Archive: April 2025

Winter was Hard on Honey Bees

7 April 2025
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From Northern Ag Network

A nationwide survey of beekeepers has revealed catastrophic honey bee colony losses across the United States, with commercial operations reporting an average loss of 62% between June 2024 and February 2025. These alarming losses, which surpass historical trends, could significantly impact U.S. agriculture, particularly crop pollination for almonds, fruits, vegetables, and other essential food sources.

(Montana beekeepers appear to have lost roughly half their honey bees.)

“Early reports of severe colony losses began pouring in last month from beekeepers across the country,” said Danielle Downey, executive director of Project Apis m. “In response, a multi-organizational working group—including Project Apis m., the American Beekeeping Federation, and the American Honey Producers Association — quickly mobilized to launch this survey.”

“Initial survey results of colony losses suggest that commercial beekeepers may have lost in excess of 60% of their bees. The scale of these losses is completely unsustainable,” said Zac Browning, a fourth-generation commercial beekeeper and board chairman of Project Apis m. “Honey bees are the backbone of our food system, pollinating the crops that feed our nation. If we continue to see losses at this rate, we simply won’t be able to sustain current food production. The industry must look inward and outward for solutions to chronic bee health failure.”

Administered by Project Apis m., the survey gathered data from 702 beekeepers, covering colony losses, management practices, and potential contributing factors. It is estimated that survey participants account for over 1.835 million colonies, approximately 68% of the nation’s bees.

These results translate to an estimated 1,123,959 colony losses among respondents, resulting in the following immediate economic losses:

* Direct colony losses: Conservatively estimated at $224.8 million (based on a $200 per colony replacement cost, not including labor, feed or treatments).

* Economic impact: Factoring in lost almond pollination income based on the survey results, which was estimated at $181 per colony in 2023, the lost income exceeds $428 million. The loss rate to US colonies that were not accounted for in the survey is estimated at an additional $206.4 million in losses, which could equal a total estimated economic loss of $634.7 million.

What will they think a million years from now?

7 April 2025
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Pondering what human-made items will look like millions of year from now as our descendants search for “technfossils”, Sci News wondered what wind turbine blades would look like.

They said, “The enormous wind turbine blades . . . are made of materials like fiberglass and epoxy resin and carbon fibers, which are terribly hard to recycle — but easy to fossilize.”

“As wind turbines reach end-of-life and are decommissioned, huge landfills of the 50-m-long-plus blades, sliced into truck-length segments and neatly stacked side by side, are appearing and growing.”

“Some will stay buried for millions of years — and, if finally erosion-revealed and stumbled upon by some curious far-future paleontologist, will be an amazing sight, like a graveyard of gigantic, hollow, sawn-up bones.”

“And right now, we should begin to understand this amazing, if often toxic, legacy that we are leaving for the planet.”

Teacher Freedom Alliance Touts Free-market Alternatives

7 April 2025
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By Tom Joyce,  The Center Square

What’s the free-market alternative to teachers’ unions?

The Freedom Foundation hosted a launch party to promote what it sees as the solution, the Teacher Freedom Alliance (TFA).

The organization reiterated it sees teachers’ unions as the problem – and good teachers as the solution.

“The teachers’ unions have owned our public education system for decades now, and for decades, our kids’ education outcomes have gotten progressively worse,” Freedom Foundation CEO Aaron Rithe said during the event. “This is not the fault of you. This is not the fault of the teachers, but it’s the fault of the radical teachers’ unions.”

Rithe said the teachers’ unions want the next generation of students to vote for liberal politicians and claimed they care more about this than educating students.

Areas he said teachers’ unions want promoted in schools include: critical race theory, the Black Lives Matter movement, DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion), gender ideology, anti-semitism, socialism and helping children identifying as transgender without their parents’ knowledge.

“Notice what I didn’t say: reading, writing and math,” Withe said. “None of this has anything to do with preparing our kids for the workforce in the next stage of their life.”

Rithe said the TFA aims to break the teachers’ union monopoly and that the Freedom Foundation has helped over 3,000 teachers leave their respective unions in recent years.

The TFA aims to provide teachers with liability coverage, better curricula – including patriotic and pro-capitalist teachings – plus professional development, Rithe said.

The organization also wants to recruit the next generation of educators from colleges nationwide.

Rithe said the TFA supports free market principles in education, like rewarding good teachers with more money and firing bad teachers, regardless of longevity.

