Editing Colstrip, Montana (section)

== History ==

=== 20th century ===
[[Image:Colstripdraglines.jpg|left|thumb|200px| Open pit strip mining with shovels at Colstrip's Rosebud Mine]]

Colstrip was established by the [[Northern Pacific Railway]] in 1924 as a [[company town]] to provide coal for their [[steam locomotives]].  The mining at Rosebud Mine, two miles south of the town, is open pit strip mining, where draglines remove soil above the layer of [[bituminous coal]] from the [[Fort Union Formation]].<ref>{{cite web | title =Rosebud Mine Tour Fact Sheet 2007 | publisher = Westmoreland Mining LLC | url = http://leg.mt.gov/content/committees/interim/2007_2008/energy_telecom/meeting_documents/ETICWesternEnergypresent.pdf | access-date = 2008-07-18 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book
| publisher = Taverner Press
| last = [[David T. Hanson]]
| title = Colstrip, Montana
| location = Fairfield, Iowa
| date = 2010
| lccn = 2010925843
}}</ref>

During [[The Second World War]], the Colstrip mine was identified as strategically important because it supplied coal for the Northern Pacific Railway steam locomotives hauling military equipment for the war effort. The mine was guarded from sabotage, and the employees were not allowed to quit their jobs.<ref>{{cite book | last1=McRae | first1=Wallace |title= Stick Horses and Other Stories of Ranch Life |year= 2009 |publisher= Gibbs Smith |isbn= 978-1-4236-0591-1 |page= 106}}</ref>

In 1958, the railroad switched to using [[diesel locomotive]]s and the Colstrip mine was shut down. 

In 1959, [[Montana Power Company]] purchased the rights to the mine and the town. It and resumed mining operations in the 1970s, with plans to build coal-fired electrical plants.<ref name =city>{{cite web | title = City of Colstrip History | publisher = Colstrip City Government | url = http://www.cityofcolstrip.com/history.htm | access-date = 2008-07-11 }}</ref> The Rosebud Mine opened in 1968.

The power plants were built in the 1970s and 1980s by a collection of contractors including [[Bechtel]]. During this construction period, Colstrip was a [[boomtown]], with a large increase in population. Plants 1 and 2 became operational in 1975 and 1976, and plants 3 and 4 became operational in 1984 and 1986.

{{stack|[[File:Colstripplants.jpg|thumb|right|Colstrip Power Plants 1-4 from right to left]]}}
In 1974, construction of Colstrip's {{convert|150|acre|km2|adj=on}} Castle Rock Lake (formerly called a surge pond) was completed. 

The Colstrip plants produce electricity from coal using steam.  The water for the steam is pumped in an underground pipe {{convert|30|mi|km}} from the [[Yellowstone River]] and stored in the lake. The lake is stocked with fish and is the home for a wide variety of wildlife.

In 1990, the Colstrip Energy Limited Project began commercial operations. Located six miles (10&nbsp;km) north of Colstrip, this experimental electricity production facility is owned by Rosebud Energy Corp., a partnership that at one point included [[Enron]]. The plant uses high sulfur [[Coal refuse|waste coal]] from the Rosebud Coal Mine's topmost one foot layer of coal.<ref>{{cite web | title = SEC Info - Rosebud Energy Corp. | publisher = Securities & Exchange Commission | url = http://www.secinfo.com/dsVsj.48x.d.htm | access-date = 2008-07-26 }}</ref>

In 1998, plants 1-4 were sold to a group led by [[PPL Corporation]] (PPL)<ref>{{cite web | title = PPL Colstrip Page | url = http://www.pplmontana.com/producing+power/power+plants/Colstrip.htm }}</ref> and  [[Puget Sound Energy]] (PSE).<ref>{{cite web | title = PSE Appendix J Colstrip | url = https://pse.com/aboutpse/EnergySupply/Documents/IRP_2013_AppJ.pdf | access-date = 2016-09-17 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170112000823/https://pse.com/aboutpse/EnergySupply/Documents/IRP_2013_AppJ.pdf | archive-date = 2017-01-12 | url-status = dead }}</ref> The Rosebud Coal Mine was sold to [[Westmoreland Mining LLC]].<ref>{{cite web | title = Westmoreland Rosebud Mine | access-date = 2006-09-17 | publisher = Westmoreland Coal Company | url = http://westmoreland.com/location/rosebud-mine-montana/  }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Montana Power Company - Generations of Power |publisher=The Missoulian Newspaper |url=http://www.missoulian.com/specials/power/power1.html |access-date=2008-07-11 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010526193004/http://www.missoulian.com/specials/power/power1.html |archive-date=2001-05-26 }}</ref> In this same year, the City of Colstrip was incorporated.
===21st century===

In June 2015, PPL spun off its power generation assets, including the Colstrip plants, to become [[Talen Energy]].

