NorthWestern Energy is increasing its investment in the Colstrip power plant with the latest deal giving the utility a majority stake in the coal-fired generating station.
Those power plants are a couple of football fields away from a park and homes and people living in Colstrip say they like the idea of Northwestern now owning 55 percent of those power plants.
“I'd say Colstrip is probably one of the cleanest cities in southeastern Montana," said Adam Price, Colstrip resident. “If you take a look around, there's all kinds of parks and it's well maintained and that's partially because of the plant contributing towards that.”
They say they're comfortable with the air quality and they like that.
“NorthWestern Energy will own a majority of the plant and the tax base, what the power plant is paying for in this state,” said Peggy Corbitt, a Colstrip resident. “It would be a shame to see that gone.”
Some of the residents see a benefit to the economy in Colstrip and in Montana, but others have concerns.
“Because of the cost of maintaining, this really old technology over there, that cost is going to keep going up and up and someone's going to have to pay for that,” said Northern Plains Resource Council president Edward Barta. "And it seems like it's always a ratepayer that pays for it."
Barta said there isn't an efficient way of cleaning up, “Do feel though, coal is it's time to end our reliance on that.”
“These are clean burning units,” said Colstrip Mayor John Williams. “They're energy-efficient, they're efficient operations and they're responsibly taking care of issues connected to the environment.”
Williams worked at the plants for more than a quarter century when they were owned by Montana Power Company.
He says the coal mine and the power plant together employ about 600 in the town of 2,300.
“Gives us a great feeling here in Colstrip that we're going to have a Montana company that will be the largest owner,” Williams said.
“We now have 55% of the ownership in Colstrip, which greatly enhances our ability to influence investment decisions in Colstrip,” said NorthWestern Energy vice-president of supply John Hines.
