Colstrip Hearing Bus Trip

On Wednesday, November 8, the Montana Sierra Club is organizing free transportation for those who want to attend and testify at a public hearing in Spokane on shutting down the coal-fired electrical generators at Colstrip. The Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission is hearing testimony on whether (and when) the Colstrip plants should be closed. The Sierra Club bus is leaving at 9 a.m. and will be back to Missoula at 8 p.m.

As you may know, Montana’s power plants at Colstrip are owned by out-of-state companies — although NorthWestern Energy owns a small part of the power produced by one of the four plants. The big companies have decided to decommission the plants between now and 2027. But there’s one holdout, Avista Energy in Spokane.

This hearing is a chance to let Avista know that Montanans know the source of our megafires, drought, and drying rivers and streams: the continued burning of greenhouse-gas-polluting plants like Colstrip. Over ninety percent of Montanans think Montana should expand its solar energy. Eighty-five percent say we should expand our wind energy. When asked a direct question, do you favor replacing the coal plants at Colstrip with renewable energy, 74 percent of Montanans say YES! (http://mtvotersedfund.org/news/mcv-education-fund-releases-clean-energy-public-lands-issue-poll/)