"Wean PSE Off Montana Coal Power? It’s Not Looking Easy"

"Retiring and replacing Montana’s Colstrip Generating Station, an important supplier to Puget Sound Energy, could be distressingly complicated and costly, public officials and energy executives are finding."

"OLYMPIA — Montana’s Colstrip Generating Station may be 650 miles from the Washington state border, but the coal plant continues to vex lawmakers, regulators and energy executives.

The Colstrip station — which supplies about 20 percent of the power used by Puget Sound Energy (PSE) — has been listed as one of the biggest polluting coal facilities in the country, according to studies by environmental advocacy groups using government data. The Sierra Club and Montana Environmental Information Center have sued in federal court, alleging the plant violates Clean Air Act standards and calling for pollution-control upgrades or, absent that, fines for the owners.

But with worries about pollution, and the nation’s push toward cleaner power, come worries over money."

Joseph O’Sullivan reports for the Seattle Times September 13, 2015.