He said teachers’ unions oppose these concepts, instead rewarding longevity and punishing newer teachers.

Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters also spoke in favor of the initiative at the event.

Walters also touted merit pay, along with teacher signing bonuses.

He noted that teachers’ unions have opposed such policies in Oklahoma, even though they benefit many teachers.

“They tried to kill those signing bonuses we gave,” he said. “They tried to kill the merit pay that gives up to $120,000 per year for a teacher that’s high-quality. And guess what? I’m proud to announce that our teachers’ union membership is at a 30-year low in Oklahoma.”

Walters also said teachers’ unions oppose student discipline measures, even though disruptive students make teachers’ lives more difficult.

The 2018 U.S. Supreme Court ruling Janus v. American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees makes union alternatives like this possible nationwide. The court’s ruling determined that public sector employees cannot be forced to pay union dues as a condition of employment, even in states without right-to-work laws.

Tax on Natural Gas Repealed

7 April 2025
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By Thérèse Boudreaux, The Center Square

America’s natural gas industry celebrated after President Donald Trump signed into law a resolution repealing Biden-era fees on methane emissions.

The Waste Emissions Charge, which Republicans say is the equivalent of a natural gas tax, was authorized by the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act and implemented by the Environmental Protection Agency in November 2024.

The resolution rescinds that regulation under the Congressional Review Act. The CRA legislation gives Congress the authority to repeal regulations issued during the final months of a previous administration.

House Committee on Energy and Commerce Chairman Brett Guthrie, R-Ky., called the repeal “a victory for the American businesses and families who would have been forced to bear the cost of the Biden-Harris Administration’s natural gas tax.”

“It’s time to restore American energy dominance by harnessing innovation and producing the natural gas needed to support our electric grid,” Guthrie added.

Energy experts who testified before Congress in February said the high energy prices during Joe Biden’s presidency directly resulted from increased environmental regulations on energy production. The regulations slowed down domestic energy production and consequently led to increased costs, they said.

“AXPC thanks President Trump for signing the Congressional Review Act legislation – to undo EPA’s flawed rule to implement the natural gas tax,” AXPC CEO Anne Bradbury stated. “While American energy producers remain laser focused on reducing methane emissions, this punitive rule risked undermining those efforts.”

An analysis by the Congressional Budget Office shows that “Charging for methane emissions leads to an increase in the price of natural gas and a decrease in the quantity of natural gas produced and consumed.”

But environmental groups have argued that the legislation will increase energy costs and disrupt efforts to reduce emissions of a potent greenhouse gas.

Tax Cut Could Really Be Real for Billings

7 April 2025
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City of Billings officials worry that a popular bill that promises property tax cuts for Montana, called the Homestead Rate Cut Bill, could have detrimental impacts on Billings.

HB 231 would reduce property tax rates for many residents but it does so in a manner that would reduce revenue for the City of Billings, which functions under a Charter that limits how many mills it can levy. The levy cap means that the city would not be able to increase its levy, as most other cities can do, to maintain the same level of revenue. The city is at risk of losing up to $7 million in revenue.

In a recent town hall meeting, Senator Sue Vinton, unveiled the conflict, saying that only one other city in the state faces the same dilemma. Should HB 231 pass, the City of Billings may have to consider changing their City Charter. It has a pretty good chance of passing since it has support of Republicans, Democrats and the Governor. 

The conflict of the bill with City Charters was not initially realized and reports are there are amendments being proposed to deal with the conflict.

Vinton’s husband, Mike Vinton, who is serving his first term as a Representative for House District 40, noted that the bill – as with most of the tax cut proposals – does not really cut taxes but shifts them to other entities. HB 231 would lower taxes on homeowners and renters by imposing higher taxes on short-term rentals, second homes, businesses, coal mines and refineries. It’s really not a tax cut for everyone. It is why, Vinton said, he did not vote for it.

Rep. Vinton also noted that there are some issues to be concerned about in regard to what the legislation says constitutes a “second home.” An adjoining lot with a shop on it will be designated as a second home and “hit hard.” While people may think that a “second home” will hit people with secondary recreational properties and out-of-state people, “it is going to hit Montana residents,” he said – another reason he voted against it. “I don’t think it is what citizens want in the way of reducing taxes.”

