Montana ballot initiative calls for more renewable energy

Organizers have begun seeking signatures for a ballot initiative requiring investor-owned utilities in Montana to incrementally supply more renewable energy — 80 percent in three decades — to reduce carbon emissions blamed for warming temperatures.

Russell Doty, the chief organizer, acknowledges that the 80 percent target is ambitious. He was in Great Falls on Tuesday where he met with several volunteers to organize the signature-gathering effort. A gradual implementation of the requirement makes it doable, Doty says.

“It’s not unrealistic. It’s absolutely necessary,” Doty said. “Climate scientists have been telling us for years we need to cut down on CO₂ — 97 percent of them.”

Steve Running, professor of ecology at the University of Montana and the author of a chapter in a report by the 2007 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, is an adviser to MTCARES, the not-for-profit formed last fall to promote the ballot initiative, Doty said.

CARES stands for Community Affordable Renewable Energy Saves.

Doty, a Great Falls native who now lives in Greeley, Colo., is the main organizer behind the effort. He worked as general counsel for the Montana Public Service Commission in the 1970s. He is the author of “Poles Apart” on Montana utility regulation.

The initiative will appear on the November general election ballot if 24,175 people sign a petition in support of Initiative-180. MTCARES was given permission to begin gathering signatures two weeks ago after the language was certified by the Montana Attorney General and Secretary of State.

“I can tell you we have a number of people starting to gather signatures in a number of major cities,” Doty said. “If they live up to their goals, there’s a good chance this will be on the ballot.”

Montana’s current renewable portfolio standard, enacted in 2005, requires public utilities and competitive electricity suppliers more than 50 customers to obtain 15 percent of their retail electricity sales from renewable resources.

I-180 would bump the renewable requirement to 19 percent by 2018, followed by increments that would total 50 percent by 2030 and 80 percent 2050.

It would not hold rural electric cooperatives to the same standard, but it would require them to conduct elections to decide whether they should adopt the mandate.

Anticipating closure of coal mines, I-180 also would levy taxes on each kilowatt of electricity produced to fund worker retraining programs and pension safety nets, and to offset reductions in tax revenue from the coal severance tax.

The gradual increase over 33 years would allow utilities to plan and depreciate their fossil-fuel generating assets, thus avoiding stranded costs, Doty said. Stranded costs are the costs of facilities still being paid for in the rate base but no longer producing electricity, Doty said. It also will allow fossil fuel forces to be downsized gradually.

The ballot initiative says 437 coal-related jobs would be lost over the 33 years as a result of the requirements.

One reason I-180 calls for the 50 percent renewable target by 2030 was so it would accomplish what the federal Clean Power Plan would requires, Doty said. That plan requires Montana to reduce carbon emissions by 47 percent by 2030. Even though the Supreme Court put the Obama administration’s on hold in a decision handed down earlier this week, the world still wants climate change addressed, said Doty, referring to the 196 countries that agreed in December to goals limiting the rise in world’s average temperature.

Doty says he’s taking on the ballot initiative because nobody is proposing steps recommended by climate scientists, Doty said. There also are 21 states now that have renewable requirements of more than 15 percent. If the state is going to export power it needs to be the type of power the market demands, he said.

“A lot of places around the country are requiring more green electrons,” Doty said.

For more information

Visit mtcares.org