Montana bills to alter renewable energy standards
Two of the measures — House Bills 207 and 208 — deal with a rule that is set to take effect in 2010 and requires utilities to buy energy from small producers.
One measure increases the qualifying size for a small producer, from 5 megawatts to 25 megawatts. The other extends the compliance deadline for utilities by two years.
Both of the bills have passed out of the Senate Energy and Telecommunications Committee.
Opponents argue the bills are part of a cluster that would undermine renewable-energy standards passed in 2005.
NorthWestern Energy and Montana-Dakota Utilities Co. support House Bills 207 and 208.
Related News
B.C. ordered to pay $10M for denying Squamish power project
VANCOUVER - A B.C. Supreme Court judge has ordered the provincial government to pay $10.125 million after it denied permits to a company that wanted to build a run-of-the river power project near Squamish.
In his Oct. 10 decision, Justice Kevin Loo said the plaintiff, Greengen Holdings Ltd., “lost an opportunity to achieve a completed and profitable hydro-electric project” after government representatives wrongfully exercised their legal authority, a transgression described in the ruling as “misfeasance.”
Between 2003 and 2009, the company sought to develop a hydro-electric project on and around Fries Creek, which sits opposite the Brackendale neighbourhood on the other side…
