Montana’s energy importers want renewables. Renewables require storage. A pumped hydro project in Meagher County aims to provide it.

“This could single-handedly ensure Montana remains an energy powerhouse as we transition off of coal.”

Montana has long been an energy exporter, with Powder River Basin coal and Missouri River hydroelectric dams helping keep the lights on across Washington and Oregon.

But as those states increasingly turn to renewable energy sources, Montana will have to overhaul the way it produces energy if it wants to remain a supplier.

What’s currently lacking is a way for Montana’s grid to smooth the power-generation peaks and lulls that are part and parcel of wind and solar energy production. Peak demand for energy doesn’t always line up with when the sun shines and the wind blows, so some form of electricity storage is necessary to make renewable energy reliable.

By Johnathan Hettinger