Winds of Change: Past, Future Collide In Legislature’s Wind Energy Debate

In a legislative committee meeting in March, two energy executives stood before a panel of stony-faced lawmakers, a visual representation of Montana’s energy controversy. The Floridian executives were polished and young, their suits tailored and phrases succinct. They came armed with data from their latest project, ready to fight the uphill battle of renewable development in Montana.

The legislators sat in varying levels of repose. A pair of dusty cowboy boots tapped the floor under the table, and the air between the parties was taut as a bow string.

For decades, the source of Montana’s energy has been found underground, extracted from deep below the surface of the Powder River Basin. But the wind farms popping up over the past 20 years show the increasing benefits of harnessing the energy of Montana’s air patterns, captured hundreds of feet above the horizon.

Still, loyalty to the coalfired Colstrip power plant runs deep, and opponents of wind energy development worry that the view of Montana’s landscapes would be fundamentally altered. But supporters say Montana would be foolish to reject the economic boost that these companies are offering, especially as demand for fossil-fueled energy wanes.

Met with resistance from some legislators and communities, experts and lawmakers say Montana must adapt or get left behind.

100 Feet Deep

The livelihood of the town of Colstrip lies 100 feet down. Between the power plant and the Rosebud mine, a huge percentage of the town is employed to develop electricity from the coal seam that lies there.

Rep. Gary Parry, R-Colstrip, said the mine itself employs around 300 people, and the plant employs an additional 350-400. “If you shut those plants down, you just basically eliminate Colstrip,” Parry said. “You know, there’s nothing, there’s no reason for people to stay there.”

And the surrounding areas would be affected as well, Parry said, since the plant is such a large economic driver in the region. But Parry said he also acknowledges the reality of the situation: Many consider fossil fuels to be one of the driving causes of climate change. He said it’s important for many to remember that while renewable resources are variable, coal is ever-present.

Parry proposed House Bill 326 this legislative session, which he hoped would level the playing field between coal and renewable energy production by imposing a tax on renewables to match the coal severance tax. The bill did not make it through the session.

“One of my biggest problems with the wind/solar concept is that it is so heavily subsidized,” Parry said. “And everybody talks about how cheap it is, nobody’s saying it’s so cheap because you paid in your tax dollars so much to make it less expensive, because the federal government is completely subsidizing.”

But Sen. Christopher Pope, D-Bozeman, said it is not in the state’s best interest to create roadblocks for renewable development. Pope, who has previously worked in the renewable energy field, said the cost of renewables is quite a bit cheaper than coal, due to the increasing demand for clean energy. According to a study done by Energy Innovation, based on data from 2021, 99% of U.S. coal plants are more expensive to run than their clean-energy alternatives.

“Fundamentally, the state of Montana needs to figure out how to reduce its energy costs,” Pope said. “And we have not excelled in that category in the past 10 years, and our neighboring states, by adopting these new technologies where it makes sense, are reducing their power costs, which also then translate into stronger economies, more jobs, and more innovation and diversification of their economies.”

New technologies are also increasing the reliability of wind and solar, Pope said, by creating battery storage that can save power and distribute it when needed. Adding to the reliability is the North Plains Connector, a proposed project to build a power line that would connect the eastern and western grids, and connect Montana to new power pools to sell to and buy from.

This line is going to make renewables a lot more of a viable option than ever before, Pope said, because there will be a larger system working together. If Colorado is generating a surplus of energy and Montana is at a deficit, he said, the power can be traded across the lines, and vice versa.

“It’s understandable that Montana would hang on to its legacy technologies and the way we’ve always done business … but we are now needing to pivot right with as much grace as possible to take advantage of the lower costs and the less environmental damage and the potential for improved public health,” Pope said.

But Northwestern Energy, Montana’s biggest utility, will increase its share in Colstrip to 55% at the start of 2026, when Washington utilities Avista and Puget Sound pull out.

Northwestern’s public relations specialist Jo Dee Black described their company as “energy agnostic,” saying Colstrip is a reliable asset for Montana that should not be taken for granted.

“You don’t tear down one bridge before the next bridge is built,” Black said. “And for reasonable transition to the energy future that doesn’t sacrifice reliable energy service, it’s very important to have Colstrip serving us.”

