Article published Oct 3, 2007

Commissioners approve power contract

By RICHARD ECKE

Tribune Staff Writer

Proofreading became a big issue at a City Commission meeting Tuesday night as commissioners unanimously approved a new wholesale power contract.

The contract between the city and the Southern Montana Electric Generation & Transmission Cooperative runs through 2048. City officials said they plan to continue to obtain power from the group regardless of whether the proposed coal-fired Highwood Generating Station is built east of Great Falls. The city is a member of the cooperative.

Critics lambasted the city, its consultants and lawyers for SME for typographical errors and grammatical goofs in the city's draft copy of the contract. They contended a sloppy document could come back to haunt the city later.

"It is full of errors," said Ron Gessaman, a member of Citizens for Clean Energy, which opposes the plant.

Mayoral candidate Susan Kahn said she was embarrassed by the document.

"I would like that contract combed over (for errors)," Kahn said.

"There were some gross errors in it," added Aart Dolman of Great Falls.

Mike Witsoe, a persistent city critic, said he used to proofread brochures when he lived in Missoula.

"For a contract this size, the errors are ridiculous," Witsoe said.

However, Coleen Balzarini, city fiscal officer, called the typos "extremely immaterial."

Mike McCarter, an attorney for SME, said he had been in England and found it difficult to get computer access there.

"We apologize for the typographical errors," he said. "They don't change anything."

Carol Fisher said she is in the education field and her son is in seventh grade.

"I wouldn't let him turn in a paper at school that just contained simple errors like that," Fisher said, adding that someone should take a red pen to the document.

"Let's not lock ourselves into a problem," Witsoe said. Several speakers urged the city to wait to correct errors and pore over the document before approving it, but city officials did not agree.

Balzarini said several corrections had already been made to the contract.

Commissioner Sandy Hinz, who has voted against a number of Highwood Generating Station issues, said she did not consider the typos crucial.

"I'm an English major myself," Hinz said before voting to approve the contract.

George Golie, vice chairman of Electric City Power, the city's electric utility arm, decried "all this negativism" regarding the city's forays into the energy arena.

"We're looking at cost-based power here," Golie said, adding that Electric City Power electricity is cheaper than that offered by NorthWestern Energy.

Critics countered that a possible future federal carbon tax might raise the costs of power from the proposed Highwood plant.

Meanwhile, Tim Gregori, SME general manager, took the opportunity at the meeting to dispute that he earlier told an Associated Press reporter that a federal lawsuit delayed the Highwood project.

"Highwood station is not on hold," Gregori told commissioners. He added that it was "premature" to say that, though he noted it's possible "the plant could be placed on hold" at some point.

Gregori said the project is awaiting federal financing and continues to move forward.

If the coal-fired plant is not built, SME would attempt to secure contracts from various power sources, perhaps including wind power and hydropower, Gregori said.