Montana already has 5 existing power plants, with 6 new plants proposed (see map), despite the fact that Montana currently exports more than half the power produced in state. There are many problems associated with burning coal to generate electricity, affecting both public health and the environment.

If new coal plants are to be built, employing Integrated Gasification/Combined Cycle (IGCC) technology with Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS) could significantly reduce the environmental toll of coal use.  CCS is still in its infancy, however, and placing too much emphasis on capturing and sequestering carbon from new coal-fired plants could divert resources away from efforts to promote renewable energy and addressing global warming pollutants from existing coal-fired power plants.

MEIC is opposing the construction of several new coal-fired power plants in Montana, both because they are not needed and because they are environmentally unsound:

• Highwood Generating Station (near Great Falls)
  
• Roundup (see also Air Quality)
• Thompson River Co-Gen
• The Hardin Generating Station
• Nelson Creek Project
  
• For more information on Montana coal, read Tom Powers' commentaries on Dirty Coal, Coal and Economic Development, the New Coal Boom in Montana, Coal Industry Layoffs, and Missoula's potential buy-in to Great Falls' coal-fired power plant.
• SEE ALSO: The Tide is Turning against Coal, which includes a list of recent NEWS ARTICLES about coal and climate change.

MEIC is also working to reverse a new U.S. Environmental Protection Agency policy that undermines efforts across the country to encourage the use of IGCC technology.  This policy could result in the building of new plants that use old, more polluting technologies.
 

Non-Coal Electricity Plants in Montana

MEIC worked closely with Bob Quinn and his WindPark Solutions America to site a suitable location for Montana’s first wind project. The Judith Gap Wind Project provides a good example of clean energy development, pursued in an environmentally-sensitive fashion.

MEIC also worked closely with designers of the Basin Creek natural-gas-fired power plant south of Butte to address the carbon dioxide emissions of the proposed power plant. MEIC supports the company’s efforts to encourage wind production in Montana.