Butte, Mont. (AP) — NorthWestern Corp. is evaluationg whether it should continue to pursue construction of a $1 billion transmission line between southwestern Montana and eastern Idaho, according to company filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
NorthWestern said market uncertainties and environmental issues could lead the company to abandon the proposed 430-mile Mountain States Transmission Intertie line, the Montana Standard reported Tuesday. If it does drop the project, NorthWestern would have to write off $23.5 million in survey and investigative costs associated with the line.
NorthWestern had initially planned to market primarily wind power to California on the 500 kilovolt line, but California may limit the use of out-of-state resources to meet its renewable energy standards, NorthWestern said in its quarterly report filed last week.
The main customer now appears to be the Bonneville Power Administration, but that option would require MSTI to have other customers, the report said.
louise wagenknecht
Louise Wagenknecht worked for the Forest Service for 31 years and has written two books about her life in the Klamath Mountains of northern California. She writes from the wilds of eastern Idaho.
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Wow, going old school with Clint Eastwood, Jessica Walter, and Donna Mills.
Perhaps time for another movie review?
Louise,
I guess I am just a no fun, serious guy. I’d say, let’s go for an investigative documentary.
All the more reason for localized and point source power generation, aside from widespread problems with grid shut downs and the like.
Like this, for instance:
http://www.aerotecture.com/
Salle:
Figuring in the cost of inflation and the cost of inverter replacement, with the current 30% federal subsidy it would take me 22 years to payback the cost of installing enough photovoltaic panels to cover ~1/4 my energy consumption.
We need cheaper panels, more subsidies for installation (as opposed to big oil & gas), and higher costs for electricity if it is going to work.
JB,
Solar isn’t all there is. Resourcefulness pays off, like wind/solar hybrids and other power generation methods. I’m not up to date on all the technology available but I’m sure it’s possible, even with home-manufactured devices (my ex and I designed a number of them back in the ’70s that were simple and would have powered a more than modest home even by today’s standards). And none of that cost crosses your mind as an investment in your children’s future? (Just asking, not meant to be condescending.) I wish I had a house to even consider such options, instead I’m a serf who will die poorer than when I was born to impoverished parents… and it’s not for a lack of trying to make gains for decades in numerous and varied attempts-I’m the first one in my family to have earned a graduate degree of three children who actually went to college at all. And I’m not saying that there is no part of this that will or should mean that we will all maintain all the “conveniences” we’ve become accustomed to. I know it’s hard for most folks to fathom but things just can’t keep going on in the manner and pace of consumerism that we have come to assume to be our god-given right. Only the wealthy can have the creature comforts anymore and it seems that it was their intent to have it that way while keeping us struggling to obtain that which they dangle before us. It just isn’t there with regard to tangibility. It’s a hoax and the sooner the vast majority recognizes this and acts to preserve themselves, the sooner we can overthrow the bastards and regain control over our existence… and maybe then, maybe, we can resume the path to betterment that is somewhere relative to what we have been duped into believing we can have. That’s how I see the whole wad of fallacy that our culture has helped create… and what is needed, by us, to bring a tangible sense of life to our world, if that’s even possible anymore. Currently, I’m not so sure it is. Just sayin’.
this from Rob Thomas, of Dillon, head of a group opposing MSTI :
———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Rob Thomas
Date: Tue, Jul 31, 2012 at 3:19 PM
Subject: MSTI Update
To: Rob Thomas
Friends,
Below is an article and a link to an article in today’s Montana Standard regarding the status of MSTI. Although this is good news and is an admission by NWE of what we have been saying all along about the need for MSTI, we can’t let up on our opposition to this boondoggle project. This project could go forward for any number of reasons, especially if BPA joins forces with NWE on the project. Please write into the papers and express your opposition to the project, please contact the BLM and DEQ and let them know that you want to see a full analysis of the proposal to bury the line, and please keep talking to your friends, neighbors and political leaders about the negative impacts this project will have on your lives and livelihoods. This is the time to “pile on,” not relax and breathe easily. We can do that once NWE withdraws their request for the permit. Thanks and Keep it Rural!
