Energy company assess wind potential north of Glasgow

The Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation on Jan. 13 will issue a request for proposal for the development of a 100-megawatt wind energy project on state School Trust lands located 20 miles north of Glasgow.

DNRC Director Mary Sexton said the agency received a request from Florida-based Sansur Renewable Energy, Inc. to have placed for competitive bid the rights to explore the feasibility of wind energy production on 7,256 acres of state School Trust lands, which are managed for the financial benefit of trust beneficiaries, predominantly Montana’s K-12 public schools.

“The American Wind Energy Association ranks Montana in the top five for states with wind energy potential, and our School Trust lands continue to play a key role in realizing that potential,” Sexton said. “Since 2006 we’ve seen development begin on three new wind energy projects involving state land. I’m excited we may have the opportunity to develop another.”

"We're excited about it," said Valley County Commissioner Dave Pippin. "If it brings commercial wind development to Valley County, it would be a wonderful thing. There are always jobs and industry that come with that.

"We are all cognizant of the fact that we need to see some kind of development energy-wise. The oil barrel will go dry. Wind has been blowing forever. We need to tap into it."

Securing exploration rights is the first step in the process of developing a wind farm, allowing the energy company to install measuring equipment to collect wind data and assess the project’s feasibility. A wind farm operation plan is then subject to review under the Montana Environmental Policy Act, which provides opportunity for public comment and participation.

This is the point at which a previous wind farm plan for Valley County stumbled and eventually failed. From 2004 to 2008, a Texas-based corporation named WindHunter tried to establish a 500MW project on BLM, School Trust and private land just east of the Bitter Creek Wilderness Study Area in north central Valley County. Environmental protests about the sight of the 400-foot-tall towers from the Bitter Creek caused the plan to be slashed from about 330 towers to 33 towers, then three. There were also bottlenecks in the transmission line capacity for the power.

To date, 13 wind turbines have been constructed on School Trust lands in Montana, contributing $60,000 annually to the Common Schools trust. The Montana State Land Board on Jan. 17 will consider approval of a lease for the Coyote Wind Project near Springdale in Sweet Grass County. The Coyote project includes 36 wind turbines generating 64.8 megawatts on private land and eight turbines generating 14.4 megawatts on School Trust land.