EBS STAFF
BIG
SKY – On Nov. 3 and 4, representatives from NorthWestern Energy met with representatives
from various Big Sky organizations, the city of Missoula and Missoula County, Bozeman,
and Helena at The Wilson Hotel Residence Inn Ballroom to begin talks on
renewable energy, reducing community carbon footprints and the potential
impacts of climate change on a ski town.
With
the recent advent of Big Sky’s first-ever sustainability committee joining a
global chorus for changes in thinking, technology and infrastructure, it’s only
fitting the cohort met in Big Sky, and the representatives discussed ways to
potentially work together in hitting select goals, such as making places in
Montana net-zero energy by 2030.
Another
hope is to facilitate a means, through tentative legislation similar to that
enacted earlier this year in Utah, to allow utility providers like NorthWestern
Energy to make leaps in renewable energy services without the consumer footing
the bill for upgrades.
“Customers
want increasingly renewable energy,” said Eric Austin, associate professor at
Montana State University and the event facilitator. “We’re really excited by the
possibility to make that happen here … We’re here thinking through what that
looks like.”