The best way to attract renewable energy investors is to have legislation supportive of new renewable energy projects. Montana’s renewable energy standard, tax credits, different production incentives, production tax reductions, property tax exemptions, utility grants and loans, and a green power program should be more than capable to attract new investors. The Montana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) has also proven its usefulness in determining the feasibility of investing in wind energy by providing reliable and accurate wind monitoring data on different sites across the state.
Montana belongs to US states with renewable energy standard, and Montana’s renewable energy standard was adopted in 2005. Montana’s goal is to have 15% of its energy coming from renewable energy sources by 2015, and by the current looks of it, the only way Montana can achieve this goal is to develop large scale wind energy projects.
Things have already started moving in the right direction, especially after the new 309 megawatt wind energy project called Rim Rock was announced by a Spanish energy company, NaturEner. This $800 million worth wind energy project should serve as a good example for future similar projects, and if everything goes well the Rim Rock wind farm will be completed by the end of 2012.
However, there are still many people in Montana who believe that wind energy option is too expensive, and not efficient enough. Proponents of wind energy on the other hand say that strong development of wind energy sector in Montana would not only lead the Treasure State towards the clean energy future but would also create many new green jobs.