Article published Oct 4, 2007

Electric co-ops ponder coal's future, effects of climate change

By KARL PUCKETT

Tribune Staff Writer

The future of coal-fired power figured prominently in a panel discussion on climate change Wednesday at the annual meeting of Montana's electric cooperatives at the Heritage Inn in Great Falls.

"Coal, right now, is a very, very difficult challenge," said Bill Drummond, the manager of the Western Montana Electric Generating and Transmission Cooperative, which serves 100,000 customers in Western Montana.

Curtis Jabs of the Basin Electric Power Co-op., which has 2.5 million customers in nine states including Montana, said "we must have coal as a viable resource" in the future.

"We have to figure out how to use (coal) more efficiently," he said.

The theme of the conference, hosted by the Montana Electric Cooperatives Association, is "The Climate of Change ... Powering the Future."

The meeting comes just weeks before the Climate Change Advisory Committee is scheduled to issue a report to Gov. Brian Schweitzer — and takes place in a city where debate has raged over a plan by Southern Montana Electric Generation & Transmission to build a coal-fired power plant east of town.

About 300 representatives from the state's 25 electric cooperatives are attending the conference, which concludes today.

"Climate change is one of the single biggest issues that people are trying to come to terms with," said Dave Wheelihan, the chief executive officer of MECA, following the talk.

Efforts to increase use of renewable energy sources and laws designed to reduce greenhouse gas pollution, such as a per-ton tax on emissions, are in the works, Wheelihan said. That's why climate change was chosen as the topic.

"What will that cost be?" he asked.

Western Montana gets its power from hydro-powered facilities, while most electricity in central Montana comes from hydro- and coal-fired facilities. Eastern Montana relies on power from coal, wind and natural gas.

In the view of Drummond, of Western Montana Electric Generation and Transmission, coal-fired facilities are "off the table" because they are economically risky to build.

"Coal plants have been canceled all across the country," even those with the capability to capture carbon, he said.

The use of coal-fired power in Washington, Oregon and California "is essentially prohibited," he added.

Carbon dioxide emissions can be reduced but Drummond said carbon emissions probably can't be reversed.

"It's really a question of reducing the rate of growth," he said.

Jabs, the senior legislative representative for Basin Electric, said the co-op will need an additional 100 megawatts of power by 2020 and "everything's on the table," including a nuclear power plant.

Jabs supports tax credits for companies that use "enhanced oil recovery," in which carbon dioxide is used to remove oil deep in the ground. The credits would create a stronger market for carbon dioxide and, in turn, assist cooperatives in financing coal-fired facilities that can capture carbon, he said. The company is planning to build additional wind farms but Jabs said coal also needs to be a part of future energy production.

"It's abundant," Jabs said. "It's domestic."

The complexity of climate change combined with partisan wrangling is contributing to modest progress in the Legislature, according to Rep. Mike Phillips, D-Bozeman.

Phillips helped to form the Climate Change Caucus during the 2007 Legislature. The group promotes progressive energy policies to slow climate change.

At the very least, senior members of both parties need to get educated on climate change so they understand what is at stake, he said.

Steps taken now won't bear immediate fruit for political leaders and that's part of the problem as well, he said.

"Now is not the time to say we can't do it," said Phillips, referring to reducing carbon emissions. "Now is the time to say, 'We have to do it.'"