In 2016, PSE reached an agreement with the [[Sierra Club]] and the [[Montana Environmental Information Center]] to shut down units 1 and 2 of the coal-fired generating plant by the year 2022.<ref>{{cite news|title=Colstrip coal plant in Montana agrees to close 2 units|url=http://www.theolympian.com/news/local/article89173287.html|access-date=20 July 2016|work=[[Associated Press]]|agency=[[The Olympian]]|date=12 July 2016}}</ref> The agreement said nothing about Units 3 and 4 However, the existing electrical transmission capacity that transmits power from Colstrip to the Pacific Northwest may be used to transmit wind energy.<ref>{{cite news|title=Oldest two units at Colstrip to be retired no later than 2022|url=http://meic.org/2016/07/oldest-two-units-colstrip-retired-no-later-2022/|access-date=20 July 2016|work=Montana Environmental Information Center|date=12 July 2016}}</ref> Another blow to Colstrip's economy came in 2016, when an application to create a junction point from [[BNSF Railway]] to connect to [[Tongue River Railroad]] was denied.<ref name="railroad">{{cite web |title=Tongue River Railroad application denied |url=https://www.greatfallstribune.com/story/news/local/2016/04/26/tongue-river-railroad-application-denied/83551088/ |publisher=Great Falls Tribune |access-date=22 September 2023 |date=26 April 2016}}</ref>

In June 2019, Talen Energy announced the closure of two of the four coal burning units by the end of the year. At the time, the power plant was the sixth-largest source of [[greenhouse gas emissions|greenhouse emissions]] in the U.S.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.yaleclimateconnections.org/2019/07/the-war-on-coal-myth/|title=The 'war on coal' myth|last=Kirk|first=Karen|date=2019-07-15|website=Yale Climate Connections|language=en-US|access-date=2019-07-16}}</ref> Units 3 and 4 remained in operation.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://talenenergy.investorroom.com/2019-06-11-Colstrip-Steam-Electric-Station-Units-1-and-2-to-Retire|title=Colstrip Steam Electric Station Units 1 and 2 to Retire|website=Talen Energy Investors|language=en|access-date=2019-07-16}}</ref>

In January 2020, PSE announced that Unit 1 and Unit 2 had ceased operating in early January". Units 3 and 4 were to remain operational but would be closed within the next five years.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.smart-energy.com/industry-sectors/energy-grid-management/us-2020-coal-closures-start-with-a-bang-with-two-units-closed-in-montana/|title=US 2020 coal closures start with a bang with two units closed in Montana|last=Gordon|first=Phillip|date=2020-01-06|website=Smart Energy International|language=en-US|access-date=2020-01-14|archive-date=January 14, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200114140414/https://www.smart-energy.com/industry-sectors/energy-grid-management/us-2020-coal-closures-start-with-a-bang-with-two-units-closed-in-montana/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In January 2023, [[Avista]] made a deal giving [[NorthWestern Corporation|NorthWestern Energy]] their 15% share of the plant for free.<ref name="avista">{{cite web |last1=Clouse |first1=Thomas |title=Avista makes deal to get out of aging Colstrip power plant in Montana |url=https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2023/jan/22/avista-makes-deal-to-get-out-of-aging-colstrip-pow/ |publisher=The Spokesman-Review |access-date=22 September 2023 |date=22 January 2023}}</ref> The deal was to take effect in 2025. A Washington state law bans use of coal-generated electricity, forcing Avista to relinquish their stake in the company.

In March 2025, the plant owner, backed by Montana politicians, asked for a two-year extension using the [[second Trump administration|second Trump administration's]] offer to grant presidential pollution waivers. The plant owners argued that continued operation would control energy costs and guarantee grid reliability.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Tabuchi |first=Hiroko |date=2025-04-02 |title=Coal Plant Ranked as Nation’s Dirtiest Asks for Pollution Exemption |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/02/climate/coal-plant-colstrip-epa-email-pollution-exemption.html |access-date=2025-04-04 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>