But Pope said while change is hard, it is sometimes necessary for the common good.

“We’re in a brave new world,” Pope said. “And at some point, a stranded asset has to be identified as that, so that we can start to rethink where our new investments need to be made.”

The Rise of the “Green Electron” The wind that tumbles through Montana’s peaks and valleys is an increasingly hot commodity, said Kyle Unruh, from Renewable Northwest.

Montana is ranked anywhere from second to fifth in the nation for wind energy potential, according to various studies. Out-of-state utilities are looking to Montana’s wind as they expand their renewable energy portfolios, Unruh said, and it would be wise for Montana’s economy to accept those invitations as their customer base for coal exports shrinks.

Montana’s weather patterns also complement the Northwest’s wind patterns well, according to Puget Sound Energy, a large utility that serves the Western Interconnection.

“Montana wind has a high production rate that is especially valuable during extremely cold weather in the Pacific Northwest, when high pressure systems mean that Washington wind farms produce less energy,” the company wrote in a news release.

The investments are paying off, according to Portland General Electric, a large Oregon utility that owns a share in the Clearwater Wind Energy Center, developed by NextEra Energy.

“In its first 10 months serving PGE customers, the Clearwater Wind Energy Center contributed to new records for PGE wind generation, including helping the company produce one gigawatt of power from wind sources alone – a new milestone,” a press release from the utility said. “One gigawatt (or 1,000 megawatts) is enough electricity to power the equivalent of 830,000 homes, or about half the number of homes in Oregon.”

Bob Lee, the commissioner from Rosebud County, one of the three counties that Clearwater spans, said that though he may not agree with the coal-free initiatives passed by many of the western states, the renewable electricity must come from somewhere. Wherever that is will reap the benefits, Lee said, so it may as well be Montana.

“They want green electrons,” Lee said. “I can’t tell the difference.”

Controversy was high when the wind farm was proposed in his community, Lee said, which was natural in a coal county. He described it as an initial “knee-jerk” reaction that subsided as construction began and folks got used to the idea.

The economic benefits to the county have been significant. Lee said the county gets roughly $700,000 in new property taxes, half of which goes to the road department and half to the general fund. They also received an impact fee of $5.7 million over the period of three years. Rosebud County kept about half of this fund to use for public safety, EMS and fire, and gave 10% to Rosebud School, Forsyth School, and Colstrip School, and 10% to the city of Colstrip.

Stillwater County has experienced similar benefits from the Stillwater Wind Farm, a Puget Sound project completed in 2018, and Beaver Creek Wind Farm, another Puget project set to go online in August, County Commissioner Roger Webb said.

Since the start of the Beaver Creek project, Webb said the county received two impact payments for $2.6 million apiece, and is set to receive another one in August, which he expects to be around $3.5 million.

The Stillwater project provides $700,000 in property taxes per year, which is money that they don’t have to tax their citizens. They’ve been able to make large-scale renovations on their courthouse and build a civic center in town with an ice rink. The county’s been able to keep its property taxes stable through the years, Webb said, and their sheriff’s department is in great shape. They’re even playing with the idea of building a new dispatch center.

“Our roads are in great shape,” Webb said. “Our bridges are in phenomenal shape. So the wants and needs of the county are, seriously, right now are pretty minimal.”

The relationship between the county and the developers has been relatively smooth over the years, Webb said, since Stillwater is a growth-oriented county. The county understands that the developers have a job to do, Webb said, and they’re happy to be involved in it.

“We’re tickled to death that they’re making decisions to make their investments here,” Webb said.

But not every county has had such experiences. Opposition to wind farms has been strong in certain counties, Wibaux and Dawson County being two notable examples.

Wibaux County had a proposed project in 2024, which met fierce resistance, and Glendive Wind Farm, a proposed project by NextEra Energy that would span five counties, is meeting strong resistance as well.

The planning meetings in Dawson County have become the sparring ground for two camps of citizens in the county, one that welcomes the developers and the financial growth that wind farms could bring, and one that fiercely opposes the project and sees it as an imposition.