Tariffs Hit Montana, Mixed Impacts on County, Crude Oil, Ag, Cars & Beer

7 April 2025
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By Evelyn Pyburn

President Trump’s tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China could have significant impacts on Montana. In fact, Montana could be the most impacted state in the nation because the state is the most dependent upon imports.  

Montana tops a list of eight states that will see at least two-thirds of their imports impacted, according to Lending Tree.

Montana gets over 91% of its imports from Canada alone. LendingTree said that some states send a majority of their exports to these countries, making them vulnerable to retaliatory tariffs.

In 2024, Canada, Mexico and China accounted for 42 percent of total US imports. Mexico stood out as the top exporter with $466.6 billion, according to the US Census Bureau. Mexico and Canada account for more than 30 percent of total goods traded, exceeding $1.6 trillion.

Tariffs will impact Montana’s agriculture, energy and manufacturing industries.

Yellowstone County has refineries that process Canadian crude oil, the state’s largest import product from Canada. Montana farmers buy fertilizer from Canada. And, with a minimal remaining timber industry of our own, Montana buys lumber from Canada – and the list goes on to include farm equipment and machinery, foods and grain, and even Tequila from Mexico.

One business in Yellowstone County that might not spring readily to mind as being impacted by tariffs is Auto Auction of Montana. In the business of selling used cars, Jake Gertsch explained that they auction off about 500 vehicles each week, of which about 50 percent are imports from Canada. If the vehicles were built in Canada they are subject to the tariffs. About 10 percent of the vehicles Auto Auction gets from Canada were built in Canada. Gertsch, who has worked in the family-owned business for 22 years, said that they have already felt the impact of the tariffs in seeing a 10 percent drop in the number of vehicles they receive from Canada. Losing ten percent of their business, while “not significant is detrimental,” said Gertsch. It reduces supply. In keeping with “the law of supply and demand,” when the supply shrinks prices increase, which Auto Auction of Montana has also seen, according to Gertsch. “It will drive up the cost of used cars in our region for consumers,” he said. Gertsch adds that a lot of the parts for the vehicles is also made in Canada, which are also impacted by tariffs, also increasing costs to his business as well as area consumers.

But that’s not all — the cost of your favorite brew is also likely to increase, as Montana brewers scramble to find other sources for malt, a necessary ingredient in the production. Most brewers have been importing their malt from Canada, which is a top malt producer. Many brewers stocked up in advance but “rising prices are sure to come.”

Nearly 75% of Americans believe tariffs will lead to higher prices, and 44% think they’ll negatively impact their personal finances.

Montana farmers, worried about wheat and grain prices, fear that tariffs will plummet those markets. Montana farmers also export a high volume of commodity crops, such as wheat and pulse crops to China, which will likely purchase less of those commodities.

Montana imports live animal products – especially beef —from Canada, as well as selling product to both Canada and Mexico.

U.S. farmers export over 144 million metric tons of agricultural products, valued at more than $105 billion.

A recent television interview with two different beef growers in Montana clearly demonstrated that when tariffs go into effect some producers benefit and others lose. One cattleman pointed out that the tariff would benefit Montana beef by reducing foreign competition and another worried that the tariffs would reduce sales of Montana beef into Canada.

One of the greatest concerns for Montana ag producers is the impact on the cost of fertilizer. They purchase much of their fertilizer from Canada. There have been some reports that many producers have already purchased the fertilizer they think they will need in anticipation of prices increasing.

Fertilizer prices for Montana ag producers have risen 25 percent.

Gas prices could increase 5 to 10 cents per gallon while natural gas bills will likely rise 10 percent.

President Trump’s tariffs, as well as the amount, has been adjusted enough times to generate considerable confusion. Most went into effect on March 4, and he has promised the potential of retaliatory tariffs that will become effective April 2.

Tariffs have been set at 25 percent Mexico and Canada, and doubled on Chinese goods to 20 percent.  Levies on Canadian energy are limited to 10 percent.

President Trump has said that the tariffs are efforts to prompt Canada and Mexico to take action to halt the flood of illegal immigrants and fentanyl into the US. Some economists suggest that Trump’s greatest angst is about the trade deficit that exists with Canada – a trade deficit in which the US purchases more from Canada than US producers sell to Canada.

Reports about both the Mexico and Canadian governments indicate that they are in fact taking action to deal with the illegal immigrant and drug issues.

