On June 10, the Flathead County Commission approved a tax incentive for the F.H. Stoltze Land and Lumber Company to purchase a new boiler and turbine for the Columbia Falls sawmill site.
The biomass steam boiler and 2.5 megawatt turbine would produce energy that would flow into the Flathead Electric Cooperative grid, according to Stolze officials, which is roughly the amount needed to power 2,500 homes annually.
Construction on the new boiler and power generating facility began in spring 2012. Chuck Roady, vice president at the lumber company, told the commissioners that Stoltze wanted to go bigger with its energy production, but it did not make financial sense since FEC was not willing to absorb that much power.
FEC announced the partnership with the lumber company last February, agreeing to purchase 2.5 megawatts, paying a wholesale rate of 9 cents per kilowatt and received renewable energy credits. Initial proposals for the project considered producing 20 megawatts, but FEC said that much power would cost too much and wind up being too much of a rate increase for customers.
The tax incentive, created by the Montana Legislature to encourage construction for new and expanding industry, taxes the qualified property improvements at increasing values. For the first five years, the property is taxed at 50 percent of its taxable value. The sixth year, it increases to 60 percent, with an additional 10 percent added each following year until the 10th year, when it hits 100 percent of the taxable value.
According to Stoltze’s application for the tax incentive, the biomass boiler, turbine, electrical power transmission equipment and other materials will cost roughly $21 million.
The new boiler will continue to burn the wood waste produced at the sawmill, officials said. There will be an official groundbreaking ceremony for the power generation plant later this year, which will likely coincide with Stoltze’s 100th anniversary on Aug. 21.
The county commissioners voiced their support for the project, noting that it will help keep the lumber company in the valley and support the economy. Commissioner Dale Lauman acknowledged that Stoltze has been a “mainstay” in the valley for a century.
“I hope they’re here for another 100 years,” Lauman said.
Commissioner Pam Holmquist called the power generation facility a “great program” and moved to approve the application. The commission voted unanimously in support.