A judge has ruled that construction of natural gas-fired power plant in Montana can resume, two months after the same judge ordered the project halted due to environmental concerns.

The 175-MW Yellowstone County Generating Station, a $283 million facility sited near Laurel, has been dogged by legal actions after its air permit was challenged in a 2021 lawsuit from the Montana Environmental Information Center and the Sierra Club. The plant, located along the Yellowstone River, would serve customers of South Dakota-based NorthWestern Energy, which operates in South Dakota, Montana, and Nebraska.