If tariffs fail to get the response President Trump wants from Canada or Mexico the tariffs will generate revenue for the US government, pointed out President Trump.

While economists take issue with the tariffs proposed for Canada and Mexico, there seems to be little opposition to the tariffs imposed on China, because China is broadly considered as an “unfair” trading partner.

As seen with Montana beef producers, some US producers favor tariffs for their specific industry, because it protects them against competition. That’s why tariffs are sometimes called “protectionist.” While tariffs protect domestic industry, they impose what amounts to little more than a sales tax on domestic customers.

US producers who export products into Canada may be harmed by the retaliatory tariffs that Canada has threatened. US-made products will cost more in Canada in competition with Canadian products, and Canadian consumers will then be paying what essentially is a sales tax on those products.

President Trump has pointed out that many countries have all along had tariffs imposed on US products and there have been no retaliatory tariffs from the US.  Trump has threatened reciprocal tariffs on the European Union, which exports products like pharmaceuticals, automobiles and alcohol to the U.S.

In general the broader impacts of tariffs over time are negative for consumers. They lower the standard of living for all on both sides of a border.

An interesting observation about the potential impact of the tariffs, published in “The Hill” on March 18: “This ‘tariff threat theater,’. . .  might inadvertently accomplish something that conventional economic wisdom would consider paradoxical: helping to combat inflation.  . . When Trump threatens new tariffs, consumers rationally react by pulling back on spending, out of fear that prices will soon rise. This psychological dampening of demand can exert significant downward pressure on inflation, even if the tariffs themselves never fully materialize or persist. Essentially, the president may be creating an economic placebo effect — generating the demand-cooling benefits of tariffs without their sustained price-increasing consequences.”

The article further points out: “. .  persistent uncertainty creates a peculiar incentive structure. When tariffs are threatened but believed to be potentially temporary, companies are more likely to absorb temporary cost increases rather than pass them along to consumers.”

According to LendingTree the states with the highest percentage of imports from Canada, Mexico, and China are:

* Montana – 94.3%

* New Mexico – 76.9%

* Vermont – 75.0%

* Michigan – 69.7%

* Maine – 69.4%

* North Dakota – 63.5%

* Oklahoma – 57.2%

* Wyoming – 54.5%

Six Local Businesses Invest $175 million in Yellowstone County

7 April 2025
Evelyn Pyburn
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Six businesses in Yellowstone County received two different forms of tax abatement on new investments from Yellowstone County Commissioners.

Total investments made in the county’s economy by the six companies totaled $175,702,197.

Applying for the tax rebates to cover recent new investment in their businesses are Phillips 66, CHS, Inc., and Coca-Cola Bottling Company High Country. Par Montana received abatement on equipment.

The County Commissioners cannot deny these requests but they are allowed by state law to determine the amount of rebate at 80, 90 or 100 percent for an initial 5-year period. After the initial abatement, the tax is increased incrementally over the next four years until the property is fully taxed.

County commissioners granted a rebate of 80 percent for these applicants:

—Phillips 66 invested $11,591,018.

—CHS, the refinery in Laurel, has invested $10,501,546.

—Coca-Cola Bottling Company High Country invested $21 million.

—Par Montana has purchased $10,909,633.19 in equipment.

County Commissioners are allowed to accept or reject two other requests, as well as determine whether to abate at 80, 90 or 100 percent They approved, also at 80 percent, abatement for:

—Town and Country Supply Association, 3833 Coulson Road, Billings, which has invested $6,400,000;

—Rocky Vista University, Billings, completed construction in March 2026, on medical facilities and veterinary school, with an investment of $115.3 million.

Montana Highlights April 1, 2025

7 April 2025
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35 Montana Tech students toured production facilities in the Bakken oilfield of eastern Montana and North Dakota to learn about energy production. The tour included stops at rigs, a shop, and a pumpjack. Continental Resources, Kraken Resources, and Liberty Energy gave tours of their operations.

January’s Economy at a Glance shows a 16.8% increase in airplane enplanements, and a 46.8% increase in sales tax distribution for Williston when compared to January of last year.

The Dennis & Phyllis Washington Foundation has announced a $15 million grant to support construction of the Butte CommUNITY Hub. The grant will be awarded over three years, with another potential $2.5 million in matching funds.

Montana State University has announced a gift of $4.8 million from the Dennis and Phyllis Washington Foundation. The gift allows MSU to reach its goal of raising the $22.5 million in private donations needed to move ahead with constructing an on-campus facility for the Gallatin College MSU.

