Committee to Continue Review of Energy Policy Nov. 9-10
The Energy and Telecommunications Interim Committee of the Montana Legislature will meet Nov. 9-10 in Helena to continue its review of the state energy policy.
The meeting will begin Monday at 9:30 a.m. in Room 102 of the Capitol and will resume Tuesday at 8 a.m. The public is invited to attend and will have a chance to comment on the work of the committee.
In September, the committee began a review of energy policy as directed by the 2009 Legislature through Senate Bill 290. The committee was tasked with reviewing the current policy and considering revisions.
The November meeting will focus on public comments on three specific energy issues that the committee solicited during October. They are:
increasing the supply of low-cost electricity with coal-fired generation;
promoting alternative energy systems; and
reducing regulations that increase ratepayers' energy costs.
More than 50 people provided 180 pages of comment on the issues. All comments are posted on the legislative Web site at www.leg.mt.gov/etic.
Also at the meeting, Gordon Criswell, environmental manager at PPL Montana's Colstrip Steam Electric Station, and Tom Power, an economist focused on regional and resource issues, will discuss the use of coal-fired generation in Montana. Following a discussion of coal resources, the committee will consider potential federal greenhouse gas regulation. Representatives of PPL Montana, the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Montana Petroleum Association, and the Montana Environmental Information Center have been invited to present their perspectives.
The committee also will discuss the prices Montana customers pay for electricity and hear from a panel about alternative energy systems, especially small-scale distributed generation. Representatives of the Alternative Energy Resources Organization, Solar Plexus, and Flathead Electric Cooperative have been asked to participate on the panel.
On November 10, the committee will review policy points raised in September about wind integration, the use of state lands for energy generation, and transmission line development. The two-day meeting also will include presentations on Native American Resource Partners and Universal System Benefits activities by Montana utilities and cooperatives.
For more information, contact Sonja Nowakowski, committee research analyst, at 406-444-3078 or snowakowski@mt.gov.
All legislative interim committee meetings are audio- and video-streamed live on the legislative Web site at www.leg.mt.gov. They also are broadcast over TVMT, a statewide public-access television network. To find the TVMT channel in your area, visit www.leg.mt.gov/tvmt.
