Horse-Drawn Wagons Bring Solar to Remote Montana Ranch

Horse-Drawn Wagons Bring Solar to Remote Montana Ranch

Solar arrived this fall at a remote guest ranch in southwest Montana…and it came by horse-drawn wagon.  The ranch is surrounded by wilderness, and all people and equipment must travel 13 miles by horse and wagon to access it. Motorized vehicles are prohibited by law. The off-grid ranch, which houses up to 30 people at peak season, was until recently powered by a diesel generator running 24 hours a day.  Of course, that meant bringing in thousands of gallons of diesel by horse-drawn wagon, at great expense.  This year, the ranch contracted with Independent Power Systems (IPS) of Bozeman to install…
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Solar, Energy Efficiency Revitalize Historic Borden’s Hotel

Solar, Energy Efficiency Revitalize Historic Borden’s Hotel

Borden’s Hotel in downtown Whitehall, Montana has a colorful history as a saloon, hotel and dance hall dating back to 1913.  But in the decades following the death of original owner Hilda Borden in 1971, the Whitehall landmark has been mostly vacant and fallen into disrepair. Several business owners tried and failed to make a go of it, stymied in part by the high energy bills of an old, leaky building. A 2009 fire proved to be the turning point for the old hotel.  That fire, which destroyed five neighboring buildings but spared Borden’s Hotel, prompted the nonprofit Jefferson Local…
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Victory! Montana-Dakota Utilities drops contested solar fee

HELENA—Homeowners in eastern Montana will no longer face discriminatory fees if they choose to install solar after a Montana utility withdrew its plans earlier this week to levy an extra charge on customers with rooftop solar arrays or small wind generators. Montana-Dakota Utilities (MDU), which serves approximately 25,000 electric customers in eastern Montana, filed a proposal at the Montana Public Service Commission in July to raise rates 21 percent for all customers. The rate case had included an additional fee, called a demand charge, for residential solar customers. In a settlement filed on Thursday, MDU withdrew the charge. “The people…
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Solar “An Easy Decision” for Watson Irrigation

Solar “An Easy Decision” for Watson Irrigation

For Watson Irrigation of Townsend, Montana, solar was primarily a financial decision. “It penciled out quick and easy,” explains Konnor Kelsey, Watson Irrigation Operations Manager.  “We’re expecting a seven year return on investment, and the warranties are ten years for the inverters and 25 years for the panels. Equipment that’s paid off while it’s still under warranty?  It was an easy decision.” In fact, Konnor explains that the firm would have preferred to install a larger solar array, but was prevented from doing so by state law. Watson Irrigation’s solar array is 50 kilowatts, the maximum allowed by the state’s…
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Speak up on Regional Power Plan

The Northwest Power and Conservation Council has released a draft 20-year energy plan that will guide energy resource decisions in Montana, Idaho, Washington and Oregon. It’s crucially important that the Council, which is composed of two members from each of these four states, supports a final plan that prioritizes energy efficiency and renewable energy. Distributed solar resources can play an important role in serving our region’s electricity needs, but it’s important for the Council to hear from you. Every five years the Council updates its long-range energy plan guiding the deployment of electricity resources in the Bonneville Power Administration service…
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Flathead Electric Taps into the Power of Community Solar

Flathead Electric Taps into the Power of Community Solar

Not everyone lives in a home that’s right for solar. Until recently, Montanans that rent their homes or have shady rooftops had no way to benefit from solar electricity. But now they do...at least, if they're members of Flathead Electric Cooperative. Flathead Electric has just completed construction of the first ‘community solar’ project in the state, called the Solar Utility Network, or SUN. Community solar involves a group of people coming together to build one large solar array, as an alternative to each of them putting solar panels on their own rooftops. That means anyone can participate, even if their roof isn’t right…
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Committee weighs the benefits and costs of net metering law

At the September meeting of the Montana Legislature’s Energy and Telecommunications Interim Committee (ETIC), MREA’s Policy Director, Ben Brouwer, presented a preliminary evaluation of the economic impact from net metering on NorthWestern Energy ratepayers and the state’s economy. The message to Legislators from MREA was clear: the economic benefit of net metering far outweighs the costs. The Committee’s study of net metering, triggered by the passage of Senate Joint Resolution 12 in the 2015 Legislature, has entered the data gathering phase. At the committee’s request, electric utilities, the electrical workers’ union and renewable energy industry groups submitted responses on September…
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Clean Power Plan: Governor Bullock needs to hear from you

In August the Environmental Protection Agency released the Clean Power Plan, a responsible step to fight climate change. The plan sets Montana on a path to cut carbon pollution from power plants while re-investing in energy efficiency and renewable energy. This is a path that will protect our clean air and key industries while making room for new jobs in the clean energy sector. But to take full advantage of this opportunity, we need Governor Bullock’s leadership. Let him know that you support a Montana solution to the Clean Power Plan that puts efficiency and renewable energy first. Governor Bullock…
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Power Optimizers Maximize Solar Production on Bozeman Home

Power Optimizers Maximize Solar Production on Bozeman Home

Gary Weiner first considered solar for his Bozeman home about a decade ago. He liked the idea of getting his energy from a renewable source, not to mention the idea of increasing his property value with solar. But at the time, he decided it didn’t pencil out. “It was more expensive back then,” he recalls. His decision was partly based on the partial shading of his roof, which he believed would make rooftop solar impossible and require a costlier freestanding solar array. News about falling solar prices prompted him to take another look earlier this year. This time, Gary got…
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Take Action: Stop Montana Dakota Utilities’ Attack on Solar

In a recent filing before the Public Service Commission, Montana Dakota Utilities proposed a 21% rate increase for their customers. On top of the double-digit rate hike, the utility wants to penalize homeowners who generate their own solar power by adding a new surcharge for net metering customers. MDU hasn’t disclosed how much the solar surcharge will impact an average solar customer, but there’s no question that the fee will make it more difficult for homeowners to control their own power bills with a rooftop solar array. MDU is taking energy choices away from their customers. All of this is…
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