Ankney Responds: Colstrip 1 & 2 Shutting Down
The coal-fired power plant in Colstrip brings in tens of millions of dollars into the State of Montana every single year. Not only that, the plant has powered a great community of people in Colstrip thanks to the great jobs also provided by the plant.
While Units 3 & 4 will still remain operational, Sen. Duane Ankney (R-Colstrip) says Units 1 & 2 will "be welded shut" this Saturday.
Here's the full statement from Sen. Duane Ankney (R-Colstrip):
Saturday, January 4th, 2019 will go down as a dark day in Montana history. On this day, Colstrip Units 1 and 2 will be closed - with the doors dismantled and welded shut.
My thoughts and prayers are with the union workers who will lose their jobs and their families. They have served Colstrip and all of Montana well and we owe them a debt of gratitude for providing the baseload power we need to keep our communities safe and strong. I actually worked on Units 1 and 2 when there were just pilings in the ground. I could not believe how good the money was and there were workers from all over the world.
As I have said for years, this is not just a Colstrip issue, it is a Montana issue. This is a prime example of how out-of-state and foreign dark money are destroying our communities and our families. Coal does so much more than power our homes. Coal funds our public schools, infrastructure, parks, and libraries. The Coal Severance Tax generates irreplaceable revenue for these essential public services, unlike hobby projects like wind and solar which produce no revenue for these services.