Viewpoint: Don’t let sun set on Montana’s energy freedom

Jim Morton

Montana is home to 26 solar companies. They employ hundreds of Montanans as electricians, engineers, installers, sales teams, technicians, and even solar manufacturers. Unlike some energy sectors, those jobs are distributed across Montana — to anywhere the sun shines.

Those would be durable jobs if we weren’t actively legislating against them. The policies that the “Big, Beautiful Bill” just gutted were designed to be job creators. They were working. They were incentivizing private investments in grid upgrades at a time of surging energy demand. There’s nothing “beautiful” about hurting businesses and workers.

Solar power isn’t a niche idea or a “granola” energy. Across the globe, it is the fastest-growing energy generation sector today – by far. Increasing solar generation is the surest, and most affordable, way to keep pace with increasing energy demand.

Although entrenched political forces prevent the U.S. from leading the charge in solar installations, the past decade still saw major increases in solar energy generation, including in Montana. In less than 10 years, Montana built nine generating facilities with a combined capacity of hundreds of megawatts. That’s not to mention thousands and thousands of small-scale solar installations now powering Montana homes and businesses.

The “Big, Beautiful Bill” effectively cancels Solar For All, a program aimed at expanding access to clean, affordable energy for low-income and disadvantaged communities. This is especially painful for Montanans. Our state was awarded considerable sums through Solar For All, with the bulk of those dollars directed towards Tribal communities. Clawing back those funds hurts Montana communities and businesses that were already making investments and planning based on their disbursement. Instability and unpredictability are not friendly to business.

Let’s get real, the bill isn’t about reducing government spending or doing away with subsidies. In fact, fossil fuels have long been subsidized at the taxpayer’s expense — to the tune of billions of dollars annually — and this bill doubles down on gifts to Big Oil. The bill tips the scale in favor of corporate profits by funneling public resources into private benefit. It mandates fossil fuel leases on public lands on a baffling scale while slashing the royalties that extraction companies pay for the privilege of making a profit off OUR public lands.

For example, it cuts coal royalties by nearly 50%, so companies get to make a buck off our land while paying us only half of what we used to earn. But don’t worry, that won’t make energy more affordable for you, because fossil fuel energy is expensive. Energy Innovation predicts that Montanans will see an average increase of $200-$530 on our energy bills by 2030 and 2035 as direct impacts of the passage of the “Big, Beautiful Bill.” That doesn’t even factor in the costs of pollution and reclamation (paid by the public) that fossil fuel extraction industries depend upon. It’s obvious that for today’s lawmakers, energy freedom and affordability take a back seat to corporate profits.

Montanans deserve better energy policies at every level of government. Our governor recently vetoed a shared solar bill that would have allowed renters or businesses the freedom to buy into shares of solar installations even if they can’t install panels on their own roofs. All Montanans should be able to take advantage of clean energy with predictable costs if they so choose.

Let’s not watch the sun set on our economic opportunities in Montana. Instead, let’s turn our abundant sunlight into a source of energy freedom that brings jobs, manufacturing, and investment. There’s nothing beautiful about the “Big, Beautiful Bill,” and I hope our lawmakers can find the courage to work for Montanans and for affordable energy, rather than enriching polluting companies even further.

Jim Morton was the long-time Executive Director of District XI Human Resource Council. Morton sits on the steering committee of Montanans for Affordable Energy.