Colstrip Power Plant

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Montana Rep. Jim Keane, D-Butte, left, and State Sen. Duane Ankney, R-Colstrip, discuss a legislation package to keep the Colstrip power plant open until July 2022 in Helena, Mont., Friday, March 10, 2017. Montana lawmakers are considering propping up a troubled coal-fired power plant by offering low-interest loans of up to $10 million a year from the state's $1 billion coal tax trust fund to one of the plant's owners. Talen Energy, which owns 50 percent of the two Colstrip power plant units slated for closure by July 2022, has warned that the shutdown could come sooner if it does not receive tax relief or state assistance. Colstrip is the second-largest coal-fired power plant in the West, and a major economic driver for eastern Montana. But coal-fired electricity has been under pressure by low market prices, increased regulation and lawsuits over pollution. (AP Photo/Matt Volz)