Bob Newton, a resident of Dawson County who strongly supports the project, has become one of NextEra’s onthe ground consultants who works to promote the project in his community. He said the financial growth that this project offers isn’t something that the county should pass up.

“We’re in dire straits in Dawson County,” Newton said. “We’re losing our community, we’re losing our county. People are leaving.”

The boosts from the project could help Dawson County make the necessary repairs to their roads, infrastructure, and schools, Newton said, without raising taxes for the county. He said the newest school in Glendive was built in 1958.

Newton added that county- wide zoning, which is what many wind-farm opponents are pushing for, is a violation of property rights.

“You’ve got to do what’s best for the most,” Newton said. “You cannot take people’s private property rights away.”

But another Dawson County resident, Ric Holden, stands in strong opposition, saying the project is completely unregulated and will alter the landscape forever.

“Without any kind of rules or regulations or anything, these companies are going wild out here,” Holden said. “They’re just buying up as fast as they can, because there is absolutely no zoning requirements for them in Montana.”

Holden said his biggest concerns are the lights and the height of the towers, which will hinder the view of Montana’s skyline.

“The people in Montana have chosen to live in Montana because it is Big Sky Country,” Holden said. “We ought to be able to stand on a hill and see for miles and miles the beautiful landscape of Montana.”

The debate in the Legislature mirrors the one on the ground, with Eastern Montana lawmakers proposing a slew of bills to attempt to put guardrails up around the burgeoning wind industry, and many others opposing the bills, arguing it will dissuade developers from choosing Montana.

Sen. Bob Phalen, R-Glendive, proposed three failed bills that attempted to regulate the wind industry and allow for county-wide zoning. Senate Bill 505, which was a bill that would allow for zoning to prohibit the construction of wind-energy facilities, was tabled in committee, along with Senate Bill 283, which would have established height and light restrictions for wind turbines. Senate Bill 160, tabled in committee as well, would have required wind farms to set a bond prior to construction.

Speaker of the House Brandon Ler, R-Savage, proposed another bill to establish setbacks, which are distances that wind turbines must be away from non-participating properties. That bill, House Bill 389, failed as well.

Phalen said these bills were an attempt to put some sideboards on the growing industry, but the larger legislative body viewed them as punitive.

“You take like coal and oil, they have guidelines,” Phalen said. “And these guys do not have any guidelines.”

Ken Toole, a former lawmaker who also served as a commissioner on the Montana Public Service Commission, said the subject of wind energy is not a simple one of economic reasoning – over time, it’s become heavily politicized.

“Somewhere along the line, wind became a piece of artillery in the culture war,” Toole said. “The opposition to wind from its inception has always been … carrying all kinds of social baggage with it.”

“Open for Business” The legislative battles have ceased, though the community battles rage on. Montana is left with two bills attempting to draw a compromise that both industries and lawmakers can agree on.

Rep. Katie Zolnikov, R-Billings, said she wants Montana to be “open for business.” She said she’s hoping that some level of reasonable regulation will help resolve the issue between developers and lawmakers.

“If you are looking to develop energy, are you going to choose a state where your industry is constantly under attack, or are you going to go to a state with a more stable business climate?” Zolnikov said. “So I do think that there are a lot of economic impacts of this kind of patchwork of bills that aim to, you know, regulate an industry out.”

Zolnikov brought forward House Bill 939, to standardize setback distances and de-icing measures. The other bill, House Bill 31 sponsored by Rep. Neil Duram, R-Eureka, would set the required year at 12 years for decommissioning bonds, which are bonds that create a financial assurance that the developers will follow through with restoring the land to its original state after the wind farm is decommissioned.

Both bills have bipartisan support, seen as good compromises that can help the industry stay moving. Pope said he hopes the conversation around energy can start to be depoliticized in the coming years, and that the issue can be debated in a calm way that takes into account all options, and the best way to proceed for the greatest affordability, health and safety.

“It’s challenging, but I think we can do way better. And I think, actually, it’s not just that we could, we must,” Pope said. “We don’t have any time.”

Emma White is a reporter with the UM Legislative News Service, a partnership of the University of Montana School of Journalism, the Montana Broadcasters Association and the Greater Montana Foundation. White can be reached at emma.white@umconnect.umt.edu