Coal v. nukes politics in the coal-rich Powder River Basin have surfaced in Montana, the northern reaches of the Wyoming-Montana coal field. On a partisan vote, Montana has repealed a 1978 law that provided for a referendum that would have allowed the public to vote on whether they wanted nuclear plants in the Big Sky state.
Republicans unanimously voted to the repeal of the law, giving the decision about Montana nukes, which currently has none, including no nuclear fuel facilities, and is not an NRC “agreement state,” to the legislature. Democrats nearly unanimously opposed the new law, which Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte signed into law last week.
The crux of the legislation is the fate of Montana’s four-unit Colstrip power station, which has long been burning local low-sulfur, low-BTU PRB coal from local strip mines. The plant was constructed in the 1970s. Two of the four Colstrip power units closed last year, leaving two units with 1480-MW of capacity still running.
But the two remaining units, owned by six companies, are facing potential shutdowns. Four utilities – Avista Corp., PacifiCorp, Puget Sound Energy, and Portland General Electric, which own 70% of the two Colstrip units — are in Oregon and Washington, which have passed laws banning imports of coal-fired power. They earlier sued Montana seeking arbitration, but the passage of the new law may have negated that suit.
The Associated Press reported on May 4 that the majority owners have filed a federal lawsuit arguing that the law that Gianforte signed “unconstitutionally interferes with a private business contract that has governed the operation of the Colstrip plant for 40 years.” Puget Sound Energy general counsel Steve Secrist said, “This is both illegal and detrimental to finding constructive, long-term solutions regarding Colstrip.”
Gianforte responded that “woke, overzealous regulators in Washington state are punishing the people of Colstrip with their anti-coal agenda.”
Montana Republicans are hoping to save the tiny town of Colstrip, population of about 2,200, with the possibility of replacing the coal-fired plants with nuclear generation. The American Nuclear Society newsletter said in its headline, “A win for nuclear in Montana.”
An open question is whether the new law takes nuclear out of the state’s review by the “Major Facility Siting Act,” or MFSA. The state siting review agency came about in 1973 when voters ratified a new constitution following a convention in 1972. The law includes a way for citizens to participate in decisions over major energy projects such as energy pipelines, electric transmission, and hydro dams. Colstrip units 3 and 4 were approved by the MFSA.
While some legislators have said that nuclear would still come under MFSA review, the state’s Department of Environmental Quality disagrees. DEQ’s Rebecca Harbage said that the way it reads to the new legislation, nuclear siting is not covered.
Also in PRB country, Wyoming has sued to try to compel Washington to continue buying its coal, despite the state ban, largely viewed as a long-shot legal tactic.
–Kennedy Maize
(kmaize@gmail.com)