Who will spark the gap? With the standby power necessary to smooth the erratic output of Montana's premier wind power facility becoming difficult to come by at any price, the state's energy technocracy wonders. The Judith Gap wind farm is an impressive operation. According to the company that runs it, Invenergy, its 90 turbines stretch 400 feet into the Big Sky when the blades are fully extended, and each one produces enough electricity to power 300 homes. It's a showcase project in Montana's move toward renewable energy. Yet the cluster of dynamos itself faces a looming power shortage. To integrate the Gap's green electrons into the area's power delivery system, a back-up source of power is required. When the wind isn't blowing, the power that is scheduled to come from the farm has to come from somewhere else.

A pair of wind farm projects in eastern Montana are in jeopardy after a bill that would have allowed an electricity cooperative to own generation equipment was tabled Tuesday by House Republicans. The measure, sponsored by Democratic Sen. Dave Wanzenried of Missoula, would have enabled the Billings-based Green Electricity Buying Cooperative to own $31.7 million in wind-farm projects and sell bonds to finance them. Current law limits the co-op and others like it to buying and supplying power.

A Senate panel controlled by Democrats voted Saturday to shelve Democratic Gov. Brian Schweitzer's proposal offering tax breaks to "clean and green" energy development in Montana. The Senate Taxation Committee voted 7-2 to table Senate Bill 562, advertised by the Schweitzer administration as its signature proposal this session on energy development. It wasn't clear Saturday whether or how the bill might be revived before a procedural deadline early next week. Evan Barrett, the governor's chief economic development officer, said late Saturday that there is broad public support for the idea and that he hopes the bill can be revived and moved through the Legislature. "The bill is on the table; it is not dead," he said. "It's not an easy path right now, but we think everyone will be able to work their way through it.

Because NorthWestern operates the transmission lines, the utility must meet federal reliability standards. That means keeping the power entering the system balanced with the demand, or electricity leaving the system. You might imagine wind power as a child playing with a light switch: On. Off. On. Off. That means NorthWestern must quickly dump or add power to balance its transmission lines. When the turbines at Judith Gap produce too much power, NorthWestern sells it back mainly to Idaho Power, sometimes below cost, according to former Royal Johnson, a Billings businessman, a former state senator and a member of The Gazette editorial board. When there isn't enough wind, NorthWestern may have to pay a premium, Johnson said, of up to $130 per megawatt hour. .........Montana has tons of proposed power projects cued up, Gates said, but one project depends on the other. "They need transmission built, and the question is which gets built first," Gates said. "So it's the chicken-and-the-egg thing." Another note of caution was sounded by Bill Drummond, who heads the Western Montana Generation and Transmission. His customers buy wholesale power from BPA, but those contracts run out in four years. Drought and rising demand is tapping the hydropower resources, so BPA is keeping its supply for its closest customers. Right now there are few sellers of electricity to back up wind power, Drummond said. "Faith-based power marketing is a dangerous thing," he said.

Wind turbines will be built at the Highwood Generation Station, but they can't serve as SME's primary source of electricity, SME General Manager Tim Gregori said. Wind doesn't blow all the time. But customers expect to be able to flip a switch or have their appliance powered whether or not there is a breeze. That leaves coal, hydropower, natural gas or nuclear power as sources. Coal is the most economical and feasible among those choices, Holzer said. "With 25 percent of this nation's coal supply in Montana, it needs to be a part of our energy picture," he said.

The Montana Public Service Commission voted 4-1 Jan. 29 to oppose a Montana Senate bill that would allow a renewable energy cooperative to move forward with plans to create two wind power generation sites, the PSC chairman told the Senate Natural Resources and Energy Committee. In a note of explanation, the author of SB337, Russ Doty, wrote, “This legislation is needed to allow the Green Electricity Buying Co-op (GEBCO) to own the windmills that it has received authorization to finance with zero interest Clean Renewable Energy Bonds (CREBs). Without this legislation the $31.7 million in CREBs authorizations will be forfeited and likely reassigned to other states.” Mr. Doty is the executive director of the Billings-based co-op. The co-op plans to use the bonds to build two 20-megawatt wind farms in Montana. One site would be south of Fort Peck on the Towe Farm in McCone County. The other facility would sit near Molt Road in Yellowstone County, a press release said.

Gov. Brian Schweitzer wants property tax breaks as big as 75 percent for “clean and green” energy development and transmission, part of his effort to develop energy resources in the state. Schweitzer unveiled details on the tax breaks Wednesday, which he hinted at during his State of the State Address last week. A leading Republican in the Legislature said he thought the incentive package would receive bipartisan support.

House and Senate Democrats proposed changes to state electricity laws Tuesday that they said are needed to jump-start several wind farm projects. The bill by Sen. Dave Wanzenried, D-Missoula, would allow electricity cooperatives to own wind turbines and other energy equipment. Current law limits co-ops to buying and supplying power.

If Montana is going to develop more of its wind, coal, oil and gas, it will need ways to move energy products beyond its borders, and a new state board or authority can help encourage new power lines and pipelines, supporters of the idea said Monday. “It really doesn’t matter what fuel choice you prefer - coal, wind - it needs transmission,” said John Alke, a lawyer representing Montana-Dakota Utilities. “It’s become an all-important choice in fuel selection and site selection (for projects).” Alke and a host of other energy-industry lobbyists and developers testified Monday in favor of House Bill 114, by Rep. Alan Olson, R-Roundup, which would create a state energy “transmission and transportation authority.” The authority, appointed by the governor, would help plan, analyze and coordinate placement and construction of power lines and pipelines to move energy produced in Montana to markets - mostly outside the state. While Gov. Brian Schweitzer has been a vocal promoter of energy development in Montana, his office did not support the bill on Monday.

