Montana utility says wind deal is in the offing

While Idaho Power Co. is poised to finance what could be Montana’s first major wind-power project, in Great Falls, Montana’s major utility says it is still negotiating a contract with another wind project.

NorthWestern Energy spokeswoman Claudia Rapkoch said Friday the company is still negotiating with WindPark Solutions Montana. NorthWestern serves 300,000 electric customers in Montana.

By MIKE DENNISON
Tribune Capitol Bureau

http://www.greatfallstribune.com/news/stories/20040308/localnews/35588.html

WindPark Solutions, of Big Sandy, is proposing a wind-power project near Judith Gap.

NorthWestern is negotiating to buy power from WindPark to help supply NWE’s customers in Montana.

Idaho Power Co. hopes to buy power generated by a 9-megawatt wind project on Gore Hill, just west of Great Falls. It has asked the Idaho Public Utilities Commission to approve the agreement.

The Great Falls project is owned by United Materials of Great Falls. The developer is Exergy Development Group of Missoula.

Last week, Wendy Kleinsasser of WindPark Solutions said her company’s project is ready for development once NorthWestern completes the contract and the Montana Public Service Commission approves including the contract among those to supply NorthWestern customers.

The PSC is just now beginning its review of NorthWestern’s plans to procure power for its customers in coming years.

That review probably won’t be finished until the end of this summer, PSC commissioners said Feb. 26.

However, Rapkoch said it’s possible NorthWestern could submit a contract with WindPark Solutions before the end of the procurement review.

In fact, the company hopes to submit some contracts to the PSC "in the very near future," she said.

"We see procurement and contract review moving forward on parallel paths," she said.

However, she also noted that since NorthWestern Energy’s parent company, NorthWestern Corp., is in bankruptcy, a new contract with NorthWestern would have to be approved by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court.

Also, the contract also may depend on federal extension of a wind-production energy tax credit, she said.

The credit expired last year, and is part of an energy bill currently stalled before Congress.

Public Service Commission Chairman Bob Rowe, D-Missoula, said the PSC can’t review any contracts for inclusion in the portfolio that supplies NorthWestern customers until NorthWestern submits the contracts.