A new Amazon distribution warehouse in south Kalispell has begun construction. The one-story building will be approximately 28,000 square feet. It is located on United Drive near Fred’s Appliance. The project is valued at $15.5 million. The contractor is Dick Anderson Construction.

Flathead Childcare has expanded into new child care facilities in Whitefish and Columbia Falls. Mishael Jelley owns Flathead Childcare alongside her brother, Mark Vogel. The mission of Flathead Childcare is to create a warm, engaging environment where kids can learn through hands on play, experiences and meaningful connections. The new Columbia Falls location is in the basement of the Columbia Falls United Methodist Church in a space that was formally a different child care facility. The new Whitefish location is at Bright Minds.   

Ben Gould is the new group sales manager at Discover Kalispell. Gould plans to lead efforts by Discover Kalispell to bring in conferences, reunions, tour groups, sports events and more. He expects to work closely with business and industry partners to promote Kalispell as a travel destination.  

Improvements to the viaduct in Whitefish over the BNSF Railway tracks have long been identified as a way to improve the link between the north side of Whitefish and downtown. The project had been budgeted at $700,000 in the city’s street fund. The roughly $250,000 overage comes from engineering costs and city-provided streetlights. The project includes improving the bike and pedestrian lanes on either side of the viaduct, installation of decorative streetlights and landscaping components. 

Italy, France and Spain are among the top five exporters of wine to the United States. Trump made his threat to Europe’s alcohol industry after the European Union announced a 50% tax on American whiskey expected to take effect on April 1. France’s industry, whose wine and spirits exports to the U.S. are worth 4 billion euros ($4.3 billion) annually. President Trump has threatened a 200% tariff.

The City of Red Lodge is updating it’s Growth Policy and is opening a 30-day public comment period prior to the Planning Board and Zoning Commission Public Hearing on April 9 at 5:30 p.m. The City Planning Board and Zoning Commission is inviting the public to provide written comment up to the hearing date, as well as have the option to attend the hearing on April 9th to provide verbal comment. The Growth Policy is an important planning document for purposes of providing a blueprint for managing future growth that preserves the City’s heritage while accommodating new growth.

Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument will undergo temporary operational changes in 2025 as the park begins its updating key infrastructure. The ongoing Visitor Center construction and the roadway improvement projects are currently under way. The park plans to be closed Monday through Thursday, starting April 28 through fall of 2025. It will  remain open Friday through Sunday, and for the Battle of the Little Bighorn anniversary June 25-26. Visitors should check www.nps.gov/libi for the latest updates.

Heelstone Renewable Energy, LLC, a wind development company has announced plans to erect 50 to 70 wind turbines in the county over the next few years. This project would add to the 42 wind turbines already planned by NextEra Energy, LLC. Heelstone’s Dawson Wind Farm is to cover parts west of Glendive north of Interstate 94. North Carolina-based Heelstone currently operates more than 80 solar energy projects nationwide.

The city of Choteau won the “Best Tasting Water” award at the Montana Rural Water Systems Conference March 12-14 in Great Falls. Choteau’s potable water is sourced from groundwater. The city’s water system serves 721 households and businesses.

The Lewistown City Commission has declined to issue a retroactive emergency declaration for January’s snowstorm, opting not to mill roughly $17,000 in taxes on city residents. The decision came after the commission learned that a retroactive declaration would not provide the city with the ability to recoup any funding from the state. Montana Disaster and Emergency Services office has informed that the city would have had to show that it both did not anticipate expending the funds it would request and that it did not have an appropriation of funding up to the level of that expenditure in order to receive state disaster assistance.

Judith Landing State Park officially belongs to Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, after the title was transferred in February. The State Parks and Recreation Board approved new rules related to hunting and trapping on the property. The 109-acre park was donated by the American Prairie non-profit. FWP’s is getting the property ready for public use.

The Flathead Conservation District and Friends of Montana Rivers and Streams have filed an appeal to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in the case of a home built on private land along the banks of McDonald Creek in Glacier National Park. Once the home was largely built, the Flathead Conservation District, ordered it removed. The decision was made due to private complaints about the structure.

