News

The National Mining Association’s use of the COVID-19 crisis to roll back royalty rates puts revenue streams for states and coal communities dealing with the crisis in jeopardy.   FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 20, 2020 BILLINGS, Mont. —  The Western Organization of Resource Councils (WORC) and its member groups in Wyoming, Montana, and Colorado are asking […]

By Joan Kresich February 16, 2020 Attorney General Tim Fox has chosen to waste our taxpayer money to fund a lawsuit against the state of Washington whose sole purpose is to give the coal industry an adrenaline jolt. Washington refused to be bullied into expanding the Millennium Bulk Terminals to export Powder River Basin coal. […]

Billings Gazette Sunday, January 11, 2020 I attended the Public Service Commission’s Billings hearing last week regarding NorthWestern Energy’s 20-year energy procurement plan. The Gazette’s Jan. 3 article, “NorthWestern Energy power plan heard in Billings,” devoted most of its reporting to the small minority of participants supporting the plan (almost all of whom had direct […]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 10, 2019 BILLINGS, Mont – NorthWestern Energy (NWE) issued a press release today announcing plans to acquire a larger ownership stake in Unit 4 of the Colstrip Power Plant, only one day after a public hearing about their 20-year plans for future energy procurement. The resource procurement plan made no mention […]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 25, 2019 HELENA, Mont – In a much anticipated decision on Monday, the Montana Public Service Commission (PSC) voted unanimously to reject a proposal from NorthWestern Energy attempting to place unfair, punitive charges on Montana’s residential solar customers. The decision comes as a part of the 2019 Rate Case filed last […]

Illegal pipeline approval violated the National Environmental Policy Act and the Clean Water Act FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 22, 2019 GREAT FALLS, Mont. — In concert with other conservation and landowners’ groups, the Northern Plains Resource Council filed their opening brief today in their federal lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s illegal approval of the Keystone […]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 30, 2019 BILLINGS, Mont. – Speakers from across the western United States gathered in Billings, MT yesterday for a rally demanding protection for water, climate, and land rights against the Keystone XL (KXL) pipeline, a project of Canada’s TC Energy Corporation.The rally was organized by the Northern Plains Resource Council and […]

Gazette Editorial Board Sunday, October 27, 2019   With the shutdown of Colstrip Units 1 and 2 just two months away, state regulators are deciding on the best way to clean up waste ponds being used by the two larger units that will keep operating after Dec. 31. Action on the Revised Remedy Evaluation Report […]

Speakers gather from across the West to ensure the public is heard  FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 25, 2019 BILLINGS, Mont. – The Northern Plains Resource Council and the Western Organization of Resource Councils (WORC) have organized a rally and speaking event at the Billings Hotel and Convention Center on Tuesday, October 29 at 4 p.m. […]

by Alaina Buffalo-Spirit Monday, October 14, 2019 I write today to encourage you to comment on the Montana Department of Environmental Quality’s remediation plan for Colstrip’s coal ash ponds. I grew up along the Tongue River near Birney. I am a member of the Northern Cheyenne Tribe and live in Lame Deer. I am passionate […]