Montana Court Reverses on $283M Gas Power Plant Project Halt

Project is also core to separate lawsuit by 16 plaintiffs, aged five to 22, against Montana for violating state constitution in promoting fossil fuel development

1-NorthWestern Energy. aurel-plant-Feb-2023-Drone-7.png

Construction of 175-MW gas power plant in Laurel, Mont., can resume after a state court judge in June reversed his earlier project halt after a new state law no longer requires regulators to consider project greenhouse gas emissions.

Photo Courtesy NorthWestern Energy

Construction of a $283-million gas-fired power plant in Laurel, Mont., has resumed after a state court judge in June reversed his earlier ruling to halt the project for a flawed environmental impact review. The action followed enactment of a new state law that no longer requires regulators to consider a project’s greenhouse gas emissions when permitting.

Judge Michael Moses had stopped work in April on the 175-MW Yellowstone County Generating Station, for which Burns & McDonnell was named EPC contractor, saying state utility NorthWestern Energy did not adequately consider the 23 million tons of greenhouse gases it would emit over several decades. He retired from the bench July 1.

Montana environmental law was amended in 2011 to prevent project reviews from considering environmental impacts, but last month, after Yellowstone plant construction was stopped, it was revised again to specifically ban the state from considering greenhouse gas emissions when reviewing new energy projects.

The plant, which initially began construction in 2021, is set to operate in 2024. Plant opponents have a separate legal action against its proximity to town.

In a May opinion, NorthWestern Energy Vice President John Hines said the project was selected two years ago in a project solicitation that included "wind, solar, storage, hybrid and other conventional technology projects ... to provide 24/7, on-demand generation" needed for reliable service in all weather conditions.

He said a "third-party solicitation evaluator recommended the project to meet that need reliably at the least cost," claiming a wind or solar project scaled to provide generation equal to the Yellowstone County plant "would cost more than $2 billion and $4 billion respectively. Our customers can’t afford those project price tags."

But the project also is core to a separate state lawsuit that completed trial on June 20, filed by 16 young people aged five to 22 against Montana for actions they claim promote fossil fuel development that has created and worsened climate change and violates state constitution provisions that “the state and each person shall maintain and improve a clean and healthful environment for present and future generations.”

The suit was filed by advocacy group Our Children’s Trust on behalf of the plaintiffs, with similar actions also pending in Utah, Virginia, Hawaii, and Alaska courts and in a federal court.

A bench trial ruling from state Judge Kathy Seeley is expected by late August.

Mary B. Powers has reported on engineering and construction issues in the global energy and environmental sectors for more than 30 years from Washington, D.C. and Birmingham, Ala. She formerly wrote for the Platt's group of energy sector publications under McGraw Hill and S&P Global that included Inside Energy and Megawatt Daily, and was state editor for the Lexington, Ky., Herald Leader. Mary has a master’s degree in journalism from The American University.

Post a comment to this article

How can you make AI work for your team? Unlock new levels of collaboration by leveraging AI to accelerate contract negotiations, mitigate risks, and streamline project preparation and execution. In this webinar, hear first-hand how industry pros improved negotiation outcomes, resolved sticking points faster, and aligned their teams for project success.