Electricity distributor NorthWestern Energy is seeking approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to conduct "open-season" bidding from developers to gain access to two proposed electric transmission lines costing at least $1 billion. The power lines, if approved, could kick start wind farm development in Montana and deliver the renewable electricity produced by wind farms to markets across the West, according to NorthWestern officials. "We want to be the highway," NorthWestern spokeswoman Claudia Rapkoch said.

One way to advance wind energy is to try and destroy materials that potentially would make up a blade in a turbine. In a lab at Montana State University, three machines with two steel fists, roughly the size and shape of coffee cans, attempt to break materials. Held between these fists was a wafer of fiberglass and resin. Some of the machines pulled on a wafer, others pushed. “These machines keep grinding away around the clock,” said Montana State University’s John Mandell.

Bozeman - In a little lab on the campus of Montana State University, John Mandell, Dan Samborsky, and scores of students, have been breaking things to advance the field of wind energy.

The unpredictability of wind requires energy suppliers to coordinate backup supplies. For that reason, "free" wind isn't exactly free.