By Tom Lutey, Billings Gazette
In a plan that allows its largest carbon-emitting asset in Montana to continue burning through 2044, NorthWestern Energy announced Thursday it was committed to net-zero emissions by 2050.
The utility emphasized its current plans to build two “on-demand” natural-gas-fired power plants, one in Montana and one in South Dakota. The plants would be capable of being scaled up or down to accommodate variable power from renewable resources, a responsiveness that the utility’s existing combined cycle power plants don’t have.
