This small nondescript building, where the sound of whirring engines can barely be heard just feet away from the plant, enough electricity is produced to light more than 40,000 homes. The natural-gas-fired operation, which came online in 2006 ...The plant can go from a dead stop to fully operational in nine minutes, providing the perfect complement to the wind power coming from Judith Gap in Central Montana. "Wind obviously doesn't blow evenly all day long," Markovich said. "This helps us fill in the gaps."

Some Montana farmers still are worried about how the Montana Alberta Tie Line will affect farming operations and say they want impacts minimized before they sign final agreements with developer Tonbridge Power Co. "We want it done as farming friendly as possible, and we've had to really work on this," said Lee Otness, who farms near Brady.

Montana's Department of Natural Resources and Conservation (DNRC) says it has received a request from Sansur Renewable Energy asking that 7,256 acres of state-owned land be opened for possible development of a 100 megawatt wind farm. In response, DNRC on Wednesday issued a request for proposals to open the acreage to competitive bids.

Whitehall Wind, which is controlled by Gamesa, proposed a 50-megawatt wind farm in Jefferson County in the early 2000s, and sought to sell power to NorthWestern under a federal law that says utilities must buy power from small, independent generators of "renewable" power. The law says if the utility and the power-project developer can't agree to a contract, the Public Service Commission must set rates and conditions for a contract.

Great Falls' municipal utility arm, Electric City Power, faces a $23,260 fine from the state Public Service Commission for failing to obtain renewable energy credits in 2008. In a unanimous vote at a work session last Tuesday, the PSC voted 5-0 to fine Electric City Power, rejecting city requests for leniency.

Minneapolis-based National Wind LLC on Monday announced the formation of Judith Highlands Energy LLC, and plans to develop more than 500 megawatts of community-owned wind projects in four central-Montana counties. The project's first phase incorporates more than 50,000 acres in Judith Basin, Wheatland, Golden Valley and Fergus counties.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission announced Thursday that it has approved a $161 million loan to the company building the Montana Alberta Tie Line between Great Falls and Lethbridge. The Western Area Power Administration will loan Toronto-based Tonbridge Power Inc. - the project's developer - money with funds from the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act of 2009, also known as the federal stimulus bill.

The developer of a $213 million transmission line being eagerly awaited by wind developers said construction is set to begin following the decision Thursday by the Supreme Court of Canada to refuse to hear an appeal of the project's permit. With the court's decision, all avenues for legal challenges have been exhausted and Montana Alberta Tie Ltd. will now be able to begin construction on both sides of the border by December.

A federal ruling that went against NorthWestern Energy on a proposed power line shouldn't change basic plans for the 430-mile line to export homegrown power to out-of-state markets, company officials say. But the recent order has piqued the attention of state regulators, who say they're wondering whether NorthWestern's Montana electric customers could end up paying for part of the line.

Molnar, R-Laurel, says the proposed 430-mile power line into southern Idaho is nothing more than a way to drain inexpensive Montana-produced power out of the state and into lucrative California markets. ...If PPL, which supplies about half the power for NorthWestern's customers, could move more power to California markets, it could demand a much higher price from Montanans, Molnar says.

A Canadian energy company and an arm of the U.S. Energy Department are working on a deal to complete financing for a proposed Montana-Alberta power line that would span 214 miles and carry power from the region's emerging wind industry, officials said Tuesday.

Next week, state utility regulators will give NorthWestern Energy the green light to build a new natural gas-fired power plant near Anaconda - a plant estimated to raise the average homeowner's electric rates by $35 to $50 a year in 2011. ...Electric utilities need a source of power they can draw on to keep their system in electrical balance, to fill in gaps caused by fluctuating demand for power or intermittent power sources such as wind.

Despite a recent judicial victory for a big wind-power line between Montana and Canada, developers remain cautious about the project's prospects. At the same time, there's a huge unmet demand for electrical transmission lines to get wind-generated power from resource-rich Montana to the rest of power-parched America. "We're currently monitoring as many as 50 projects ...," said Chantel McCormick, senior energy development specialist for the Montana Department of Commerce.

A group of southern Alberta landowners has lost its fight to block a proposed power line that would run from Lethbridge into Montana. The Alberta Court of Appeal has ruled that the province's energy regulator was right when it said it didn't have the power to re-examine the location of the line's corridor, which had already been approved by the National Energy Board.

The state has approved the construction of up to 15 wind turbines on 3,080 acres of school-trust land as part of a 300-megawatt wind farm five miles northeast of Martinsdale. ...The 58-megawatt first phase will cost an estimated $200 million, and include the seven to 15 turbines on state land plus additional turbines on adjacent private land.

Jim Hicks summed up the sentiment of everyone in a crowd of nearly 200 people who packed a meeting Thursday evening in Butte to hear about a proposed power line that might come close to their homes. "It would basically make half of my ranch worthless," Hicks said, with his comments drawing loud applause. "What benefits would this provide to southwestern Montana?"

Developer Tonbridge Power Inc. announced Tuesday that it has successfully negotiated settlements with four Montana landowners who had objected to its Montana Alberta Tie Line transmission project. "What it means is there are no further holdups for construction of this line in the state of Montana," said Richard Opper, director of the state Department of Environmental Quality. The settlement clears up opposition in Montana, but a group of Alberta landowners continues to fight plans for the $140 million transmission line.

Construction of a $140 million transmission line between Great Falls and Lethbridge, Alberta, has been delayed at least five months because of appeals in the United States and Canada ...The anticipated start of construction, which was slated for March, is now sometime this fall.

Thanks largely to the booming energy industry, Montana drivers - particularly those who frequent two-lane highways - have been encountering more and more supersize truck traffic. ...John Hanson, co-owner of Whitewood Transportation in Billings, said the superloads are "kind of becoming an industry standard." Especially when shipping industrial components to places like Canada, where wages are high and conditions harsh, it makes economic sense to assemble ever-larger pieces in foreign factories and put them together on site.