Sep. 20--HELENA -- In Idaho, small wind power projects can sell their electricity to the local utility at prices that are higher and more predictable than in Montana. Those prices are set by the Idaho Public Utilities Commission.

As of this year, the Idaho price starts at about $75 per megawatt-hour and increases steadily during a 20-year contract.

While that price is higher than what Idaho utilities pay to produce their own electricity, the wind power is blended with power from other sources, and the final price for retail consumers is still relatively low.

For example, Idaho Power Co. rates for homeowners, including the power and delivery costs, are about 6 cents per kilowatt-hour, or $60 per mwh.

In Montana, small wind power projects can choose to sell their power to NorthWestern Energy for about $50 per mwh or a market-based rate, which may be higher or lower than the set price.

In 2008, the projects were paid an average of about $40 per mwh.

That cost is actually lower than NorthWestern currently charges its household customers for power -- about $56 per mwh -- and much lower than the total rate of about $88 per mwh, including delivery charges. The average residential customer of NorthWestern in Montana consumes about 9 mwh of electricity a year.

Federal and state law requires utilities to accept power from qualifying small renewable-power projects. The power is blended with other electricity produced or purchased by the utility, which then sells power to its retail customers.

Montana developers of these small wind projects say the lower rates here discourage development.

Idaho also has a standard "wind integration fee," which these small-project developers must pay to offset costs of adding their intermittent power to the utility's system.

The Idaho fee is no more than $6.50 per mwh, so developers doing contracts this year will still get at least $68.50 per mwh for the power they produce ($75 per mwh minus the integration fee).

In Montana, wind integration fees are negotiated for each project -- a process that the developers say costs them additional time and money. Two projects have taken their case to the state Public Service Commission, which set fees ranging from $5 to $12 per mwh.

NorthWestern has asked wind developers and others to help define a study that could lead to designing a standard wind-integration fee, as in Idaho. The study could be ready in a year's time, says John Hines, supply officer for NorthWestern Energy.

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