Montana gas power plant can resume construction, judge rules
NorthWestern Energy will resume construction of a natural gas power plant along Montana’s Yellowstone River following a two-month delay
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — NorthWestern Energy will resume construction of a natural gas power plant along Montana's Yellowstone River following a two-month delay, a company spokesperson said Friday, after a state judge revived a pollution permit for the project despite lingering concerns over its climate-changing emissions.
Work on the $250 million plant was largely halted in April when Judge Michael Moses canceled its permit and said officials had failed to adequately consider the 23 million tons of greenhouse gases it would emit over several decades.
But Moses reversed his earlier order late Thursday while an appeal from NorthWestern is pending before the Montana Supreme Court. The judge cited a “changing legal landscape” that includes a new state law that eliminated a requirement for state officials to look at climate impacts from emissions.
Moses said restoring the permit also could help avoid future cost increases to customers of Sioux Falls, South Dakota-based NorthWestern, which had warned that the construction delay would drive up the project's price.
