Montana lawmakers want to make it costly to close Colstrip plant
HELENA — If some Montana lawmakers have their way, shutting down two coal-fired units of a power plant that provides electricity to much of the Pacific Northwest won't be cheap or easy for the plant's owners.
A package of bills crafted by a legislative panel would hit Puget Sound Energy and Talen Energy with millions of dollars in fees for 10 years following the closure of Colstrip Units 1 and 2 in southeastern Montana. It also would raise taxes on all electricity producers in Montana to pay for $50 million in grants to communities that lose natural resource jobs.
The bill package also would require Colstrip's owners to submit — at a fee of up to $1 million — decommissioning and remediation plans before any closure. The plans would be subject to approval, disapproval or modification by the Montana Department of Environmental Quality.
The future of Colstrip, the second-largest coal-fired plant west of the Mississippi River, has been increasingly uncertain amid a declining coal market, increasing regulations and numerous lawsuits filed by environmental organizations. Last month, a legal settlement set a 2022 deadline to close the plant's two oldest units, which were built in the 1970s.
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