Local News
Public praises city for coal about-face
By KEILA SZPALLER of the Missoulian
Citizens and conservation advocates across Montana commended
Missoula
leaders Tuesday for their decision to back out of a deal with
Electric
City Power, a Great Falls nonprofit with plans to build a
coal-fired
plant.
"I was very pleased to see Missoula local government show
such
leadership so quickly on such an important issue," said Anne
Hedges of
the Montana Environmental Information Center.
Late Monday night, the Missoula City Council folded to public
pressure
and reversed its support for a plan to buy electricity from Great
Falls.
Supporting Mayor John Engen's request to change course, several
council
members agreed the public had raised too many questions that
couldn't be
answered before an Oct. 1 deadline imposed by a new law.
Citing great financial risk and definite environmental harm, many
community members and legislators blasted Missoula council members
for
authorizing the mayor to sign an agreement with a company backing
coal.
The MEIC's Hedges was among the advocates who asked the city to
back out
of the deal, seen across the state by environmental advocates as
the
"un-greening" of Missoula.
Hedges and other advocates said Tuesday they cast no blame on city
officials, who didn't have all the information they needed to make
a
good decision early on. They also commended city officials for
showing a
willingness to do an about-face.
"I'm just really pleased that when they were presented with
an abundance
of information, they were willing to look at it and reconsider
what they
had done. I think that really shows moral courage," Hedges
said.
Some council members said they weren't convinced they should abandon
coal, though they agreed the deal with Electric City Power offered
too
many unknowns. Citizens, though, said they were pleased to see
Missoula
head in a direction that wouldn't increase the valley's carbon
footprint
and contribute to global warming.
"We have so many untapped opportunities in Montana to produce
electricity from renewable sources, like wind and solar, and with
good
leadership from D.C. and Helena, that's exactly what we should be
doing," wrote a policy advocate and concerned citizen, Derek
Goldman, in
an e-mail.
Goldman was one of the people who told council members a week ago
to
think twice before signing the contract. He and others did not
want to
see the Garden City behind a coal-fired power plant.
City officials initially leapt at the offer because it looked to
considerably lower Missoula's power bill, which has jumped since
deregulation. Opponents argued the deal was fraught with financial
risk,
but the contract was expected to save $70,000 a year in electricity
charges - at least in the short term.
After public outcry, Engen asked council members to change
direction. He
maintains the city's goals are valid, however, and has asked
people who
opposed this deal to help him find ways to buy green and less
expensive
power.
Matt Leow, executive director for the Montana Public Interest
Research
Group, or MontPIRG, said conservation would go a long way toward
cutting
down the cost of the power bill.
"Efficiency and conservation can yield tremendous savings
with minimal
investments," said Leow, who was writing a letter Tuesday
thanking the
mayor and council members for their decision.
Hedges said it's the city's role to provide a forum to explore the
issue, which has engaged people across Montana.
Energy is a perennial topic during state legislative sessions, and
a new
law requires customers the size of Missoula to choose their
electricity
supplier by Oct. 1 - and generally stick with that provider.
With the impending deadline, Great Falls representatives have been
asking groups to sign up with Electricity City Power. The
nonprofit will
be part-owner of the power plant being built outside the city and
expected to be operational by 2012.
Helena earlier turned down the offer, and Monday night Bozeman
declined
to even hear Great Falls' presentation. Missoula signed on in
early
August and then reversed direction Monday.
Great Falls city manager John Lawton said Missoula isn't a large
enough
electricity consumer to make a big dent in the company's
portfolio. The
offer was a courtesy on the part of Great Falls, but cities like
Missoula were never the company's main targets.
"It would be a nice load to have, but it is not a large load
in terms of
our overall customer base," Lawton said.
A series of small refusals such as Missoula's could make a
difference in
the long run, though, Hedges said. If Electric City Power doesn't
sell
enough megawatts, financing the coal-fired plant will be more
difficult,
she said.
"It's hard to get other investors and other customers. They
need that
and their clock is ticking," she said.
Though the pressing matter elicited a public outcry, several
council
members said many letters they received had an offensive tone.
They
asked public interest groups to remain respectful in their
correspondence in the future or even pick up the telephone.
"It really leaves a bad taste in my mouth," Ward 1
Councilwoman Heidi
Kendall said Monday of some of the letters she received.
Ward 5 Councilman Jack Reidy voiced an audible abstention from the
vote
Monday, saying he didn't know enough to make an educated decision.
Reporter Keila Szpaller can be reached at 523-5262 or at