by Michael Hoyt, Corvallis
For decades, yes decades, devotees of Northwestern Energy have been claiming they support every type of electrical energy production. But in the next breath the defenders of Colstrip assert it takes time to transition from electricity production using fossil fuels to a company which relies on renewables such as wind and solar.
Any declaration that a transition takes time is no longer persuasive. RMI (Rocky Mountain Institute) clearly showed that 763 megawatts (MW) of solar, 918 MW of wind, and 364 MW of battery storage could replace NorthWestern Energy’s current and proposed share of Colstrip plus save ratepayers $529 million over the next few decades.
Utility-scale resources consisting of 34 gigawatts (GW) of solar, 5.5 GW of wind, and 13 GW of batteries came online nationwide during 2024. To replace NorthWestern Energy’s investment in Colstrip requires only a fraction of what other utility companies installed last year.
Declaring “we need more time” is simply a worn-out excuse for not transitioning to the renewable production of electricity. The technology is readily available now and requires lower capital expenditures than continuing to rely on coal and other fossil fuels as energy sources. Putting off the shift to renewables until some undefined point in the future is both costly for electric consumers and hypocritical.
Colstrip performed minimal upgrades to minimize pollution but invested far less per MW produced than almost all other U.S. utilities that use coal. And now, NorthWestern Energy is using a recent directive by the current administration as its excuse for not implementing much needed additional pollution controls at Colstrip.
Now that utility level batteries are readily available and cost effective, excuses like “the sun doesn’t always shine and the wind doesn’t always blow” are no longer valid.
Claiming that renewable-energy jobs are mostly temporary construction jobs is untrue. Renewable energy, like any other infrastructure, requires daily management, oversight, and maintenance. Those jobs require highly skilled workers, are not temporary, and usually pay more than jobs at coal-fired plants.
Transitioning away from fossil fuels to renewables to produce electricity is not political unless one believes it should be NorthWestern Energy’s right to endlessly increase rates with minimal oversight.
Renewables cost less for consumers plus reduce pollution and the production of greenhouse gasses, both of which are harming human health and the environment. The continued use of fossil fuels to generate electricity because “that’s the way we’ve always done it” just doesn’t fly. It is past time for NorthWestern Energy to do what is right for its customers.