Got a Minute to Make a Difference for Montana’s Future?

Here’s one very concrete thing you can do to speed Montana’s conversion
from fossil fuels to renewable energy.

I want to give you some background,
not too much, and then give you a chance to influence a powerful committee
making some decisions about solar energy and small-scale wind development
in Montana.

The only thing is, you have to do it before Thursday, August 25.

Solar energy is one of the solutions. Free of greenhouse gases, it is one
of the easiest ways to halt runaway climate change. There is nothing
mysterious or technically challenging about going to solar energy from
rooftops and large commercial arrays. With the recent drop in prices, a
solar energy boom is just waiting to happen.

The problems — limits on payment, limits on size, and ownership of the
power generated — are all bureaucratic, arbitrary limits. It’s called
net-metering. NorthWestern Energy pays you for the power you generate
beyond what you can use, and the utility guarantees energy from the grid
when you need more than your panels provide. A well-designed system
balances out.

Only Montana’s last Legislature couldn’t agree on new rules for
net-metering and referred the issue to an interim committee. For 16 months,
the Energy & Telecommunications Interim Committee (ETIC) has been hearing
from NorthWestern Energy, the Montana Renewable Energy Association, and
fossil fuel lobbyists and is now ready to announce its findings.

Climate change activists and solar energy supporters can support rules to
encourage our transition to renewable energy by sending an email to the
Committee at this address:

[email protected]

Tell committee members that you’re concerned about global warming and that
the Montana Legislature should encourage the expansion of solar and wind
power as rapidly as possible. Because solar and wind power are so critical
to fighting runaway climate change, the Committee should get rid of
arbitrary limits on the size of renewable energy developments and continue
robust incentives for residential customers, neighborhoods, and communities
that install solar panels and wind generators.

If the Committee is reforming net-metering rules for Montana, it should:

provide solid incentives and regulatory certainty for Montana’s growing
solar industry,
assure people who install solar panels that their investment will pay
itself back quickly, and
open up new opportunities for cutting greenhouse gases and providing
energy savings in commercial and public buildings.

You can also write a letter and send it to: Legislative Services Division,
ATTN: Sonja Nowakowski, P.O. Box 201704, Helena, MT 59620-1704. Remember
the deadline is this Thursday.

Thanks,

Jeff Smith, Chair, 350 Missoula

http://www.350montana.org