http://mtpr.org/post/legal-settlement-could-speed-colstrip-closure
[links and audio in on-line article]
Legal Settlement Could Speed Up Colstrip Closure
By Corin Cates-Carney • Sep 19, 2017
A legal settlement reached Friday could have a big impact on the future
of Colstrip – both to the coal-fired power plant there, and the town itself.
Some renewable energy advocates say the settlement means the Colstrip
plant could shut down sooner than had been anticipated – maybe as early
as 2027, instead of sometime in the 2040s. But that depends on a lot of
variables, and Colstrip’s backers say it could stay open for decades.
Both sides, though, like that a west coast utility has agreed to send
$10 million to Colstrip to help the community transition to a new future.
Duane Ankney, a former coal miner, represents Colstrip in the Montana
senate. He says it’s another sign that his community won’t get what it
deserves from the power plant’s out-of-state owners.
“It doesn’t make for good conversation around the dinner table," Ankney
says. "You know? Kids in school, they talk. What are we going to do? Are
we going to be able to stay in Colstrip? ”
Seattle-based Puget Sound Energy has a lot of influence over the answer
to that question. It is the largest part-owner of the power plant. It
negotiated the settlement with environmental groups and Montana’s
attorney general, Tim Fox. Fox is pleased with the $10 million, but
Ankney says it’s not enough. He hopes more will come from the other half
dozen owners of Colstrip to help the town cope in the years to come.
“There ain't nothing better than throwing down that paycheck down on
Friday night and knowing you’ve taken care of your family for the week,"
Ankney says. "And it looks like you’ll be able to do it next week. But
when you lose that. And you start worrying about what will happen next
year and the year after, it shortens your lifespan and takes your mind
off your work.”
Eric Sell, a spokesman for Montana’s Attorney General’s office, says the
$10 million fund for community transition wasn’t guaranteed when
negotiations began earlier this year.
“This is a win for the town of Colstrip and win for the state of Montana
in a sense that, and this is important, there wasn't a legal
requirement, there wasn’t a legal stick to require PSE to pay these
costs,” Sell says.
Senator Ankney says he’s happy with how Attorney General Fox represented
Montana. The settlement itself is part of rate review proceedings by
Washington state’s utility regulator. Ankney sponsored a bill in this
year’s legislative session that would have articulated Montana’s
position in the rate case, but it didn’t pass.
For renewable energy advocates like Jeff Fox with Renewable Northwest,
the settlement appears to shorten the "useful life" of the Colstrip
plant by more than a decade.
“Useful life” is utility lingo meaning the company’s has finished paying
off its investment in the power plant.
But that doesn’t mean the 2027 date ending Colstrip’s “useful life” is
set in stone.
Still, Renewable Northwest’s Fox says the settlement is an opportunity
for Montana to look past coal as a power export.
“I hope Montana understands how rapid the energy system is changing and
what the long term prospects are for Colstrip,” Fox says.
Jeff Fox says his group wants both money to help Colstrip to transition
away from coal, and to look toward the future of other forms of energy
Montana can sell to the west coast.
He says as the demand for coal power drops, the power lines and that
move that Montana made electricity out of the state need to stay in
place and be ready carry other sources of power.
“We want to make sure that Montana is in a good position to at least
maintain our role as an energy exporter. We don’t have any time to
waist," Fox says "And we really need to get some answers to these
questions now, in order to be in a place where we can provide
replacement power 1 and 2 come off line and in the future, potentially,
when 3 and 4 come off line.”
Right now, Fox says growth of solar and wind energy in Montana could
eventually fill the gap left by a shut-down in Colstrip but it’s
currently handicapped by a lack of power lines linking remote energy
producers here to the west coast. But Fox says with planning, there
could be fixed.
The settlement that could speed up the timeline for the eventual shut
down of Colstrip, and the $10 million fund for community transition is
still pending at this point, and must be approved by Washington state
regulators.