http://mtstandard.com/news/local/msti-s-future-in-doubt/article_727a28fc-dada-11e1-b84f-0019bb2963f4.html
MSTI’s future in doubt
Story
Discussion
By Tim Trainor of The Montana Standard | Posted: Tuesday, July 31, 2012 2:15 am | (2) Comments
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Bob Rowe
Hurdles are beginning to stack up against NorthWestern Energy’s proposed MSTI power line and the future of the project looks murkier than ever.
Market uncertainty, the lack of a solid major customer and environmental concerns have combined to put in doubt the approximately $1 billion, 430-mile transmission line that would run from southwest Montana to southeast Idaho.
NorthWestern CEO Robert Rowe addressed many of those setbacks when releasing the company’s second quarter earnings report last week. Others were noted in the company’s 10-K filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. He said NorthWestern was “currently evaluating our efforts to continue pursuing MSTI.”
The latest hurdle was thrown up by the Idaho Bureau of Land Management, which ruled recently that routes that avoid core sage grouse habitat in southeast Idaho must be developed and studied. That is expected to delay rollout of the line’s Environmental Impact Study by more than six months. The delay will increase costs, could put the project behind competitors and adds more uncertainty into an already murky outlook.
Yet MSTI may never even get far enough to release an EIS.
The main customer for the power now appears to be the Oregon-based Bonneville Power Administration, which markets electricity in the Columbia River Basin. BPA has said it will decide by Sept. 30 if partnering with NorthWestern to build the line is a “priority.”
“If we determine an agreement with BPA is unlikely or can’t be completed on a timely basis, we may abandon the project,” said Rowe. “If we abandon our efforts to pursue MSTI, we’ll write off expenses, which could have a material adverse effect on our results of our operations.”
Through June 30, NorthWestern has spent approximately $23.5 million in survey and investigative costs toward the project, according to financial documents.
In the early stages of planning MSTI, California was targeted as a major potential customer of the energy that would be produced in Montana and sent south and west through the line.
Yet California now looks as if it will stick to plans calling for it to restrict importing out-of-state resources, making BPA the major player in the fate of the project.
Possible changes in renewal of production tax credits have added more uncertainty, according to NorthWestern spokesman Claudia Rapkoch.
Because of recent developments, NorthWestern now expects the project, if it goes forward at all, would not be completed until late 2018.
— Reporter Tim Trainor may be reached via e-mail at tim.trainor@lee.net or phone at 496-5519. Follow him at Twitter.com/@Tim_Trainor.
Read more: http://mtstandard.com/news/local/msti-s-future-in-doubt/article_727a28fc-dada-11e1-b84f-0019bb2963f4.html#ixzz22EmHQ7Kx
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(3) Comments
1.Report Abuselive2fish – July 31, 2012 5:42 pmGood news indeed. Now the rural residents of Butte-Silver Bow can breathe a sigh of relief that maybe their homes won’t be devalued and their health compromised. Reply
2.Report Abusetrapper – July 31, 2012 12:07 pmThis is the best news so far for the Summer of 2012. There was no other press release up until now about the loss of the California power option. That should have been enough to eliminate the project. Our open space in Montana is much more important than any project that would scar the landscape forever. No amount of economic gain could replace what would be lost with this interruption of our beautiful views in SouthWestern Montana. I hope the next meeting of the NWE shareholders brings the final announcement about the end of the MSTI project. This would be a huge victory for Montana.Reply
3.Report Abusepeace4ever – July 31, 2012 7:23 amFor powerline lovers, this may be a sad piece of news. But for those who care about our power company, this is good news, as it will likely save the company from tragic losses when it proves unnecessary and unsustainable in a short period of time. It also may mean we don’t have to answer why the company is trying so hard to market Montana electricity to California anymore. WHEW!