Montanans love the state’s Constitution. Why doesn’t NorthWestern Energy?
The Laurel Generation Station power plant in Laurel Montana as seen in September 2023. (Aerial photography by Ed Saunders)
Soon, Montanans will have an opportunity to show support for our constitutional rights while witnessing democracy in action.
On May 15 at 9:30 a.m., in Helena, the public can observe the Montana Supreme Court hear a case that could have immense consequences for our health, finances, and the prosperity of future generations.
In simple terms, the hearing will explore how NorthWestern Energy’s controversial methane-fired plant under construction in Laurel sits with Montanans’ constitutional right to a clean and healthful environment. Unfortunately, the monopoly energy corporation has repeatedly shown greater concern with expanding executive salaries and shareholder profits than with respecting our laws or caring for our future.
NorthWestern’s $310 million plant would saddle Montanans with higher energy bills on top of the historic 28% rate hike it recently levied on ratepayers. It would emit hundreds of tons of dangerous and carcinogenic airborne toxins in the Yellowstone Valley each year. Most relevant to this court case, it would also emit 23 million tons of climate-degrading pollution that contributes to the chaotic weather projected to cost taxpayers and Montana’s ag and recreation communities hundreds of millions in the coming years. Even the Montana Public Service Commission staff recently criticized NorthWestern for its lack of transparency and failure to consider more affordable, non-polluting energy sources in its planning.
The case — Montana Environmental Information Center and Sierra Club vs. MT DEQ, NorthWestern Corporation, and the State of MT — is specifically about the air quality permit the Montana Department of Environmental Quality granted NorthWestern for its plant, sited next to the iconic Yellowstone River (constructed on land zoned for agricultural use, by the way). The court must decide whether our constitutional right to “a clean and healthful environment,” and the state’s constitutional obligation to maintain it, require such permits to evaluate a project’s climate pollution. When issuing the permit, DEQ refused to assess the climate impacts of burning methane or the impacts of all the associated methane leakage from wellhead to the plant.
Methane has 80 times greater warming impacts to our atmosphere than carbon dioxide during its first 20 years. It’s this atmospheric heating that contributed to record-low levels of snowpack this year, burdening our ski industry with a huge financial hit and threatening our lakes’ and rivers’ water levels that impact fishing, wildlife, and agriculture. According to the Natural Resources Conservation Service, 95% of the state is experiencing abnormally dry or extreme drought conditions. It’s increasingly clear that ignoring climate pollution jeopardizes the things we love most in Montana.
But this case has serious ramifications for the health of our democracy, too. The executive branch, of which DEQ is a part, wants to undermine the role our elected state judiciary plays as a constitutional check on the other two branches of government. It argues that the courts have no meaningful say in determining the constitutionality of these permits. Does DEQ think it is above the law, that neither judges nor citizens can challenge its decisions or speak for our constitutional rights?
If the executive branch wins this argument, the people of Montana would be unprotected from erroneous, illegal, even corrupt executive and legislative decisions, without recourse. Montana’s days under the stranglehold of the Copper Kings remind us why proper checks and balances are needed to prevent wealthy corporations from controlling government offices and running roughshod over everyday people.
State agencies exist to serve and protect we the people. Instead, DEQ is enabling NorthWestern Energy in its moves to conceal, pollute, and gouge ratepayers.
Karen Stears is a Billings resident, healthcare professional, and a member of Northern Plains Resource Council, a grassroots conservation and family agriculture group.
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