Well, it looks like the “green jobs” message, abandoned by the Obama Administration, is now making a comeback in the political talking points. According to a guest opinion column drafted by Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT), get this- wind power is cheaper and it creates jobs in Montana.
I know what you’re thinking: if wind power is cheaper than other forms of electricity, then why do we have to force people to buy it? Or, if wind power is cheaper, then why do rural electric coops- intent on providing the cheapest power possible to their customers- argue that they should be exempt from the green power mandate passed by then-state Senator Jon Tester while he was serving in the State Legislature?
Well, despite all the above, Senator Tester maintains that wind power is cheaper and that his Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) was so successful that it led to the development of the Judith Gap Wind Project. Of course, he fails to mention that Judith Gap was built *before* he pushed the green power mandate on the state. That mandate is now causing double digit rate hikes for MDU customers in Montana. Despite all of those facts, though, you have to hand it to Sen. Tester: rather than just tell folks, “yes, green power is more expensive, but it is worthwhile” he is actually attempting to make the argument that green power is somehow cheaper. I’ll bet the health care bill is lowering insurance rates too?
Here’s part of what he had to say in the op-ed (full op-ed included below):
A recent opinion has been making the rounds in Montana newspapers, claiming that wind energy is too expensive and would somehow result in higher energy prices in our state. That’s what I call junk science. You don’t have to look very far to see the jobs and economic development that come with a renewable energy standard.
When I was in the Montana Senate in 2005, I passed bills creating Montana’s renewable energy standard and cutting property taxes on wind energy development. A few months later, construction began on Montana’s first wind farm near Judith Gap. It has produced millions of dollars in economic benefits since.
But the same reasons for opposing cap-and-trade can and ought to be applied to RES, which ought to be labeled “cap-and-subsidize.”
Under cap-and-trade, electric utilities would be compensated for higher generation costs by charging consumers more for electricity and by selling billions of dollars of carbon credits, which they received for free courtesy of taxpayers.
Under RES, electric utilities would be similarly compensated for higher generation costs, courtesy of over-charged consumers and untold billions in taxpayer subsidies.
So the difference between RES and cap-and-trade is merely a change in form, not a change in substance of an economy-killing consumer/taxpayer rip-off.
Here’s part of what Kavulla had to say:
It’s all very convenient for big-government, crusading liberals to talk of energy companies as being “addicted” to coal or oil. But, really, they’re not. They — and we — are addicted to low cost, reliable fuels sources. It really is as simple as that. If wind was in fact cheaper, utilities, co-ops, private energy trading firms, and everyone else would be throwing all of their might behind it.
Instead, even though the price of wind has already been artificially suppressed by Congress (the production tax credit–will Congress renew it next year?), people are often still not taking the bait or are having to be compelled to do so through state laws like Montana’s RPS.
On the political side, I am very surprised that Tester is raising this issue. It must be out of an attempt to defend his record which is clearly under attack. You would think he would have seen this issue surface in the Public Service Commission debates, and then watched as even long time legislator Don Ryan (D-Great Falls) and commissioner Ken Toole (D-Helena) were both defeated by the Republican candidates opposing the mandates. Instead of learning from their defeat and work to simply put the green power mandates behind him, Tester is not only standing by the measure, he is now advocating the same policy at the national level.
I guess if you’re about to fall, you may as well go down holding the flag.
FULL OP-ED BY SEN. TESTER
U.S. Senator Jon Tester
Op-Ed
November 15, 2010
Renewable Energy Standard a job creator in Montana
A recent opinion has been making the rounds in Montana newspapers, claiming that wind energy is too expensive and would somehow result in higher energy prices in our state. That’s what I call junk science. You don’t have to look very far to see the jobs and economic development that come with a renewable energy standard.
When I was in the Montana Senate in 2005, I passed bills creating Montana’s renewable energy standard and cutting property taxes on wind energy development. A few months later, construction began on Montana’s first wind farm near Judith Gap. It has produced millions of dollars in economic benefits since.
Folks in Cut Bank, Great Falls and Baker have also seen the number of jobs wind energy creates and what it does for the local tax base. Soon, folks in places like Big Timber, Shelby, Martinsdale and Chester could too.
Today Montana produces nearly 400 megawatts of wind energy—up from zero just ten years ago—and more wind farms are in the works. Why? Because wind energy is low-cost, it’s easy to create, and it creates jobs. We are also investing in the infrastructure needed to get our energy to the marketplace. The Montana-Alberta Tie Line and the wind farms it will connect will lead to hundreds of millions of dollars in investment in our state, and it’s creating good skilled-labor jobs.
Under Montana’s renewable energy standard, Northwestern Energy doesn’t even have to buy wind power if it’s more expensive than the average of their other sources. And the cost of energy from Judith Gap is far below market rates. So I won’t buy any argument that wind is expensive and will drive up your power rates. Neither should you.
Of course, we still have a long way to go to address our nation’s energy crisis. Cutting our dependence on foreign oil is a matter of national and economic security.
Thankfully Montana stands to be a world leader in energy development thanks to our wind, our oil and gas, our coal, our biofuels, our geothermal and solar energy, and our cutting edge research. I’m not going to turn my back on any of these resources. But I am going to fight like heck to make sure we’re creating jobs across our energy sector—not stifling competition.
Finally, some want Montanans to believe a renewable energy standard and tax credits are “subsidies.” That’s more junk. They just put wind on an equal footing with traditional energy resources that continue to receive significant subsidies without a renewable energy standard even in place. Energy prices in Montana aren’t going up because of wind. We have deregulation to thank for that. In fact, that bad decision by the Montana Legislature was the reason I got involved in politics more than a decade ago.
Don’t believe these out-of-state claims that renewable energy is somehow bad for Montana. There’s room for all energy development in Montana. And as we move forward with energy policy in Congress, I ask you to research the facts. Feel free to call my office. Just know I won’t ever compromise Montana, the resources it has to offer, and the jobs we’ll create across our energy sector and across our state.
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