Article published Jul 11, 2007

Legislative panel examines menu of state energy options

By GWEN FLORIO

Tribune Capitol Bureau

HELENA — Faced with the options of "a banquet, a cheeseburger or some fries" in terms of studying energy issues during the next couple of years, a legislative panel longingly eyed the banquet before opting mostly for cheeseburgers on Tuesday.

Take the issue of carbon sequestration — hot right now because of the possibility that it could reduce pollution from coal-fired power plants. Gov. Brian Schweitzer's energy bill, which he signed into law in May, included incentives for carbon sequestration.

The Energy and Telecommunications Interim Committee could have opted for a wide-ranging study that, among other things, included reviewing how other Western states handle carbon sequestration. That particular plate was part of the banquet.

But the committee has a limited amount of money with which to accomplish several studies, and besides, other committees might be looking into some of the same issues, said Sen. Don Ryan, D-Great Falls.

"We will have to look at the cheeseburger options and the fry options," Ryan said.

Sen. Jerry Black, R-Shelby, noted that "carbon sequestration is an issue we're going to have to deal with. ...We ought to take a good look at it."

The carbon sequestration study is one of several in the plan that the committee will vote on in September. Other studies will focus on the costs of wind power, evaluating the state's energy transmission systems and considering the possibility of public power in Montana.

"The coal that produces energy, the wind and the water are all resources in Montana, but we have to send a certain amount of the profit out of state," Ryan said. "We may create a situation with more stability in Montana if Montanans had control of the power that's produced here."

The public power issue has taken on new urgency with the wrangling over the proposed sale of NorthWestern Energy to Babcock & Brown Infrastructure of Australia. The Public Service Commission recently voted to reject the sale, but BBI has since returned with a new offer.

The PSC could examine the new proposal, as well as the final order on its rejection of the original proposal, at its July 24 meeting, said PSC Chairman Greg Jergeson, D-Chinook. A bill sponsored by Sen. Greg Lind, D-Missoula, that would have allowed the state to have authority over NorthWestern, died this past session.

John Fitzpatrick, a lobbyist for NorthWestern, pointed out that proposals for public power have been rejected either by the Legislature or by referendum. Each time, he said, NorthWestern's lobbyists have thrown considerable resources into defeating those proposals.

"If every two years there's going to be another sale docket and yet another attempt to buy the utility, the company will spend millions and millions of dollars dealing with those issues rather than spending it on infrastructure," he said. "I'd like to close on a positive note and thank Senator Ryan for providing lobbyists with two more years of guaranteed employment."

In addition to the proposed NorthWestern sale, transmission "is a huge issue," Jergeson told committee members Tuesday. "Transmission and the operation of the grid are key and fundamental issues related to the production and delivery of electricity from the producer to the consumer," he said.

Black concurred, decrying the recent demand by the U.S. Department of Energy for an environmental impact statement on the proposed $120 million Montana Alberta Tie Ltd. transmission project from Great Falls to Lethbridge, Alberta.

"I don't know how that will affect development right here in Montana, but it could possibly be a deal-breaker," Black said. "It appears to be a rather discouraging development."

The committee's next meeting will be held in September in Colstrip, finances permitting, so that members can tour the coal-fired power plants there and look at nearby coal-bed methane operations.