HomeMy WebLinkAbout12-17-19 Public Comment - S. Staub - Bozeman Climate PlanFrom:Sherry Staub
To:Agenda
Subject:Climate Change Plan
Date:Tuesday, December 17, 2019 1:25:51 PM
I attended the City Commission meeting last evening where the Climate Change Plan was
presented and discussed. I have been following the City efforts on this topic and am generallyimpressed with the city's commitment to taking on this effort.
However, I also attended the Public Service Commission meeting last week and was shocked
to learn that NW Energy's 20 YR plan was totally dedicated to INCREASING natural gas andcoal production!! Not one word about investing in clean energy but rather a broadbrush stroke
of dismissal. Not to mention their recent efforts to totally eliminate rooftop solar by making itMORE expensive to install and use solar energy than to get energy from NW Energy.
When I learned of the ambitious plans to cut GHG's in Bozeman by 26% in the next 5 yrs and
to be 100% clean energy dependent by 2030 I was both delighted and shocked. How can wepossibly hope to be completely off carbon based electricity in this amount of time when our
only option for large scale energy supply is NW Energy.??? This struck me as tantamount tosaying we have a plan to go to mars in the next decade but our only supplier for rockets is
going to start building cars exclusively!
Yes, I understand that there are high hopes to "bring NWE to the table" ...but if you were atthe presentation by NWE last week, you would see that they have no intention of coming to
our table or anyone else's. They have spent their energy developing proprietary models thatchurn out thousands of data points all pointing to the same conclusion: Increase natural gas
and coal production over the next 20 years!!
While the Bozeman website suggests that NWE is open to all options : ". Concurrent with Bozeman’s Climate Planning timeline, NWE will be conducting an
independent competitive procurement process to secure up to 400 MW of peaking capacity.NWE analysis indicates that thermal resources are the lowest-cost resource but notes that
renewable resources and energy storage costs are declining. The procurement process willconsider all resources – natural gas, renewable energy and even “demand side” resources that
reduce supply needs through energy efficiency "There was not a HINT of this kind of planning based on the presentation.
It was suggested at the meeting last night that we can "band together" with other large
communities and use our numbers as leverage....but without another energy source to turn to(given that it is illegal in Montana to do so) what leverage do we have short of changing the
state law AND developing our own energy coop..???? and to get this done in the nextdecade??? This seems more like wishful thinking than a plan.
I'm sorry, and I am the first to be a Bozeman Cheerleader...but I was shocked that there wasn't
more awareness of NWE's commitment to dirty energy and our lack of a solid timeline forchanging legislation and alternative energy production on a large scale in order to actually be
able to hold NWE's feet to the coal/gas fire....I'm worried that all of our bluster over bold planswill leave us with the ashes of a drastically warming climate.
I'm also curious if there is dedicated money by the city to improve our mass transit as well as
convert it to electric.?? Are we planning to subsidize individual electric car purchases? Whatis our plan to accomplish the 5 yr goal?? I was hoping to see concrete plans to accomplish our
goals. Instead, the commissioners I spoke with seemed defensive and offended by myincredulity.
I believe I am one of your most ardent supporters and I speak that often....but I am also no
Pollyanna.
Let's put our money where our mouth is and show that we are willing to dedicate some citymoney to accomplishing the noble goals of this Climate Change Plan.
Sherry Staub
1167 Saxon Way