Canadian and Irish companies announced plans Friday to build a 100-mile-long power line in Montana that could prompt construction of wind farms in the Great Falls area by giving developers access to large out-of-state markets hungry for renewable energy. ...Construction of the transmission line would spur the construction of wind projects near it, Jamison said. Gaelectric is studying wind farm construction at several sites across the state, including near Fort Benton and Havre.

A Canadian transmission company and an Irish wind developer said Friday they are teaming up to pursue a central Montana power project that could result in at least $1 billion worth of new wind energy in the Great Falls area. If the project succeeds, it would give Montana's burgeoning wind energy industry room to grow - an expansion that to date has been limited by a lack of lines to move power out of the state.

A Canadian company is seeking wind power developers to move electricity along a pair of $3 billion transmission lines in Montana and Wyoming -- potentially spurring a major increase in renewable power exported from the Rockies to the Southwest. The two lines would move 3,000 megawatts of power from each state. That's more than three times as much wind power as Wyoming currently produces and eight times what Montana has.