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CITY BEAT 14 COUNTY BEAT 14 COURT BEAT 15 Newsworthy
Energy Committee’s Visit Highlights Diverse Local Sector Lawmakers tour the valley’s array of renewable energy production to help inform legislation
BY TRISTAN SCOTT OF THE BEACON
Hydro. Solar. Biomass. Gas.
The Flathead Valley’s renewable energy pro le includes cutting-edge examples of all four resources, and state lawmakers took advantage of their proximity last week when the Legisla- ture’s Energy and Telecommunications Interim Committee converged here for a tour of the local facilities.
Rep. Keith Regier, R-Kalispell, is chairman of the interim committee, and said while it’s rare for committees to leave Helena, the Flathead serves as a strong example of energy innova- tion working in concert with traditional resources, and the tour o ered a chance to illuminate challenges and harness opportunities to better develop energy e ciency.
The group of more than a dozen com- mittee members consisting of lawmak- ers and sta included other stakehold- ers, who paid visits to the Hungry Horse Dam, the F.H. Stoltze Land and Lumber Co.’s biomass co-generation facility in Columbia Falls, and Flathead Electric Co-op’s community solar and gas-to-en- ergy land ll projects.
In October 2013, Stoltze unveiled its $22 million co-generation plant, which uses wood waste to heat the company’s mill, dry its wood and produce enough electricity for about 2,500 homes.
The Stoltze biomass plant could potentially be a model for mills across the region as it produces clean power from a renewable resource – trees.
The project was made possible with cooperation from the U.S. Forest Ser- vice, the Montana Department of Nat- ural Resources and Conservation, Flat- head Electric Cooperative, the Bonne- ville Power Administration and others.
In a rare tour, the ETIC also vis- ited the generating units in the power plant at Hungry Horse Dam, where the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation is examin- ing options for massive upgrades to the units, which have been in service since the dam opened in 1953.
The bureau is conducting an environ- mental assessment on an estimated $200 million in upgrades to the dam that will likely take at least a decade, according to facility manager Dennis Philmon and support service supervisor Prudence Crampton, who led lawmakers on a spe- cial tour of the facility May 12.
It’s the largest project undertaken on the dam since it opened and will likely
Rep. Keith Regier, center, chairman of the Energy and Telecommunications Interim Committee, tours Hungry Horse Dam with other members of the committee on May 12.
GREG LINDSTROM | FLATHEAD BEACON
include the replacement of its four tur- bines, as well as maintenance to the dam’s penstocks and selective with- drawal system, and maintenance to its outlet works tubes and spillway.
If all goes as planned, work could begin in 2017, Philmon said, adding that some of the units are reaching the end of their life expectancy.
The Bonneville Power Administration would cover the costs to modernize the facility.
Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Gla- cier National Park have expressed sup- port, but consideration is being given to potential negative impacts to down- stream aquatic life, including westslope cutthroat trout and threatened bull trout.
Brian Marotz, the state agency’s hydro- power mitigation coordinator, said dam operations in the past have been upgraded to meet the needs of sensitive species, speci cally the installation more than two decades ago of a selective withdrawal system to warm downstream waters to natural temperatures, which improved aquatic productivity and boosted trout
numbers.
On May 13, ETIC members visited
Flathead Electric’s land ll gas-to-energy plant – the rst of its kind in Montana.
Flathead Electric Cooperative’s land- ll gas-to-energy project has become a bright spot in the utility company’s e ort to create a renewable energy portfolio, showing that even a relatively small out t can develop alternative energy resources.
The process of turning garbage into energy is simple.
When organic waste in a land ll decomposes, it naturally emits methane gas, and county land lls are required to collect that gas to prevent it from leech- ing into the groundwater. To dispose of the gas, they typically burn it o in a are.
But like wind and solar power, the gas can also be harnessed for use as an energy source, which is accomplished by drilling a series of collection wells into the land ll.
Continuous supply of this gas means that land ll gas-to-energy plants can operate virtually non-stop, providing a reliable energy supply.
The committee wrapped up its energy tours with a visit to Flathead Electric’s
Solar Utility Network, or SUN project. In a valley with notoriously gray skies, solar-powered energy might not seem like the most reliable energy source. But the cooperative’s solar array allows its members to purchase panels and receive a credit on their bill for the amount of
electricity generated at their panel.
The SUN project dovetailed with ETIC’s study of net metering, which attempts to address questions raised by renewable energy organizations and util- ities about the use of community solar
across Montana.
Stacy Schnebel, executive director
of the Columbia Falls Area Chamber of Commerce, who joined lawmakers on the tour, said she owns a panel, and was pleased that the Flathead Valley could showcase its alternative energy resources to lawmakers.
While in the Flathead, the ETIC also continued to review its proposed next-generation 9-1-1 report, and dis- cussed three pieces of proposed leg- islation aimed at updating Montana’s 9-1-1 laws to enhance public safety in Montana.
tscott@ atheadbeacon.com
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MAY 18, 2016 // FLATHEADBEACON.COM