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NorthWestern wins praise for wind power bid request

NorthWestern Energy’s formal solicitation of proposals for wind-power projects Monday won praise from the energy policy director of the Montana Environmental Information Center.

Gazette State Bureau

"We’re very excited to see the company moving forward to incorporate wind into the default supply portfolio," said MEIC’s Patrick Judge. "I can’t think of a better Christmas present for Montanans."

The company issued its 21-page request for wind-power proposals Monday. Responses are due Feb. 14.

Judge said there could be hundreds of potential bidders because wind power is an emerging industry. He said the bid solicitation "was prepared very professionally, and it indicates that the company was serious about doing it right."

"That sends a strong message to the wind industry that they (NorthWestern officials) will, in fact, move forward to a completed contract," Judge said.

NorthWestern didn’t seek a specific amount of wind power, but did ask for proposals for 10 years and 20 years, with potential generators able to bid on projects of multiple sizes, with a minimum requirement of 10 megawatts. The company encouraged companies to bid in increments of 25 megawatt blocks, up to the total size of the new project.

He said he was most encouraged by NorthWestern’s sensitivity to issues raised by the Montana Public Service Commission in its order on the company’s proposed default supply portfolio. Judge said the wind-power project solicitation, done for NorthWestern by Lands Energy Consulting Inc. of Seattle, "really conforms well to the spirit and the letter of the PSC order."

In June, the PSC refused to approve five proposed power generation projects endorsed by NorthWestern Energy. The commission said the company had used questionable procurement practices and failed to sufficiently document its decision-making process. Among them was Montana Wind Harness, a wind power generator that would have produced a net 60 megawatts of power in winter and 30 megawatts in the summer.

Copyright © The Billings Gazette, a division of Lee Enterprises.

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