HELENA — The City of Missoula, Missoula County, the City of Bozeman and NorthWestern Energy are currently in the process of crafting agreements for what they’re deeming the Green Power Program.
A program that would allow local municipalities and industrial businesses to sign up for non-carbon-based energy.
(WATCH: Missoula city and county, alongside the City of Bozeman, are looking to partner with NorthWestern Energy for clean power)
“It's an opportunity for people who want to support new clean energy to do so directly on their utility bill,” Svein Newman, climate action program manager for Missoula County, said.
“I think it will open up just opportunities and choice for businesses that desire to have clean energy, desire to help the environment, just a pathway to access clean power,” Natalie Meyer, sustainability program manager for the City of Bozeman, said.
NorthWestern Energy’s portfolio of energy generation is currently 55.4% carbon-free, largely thanks to hydroelectric generation, like this plant.
With that, the Green Power Program aims to provide local governments and industrial businesses with the option to subscribe to energy that comes from carbon-free sources.
It is important to note that this program will be completely voluntary and must first be approved by the Montana Public Service Commission. But there has been movement in getting the program going, with Missoula County and NorthWestern Energy beginning to finalize what kind of agreements may be put into place.
Agreements that could move power from this plant to communities and businesses who opt in.
While the Green Power Program may still be in its early stages, all parties involved are excited for what the program may bring.
“We know that climate change is real. It's here. If we don't take meaningful action, that's going to get worse. And that's going to impact, you know, drought and temperatures and smoke and all of these things in our life, right? That in order to preserve human health and our quality of life and the things that we love about Missoula, we need to act on climate change. And advancing clean electricity is one of the best things we can do to act on climate change,” Newman said.
“I think certain organizations have some clean energy goals and this is an opportunity that they understand doesn't come around very often,” Meyer said.
“There's been a lot of work that has gone into this for several years and we're, this is a customer-driven program. Northwestern Energy is happy and excited to be partnering with these communities and moving it along through the next steps,” Jo Dee Black, public relations specialist for NorthWestern Energy, said.
It’s hard to say exactly when the program will be fully rolled out, but if approved by the Public Service Commission, then all parties involved will begin finalizing all the details of what a subscription may look like.
