern and small producers to collaborate on a study that examines the cost of integrating power from multiple small projects.

NorthWestern has ignored this request, and said the only question is how much integration costs Two Dot Wind or other small producers should pay.

“It's not NorthWestern customers' responsibility to make a business venture work,” Hines says of the small producers' claims. “We're not asking developers to subsidize ratepayers, but we're not asking ratepayers to subsidize (small producers) either.”

Alberta - Montana Power Line Approved

MONTANA, Feb 04 (Neo Natura) - Montana Alberta Tie Ltd. (MATL) has received the final Canadian go-ahead to build and operate a 346km, 230kV AC power line from Lethbridge, Alberta to Great Falls, Montana. On January 31, the Alberta Energyand Utilities Board (EUB) gave conditional approval to build the Canadian portion of the line.

"We are very pleased to receive the EUB's approval, a major step inmoving the project forward," said Mr. Bob Williams, MATL Vice President, Regulatory.

Among the conditions, the EUB has directed MATL to conduct further discussions with affected landowners to address the mitigation of specific impacts on individual landowners.

"We heard the landowner concerns during the public hearing in November. We made commitments to the landowners on are solution process and we are ready to live up to those commitments beginning immediately," said Mr. Williams.

MATL must report back to the EUB by April 30,2008. The MATL line received National Energy Board (NEB) approval in April 2007and Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approval in the United Statesin July 2006. US Department of Energy (DOE) is the final regulatory approval required before construction can begin. An Environmental Impact Assessment is scheduled for release in the next several weeks followed by a public comment period before the DOE can release its decision.

The MATL line ties together the Alberta and Montana power grids bringing much needed transmission capacity to Alberta and providing access to the grid for a number of proposed major wind power projects in Northern Montana. As a merchant power line MATL will pay to build and operate the line. There will be no cost to utility rate payers. Montana Alberta Tie Ltd. is a Calgary based company formed to build and operate the Montana Alberta Tie.