As Montana electric co-ops face increasing pressure to maintain power at an affordable price for a growing population, expected 2009 legislation has many worried about the future.
“The politicians in Washington, D.C., are all set to pass legislation that will add approximately $3 trillion to the cost of power in this nation,” said Mike Kays, general manager of McCone Electric Co-op. Inc. “All in the mistaken belief that if we reduce our greenhouse gas emissions in this country that all other countries will follow suit and we can control the amount of carbon in the atmosphere.”
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• Material costs to repair power lines and substations have risen substantially.
• Increased rates for wholesale power.
• Western Area Power Administration, which serves the local co-ops and relies heavily on hydropower dams, has seen its rates increase in the last four years due to the drought.
• Growing power supply needs due to population and oil and gas development.
“Based on current projections, overall Montana co-ops’ power supply needs are expected to have increased 95 percent from 2005 to 2030,” said Gary Wiens, general manager of Montana Electric Cooperatives’ Association (MECA). “That is compared to projections of about 30 percent growth in demand nationally for all electric utilities.”
Another concern is Legislative pressure to increase renewable energy sources.
Wiens explains, co-ops aren’t directly subject to Montana’s Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS), which currently requires electric utilities to purchase 15 percent of its power from alternative sources (wind and solar) by 2015. However, co-ops are concerned because if they were brought under it, they would be most likely forced to give up the inexpensive, emissions-free hydropower.
Although a growing number of politicians have been pushing for alternative energy sources, electric co-ops across the nation face growing dilemmas. Many, including local co-ops such as Lower Yellowstone and Upper Missouri G & T, have been integrating alternative sources of power into their power supply, but without much luck. The problem with alternative energy is that it’s expensive and unreliable.
General manager of Upper Missouri G & T, Tom Barnett, says that wind, which has been increasingly used, is very costly. One hundred megawatts of wind generation costs about $200 million compared to $100 million of gas.
Wind is also unreliable. It blows just 35-40 percent of the time generating “some” electricity. “If the wind slows down, you have to shut them down. If it’s less than five below zero, you have to shut them off,” Barnett said.
Such an unreliable source results in needing a backup. “You can’t back up wind with coal because it takes a long time to bring the coal plant from not running to 100 percent.” So gas is used instead, which is still expensive.
Though hydropower is the cheapest reliable option, it still has problems. The Corps of Engineers controls the release of dams. Local co-ops are only allowed to use 25 percent of the rivers. Regulations demand protection for animal habitat, irrigation and flood control. “The guide for the river has no language in it to protect the ones needing the power even though we’re the ones paying for the dams,” Barnett said.
The other problem with hydropower is the legislation’s misconception that water is non-renewable. So many companies are forced to find more ways and spend more money to produce unreliable alternative sources of electricity.
Coal is the next least-expensive power supply, but because of environmental concerns, much of the production is cleaning emissions from smokestacks. Still, coal is plentiful and cheap, and 50 percent of the nation’s power runs on coal, according to Wiens of MECA.
The other two options are gas and nuclear power, both of which are costly and have negative effects on the environment.
Currently, electric companies are trying everything from capturing and storing wind to improving solar energy in order to achieve the requirements set by state government for alternative energy.
As the 2009 legislative session gets under way in January, co-ops are preparing to oppose bills that neglect the Cooperative Mission Statement: providing reliable electric service at a reasonable cost.
“This country needs to decide how much environmentalism it allows to affect the lifestyles of Americans and at what cost,” says Kays of McCone Electric Co-op. “At this time, I see no way we can meet the power requirements of this country with the tools and options we have been given by governments, both state and federal.”
reporter@sidneyherald.com
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