This legislative session will be unlike any we have participated in recently. The makeup of the Legislature and Governor's Office has shifted, and COVID has created a new paradigm for public involvement. There's a lot of uncertainty about how the session will play out. Despite this uncertainty, MREA's advocacy will continue to be driven by our community's priorities and goals. MREA has always, and will always, advocate to: protect and defend the right of Montanans to produce their own energy, promote fair and affordable access to small-scale renewable energy, and oppose policies that attack renewable energy development that will harm consumers and our local, Montana-based industry.
The Session has already started, and many of the more than 3,000 draft bills that we have sorted through still do not have language or specific titles. This makes it difficult to understand which energy issues will become priorities for the legislature. Many of the drafts we're seeing focus on large-scale energy development, with less focus on small-scale renewables. Some of the topics we see emerging include infrastructure and metering, supply planning, and other grid/utility issues. We also expect discussions of technologies like nuclear, renewable hydrogen, and electric vehicles. As this image comes into focus, we ask you to stay engaged with MREA and our advocacy efforts. We will need your help amplifying our voice this session.
Get Involved with MREA's Citizen Advocacy
Action Alerts. Keep an eye on your email this session for our action alerts. Check regularly to make sure they're not going to your 'spam' folder. Plus, help us reach more Montanans by forwarding our email action alerts to your friends and colleagues during the Session. You can sign up for our action alerts here.
Blog Posts. Our Action Alerts are the best way to stay up to date on our advocacy efforts. We will post longer, more detailed updates on our Policy & Advocacy Blog. We typically publish at least two, the first during transmittal break (our Half Time report) and the second after the session (our Wrap Up report).
Join MREA as a member. The larger our voice, the louder we speak. We work directly with our members to engage them in our lobbying and citizen advocacy efforts. Make sure your membership is up to date, and if you're not yet a member join our community to get the insider scoop!
Reach out to us. If you have any questions about a bill, what it means, and/or where it is in the process reach out to MREA. Find our contact information here.
Contacting Legislators and Committees
- Leave a voice message. Call the Capitol at (406) 444-4800 and request to leave messages for the committee members or an individual legislator.
- Send an email. You can send an email to an entire committee or to an individual legislator via the online web messaging form.
- Providing live testimony remotely. This is new this year, and Legislative Services has set up a relatively easy way to sign up. You must sign up by noon the day before the hearing in order to testify remotely by Zoom.
Find our more about public engagement on the "Have Your Say Montana" website, put together by Montana's Legislative Services staff.
Citizen advocacy is critical to our cause. Thank you for your time and efforts!
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