The leadership of the Montana House of Representatives has accused the Public Service Commission of trying to skirt consumer protections that became law in 2005. In a letter to PSC Chairman Greg Jergeson, House Speaker Scott Sales and House Majority Leader Mike Lange warned that any attempt to go around the protections built into last session’s Senate Bill 415 would be met by “appropriate action” from the House. The controversy centers around who will pay for the cost of ancillary services associated with small-scale alternative power generation. Those are items related to the generation and delivery of power that don’t include its simple generation, transmission and delivery. Some of those services would include energy loss, energy imbalance, scheduling and dispatching, according to SB 415. Commissioner Jergeson said that in 1993 the PSC decided that facilities that were rated fewer than three megawatts were not on the hook for those costs. None of the current commissioners were serving then. The commission recently ruled that generation facilities with capacities under 10 megawatts would not have to pay ancillary costs.

A bitterly divided Public Service Commission on Tuesday approved new prices for small “renewable” power projects in Montana selling to NorthWestern Energy, with Republicans arguing the decision will cost electric ratepayers more money. Yet Democrats, who made up the 3-2 majority approving the rates, said the prices and standard contract are required by law and won’t increase rates by much, if at all. They also said the decision will help encourage development of small wind-power and other alternative energy projects across Montana.

The man charged with leading power line projects in Wyoming says Montana’s new plan to supply electricity to markets in the Southwest won’t compete with similar plans in Wyoming. In fact, he says, it might even help.

Gov. Brian Schweitzer, joined by industry executives, announced plans Monday to build one of the longest electricity transmission lines seen in the West in 40 years - a line that would carry “green” energy to big energy markets thousands of miles away. The governor, who has placed coal-to-liquid fuel facilities as one of his top priorities, said he is promising to help TransCanada get environmental permits for the project that the company said could cost $2 billion. If successful, the line would run from the coal fields of Montana to the Las Vegas, Los Angeles and Phoenix energy markets. It would carry electricity created by either wind power or synthetic gas derived from coal to meet clean energy requirements in the Southwest.

Montana for two decades endured a tug-of-war between groups wanting no development in the state and others wanting a no-holds-barred approach, a state official said Tuesday. Evan Barrett said most Montanans are in the middle of those two extremes, and he said Gov. Brian Schweitzer is too. Barrett, the governor's chief business development officer, said the administration wants energy development but wants it done responsibly.

HELENA - Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Jon Tester has staked a good chunk of his political reputation on his support for alternative energy, like wind power. But when you hear his opponent, U.S. Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont., talk energy policy these days, the two often sound the same. Burns, long seen as a reliable friend of the oil and gas industry, is touting his work on alternative energy, noting that the 2005 federal energy bill contained vital incentives to boost wind power. "We would not have the windmills going up in Montana had it not been for our work in that energy bill," says Burns. "Nothing moved until we got those (tax) credits for wind."

Small power producer Lee Tavenner had heard plenty of talk about promoting “alternative” or “renewable” in Montana - but this week, he’s hoping the talk might translate into action. “I see a state that has gone crazy about wind power, but will not do anything with the best method to promote it,” he said. “This is a tool that can actually implement, rather than just talk, about renewable energy.” Tavenner, who installs solar-power systems and owns a small hydroelectric project near Philipsburg, is talking about an obscure set of federal and state laws that have helped launch independent, alternative-power plants across America since the early 1980s. This week, whether these laws are being enforced properly in Montana comes to a head before the Montana Public Service Commission. In a complex case that’s had scant publicity, the PSC will decide issues that could provide a boost to small wind, hydro or other renewable-power projects.

Gov. Brian Schweitzer touted the state’s economy and energy potential in speeches here and in Billings. “The economic conditions have never been better in Montana,” Schweitzer told City Club Missoula members Monday night. “We have the lowest unemployment rate in the history of our state. If you have a job to fill, you can’t find people.” But he said the prosperity doesn’t extend to eastern Montana. “In eastern Montana, the towns are getting smaller and the age of the population is getting greater and the bright kids are leaving because there are no opportunities for them,” Schweitzer said. Schweitzer then pushed his plan to develop new energy sources in eastern Montana, from the traditional such as coal, to wind power and biofuels.

PORTLAND, Ore. -- At the halfway point between the West Coast energy crisis of 2001 and the next major electricity contract renewal year of 2011, a federal power marketing agency is proposing a policy change that could affect rates in the Pacific Northwest for generations and become a national model for energy development. Northwest hydropower is one of the cheapest energy resources in the nation - about half the current market rate for electricity. The Bonneville Power Administration - which sells power in all of Washington, Oregon and Idaho and parts of California, Nevada, Utah, Wyoming and Montana - announced this summer that it wants to change the way it charges utilities for its wholesale power to keep rates low.

Coal gasification is promising, and wind farms are popping up or planned across the state, he said. Some wind developers think they might be able to provide a steady source of power from wind by locating wind farms all around Montana, Schweitzer said. Others think that would be impractical and say the wind farms must be supplemented by coal plants or other stable power sources.

The clean, green power from the Judith Gap Wind Farm that debuted last fall has been more intermittent than anticipated. And that is causing problems for NorthWestern Energy, the utility that must balance supply and demand on its transmission lines.