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Governor Schweitzer breaks ground on New Hydro Electric Plant

By KFBB News Team

Story Created: Jul 14, 2010 at 5:43 PM MDT

Story Updated: Jul 15, 2010 at 4:35 PM MDT

Governor Brian Schweitzer was in Fairfield today to break ground on a new hydro electric power plant. Turnbull Hydro will build two new power houses in the Greenfield Irrigation District, but instead of using river water, the project will take advantage of the canals farmers use to grow their crops.

The power houses will be built on an existing canal drop and are expected to generate 13 megawatts of energy. Enough power for up to 7000 homes. The Irrigation District thinks taking advantage of the water is a good idea, but is sure to point out using the water for farming is still most important. “The priority will still be delivering water to the farmers and that will not be affected,” Greenfield Irrigation Board President Tim Brunner says.

Ted Sorenson, with Turnbull Hydro, knows he wouldn't be building the power houses if he didn't guarantee farmers would still get the water. “This will be a non consumptive use of the water. My saying is that the water will still be very wet and the only thing it will be missing is the kilowatts,” he says. He is also quick to point out the green aspect of the over $10 million project. Saying, “There is no smokestack, it is a clean renewable resource and the impacts to the environment are very minimal.”

Governor Schweitzer says the canals may be the next source of hydro power for the state. “This is probably the kind of hydro electric energy we’ll produce in the future of Montana. We’ve probably built a dam on all the rivers we can, so this means that there’s going to be a lot of off river sites that we’re going to be looking at,” he says.

The water in the canals only flows about four months out of the year, when farmers irrigate. So, Turnbull will have a limited time to build the houses and reap their benefits. NorthWestern Energy has agreed to buy the power for the next 20 years, helping meet its renewable energy requirement of 15 percent by 2015. “We’re increasing our renewable energy portfolio at the fastest rate in the country. Not a single state is increasing at the rate that we are and we just need to keep moving,” Governor Schweitzer says.

Sorenson, has built power plants on rivers and canals, and says canals are a lot easier. “You don’t have to divert any new water from the river system the water’s already diverted and it’s very environmentally benign. So, I prefer the canals,” he says.

This is the first power house on the canals in the Greenfield Irrigation District and one of the first in the whole state. NorthWestern Energy says this project will help diversify its renewable energy portfolio, which currently relies heavily on wind energy. The project is expected to be complete by the irrigation season next year.

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