Montana’s unemployment rate fell to 2.8% in January, the lowest since September 2023, continuing the record of 43 consecutive months of unemployment at or below 3.4%. Montana’s unemployment rate was 1.2% lower than the national unemployment rate, which is 4%. Newly revised estimates released each year in March show Montana’s unemployment rate averaged 3% in 2024. Annual employment estimates show that Montana added 3,000 jobs in 2024 for a growth rate of 0.5%. The labor force reached a record high of 579,000 in 2024, growing 0.8% over the year.

Developers are proposing to build a hotel in downtown Bozeman on a vacant lot near Bozeman Creek and several popular businesses. The hotel is proposed for 240 East Mendenhall Street, between north Bozeman and Rouse avenues. The lot is currently used for parking, and is directly behind the restaurant Open Range. Developers are proposing a six-story building, with a rooftop bar and landscaping and patio space adjacent to Bozeman Creek.

Conflux Brewery and Taphouse in downtown Missoula has been listed for sale for $5.75 million. The restaurant and brewery was built in 2018. The property includes an all-beverage license with catering, in addition to furniture, fixtures, and equipment.

Coal from the Spring Creek Mine is shipped by rail to power plants in Arizona, Michigan, Minnesota and Washington, as well as internationally to Japan and South Korea.

The Glendive KXGN-TV Channel 5 broadcasting station prepares for both the building and the station’s eventual sale to new ownership, station employees have begun selling  memorabilia dating back to 1957.

Legislature Looks at Reducing Business Tax

7 April 2025
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Governor Greg Gianforte, Senator Josh Kassmier, R-Fort Benton, and local ag producers are urging support for reforms to the business equipment tax. Gov. Gianforte and Sen. Kassmier support a reform to permanently eliminate the tax’s burden for an additional 700 small businesses, family farms, and family ranches.

“With hardworking Montanans in mind, we’re once again prioritizing historic business equipment tax relief, eliminating this tax burden for more Montana small businesses and family farms and ranches,” Gov. Gianforte said. “Taxing critical business equipment makes it harder to grow a small business and is a wet blanket on job creation. Let’s continue our progress to eliminate the burden.”

Since 2021, Sen. Kassmier has led the charge in the Legislature to ease the burden of the business equipment tax for small businesses and family farms and ranches. Between 2021 and 2023, then-Rep. Kassmier sponsored bills, which the governor signed into law that expanded the business equipment tax exemption from $100,000 to $1,000,000 eliminating the business equipment tax burden for more than 5,000 small businesses, farms, and ranches.

“This is important because inflation keeps hitting these farms and ranches, the price of equipment keeps rising, and it doesn’t take long to get to $1 million with just a couple pieces of equipment. Raising the exemption to $3 million will help get another 700 farmers and ranchers off this tax roll and allow them to be able to invest in their operations and employees,” Sen. Kassmier said. “I appreciate the governor’s work and leadership on this, and I look forward to raising the exemption.”

During a visit to Circle View Farms in Fort Benton, Gov. Gianforte and Sen. Kassmier met with fourth-generation owner Brent Hanford on the importance of raising the exemption to take more farms and ranches off the business equipment tax roll.

“The business equipment tax is taxing equipment you bought with money that was already taxed. It shouldn’t be happening in the first place, but raising it from $1 million to $3 million would greatly help, especially small farms and ranches and businesses – to keep that money to put back into the business to keep it going,” Hanford said.

The governor and senator also heard from Eric Gray, owner of Heartland Seed and farmer in Highwood.

“I’ve been really lucky. As I’ve gotten into farming over the last few years here, and back helping my dad on his operation, I’ve been able to start accumulating my own equipment line and the business equipment tax has been stepped up, so I haven’t had to worry about it. So, increasing the exemption will only continue to help,” Gray said.

Gray continued, “When you start looking at $500,000 to $1 million for a combine, depending on what you buying, $1 million are for the exemption doesn’t go very far – you can tie that up in a hurry.”

Montana’s business equipment tax requires small businesses and family farms and ranches to reallocate resources, which they would otherwise use to invest in their operation and create jobs, to pay a tax on the equipment and machinery they need to operate.

The business equipment tax also imposes a costly compliance burden, with businesses required to inventory and report their equipment to the state each year.

Reducing the burden of the business equipment tax on Montanans, Sen. Kassmier’s Senate Bill 322 continues to encourage business investment and promote job creation. The bill was scheduled to be heard in the Senate Taxation Committee on March 27.

Energy Transitioning Hits “…brick wall of reality”

7 April 2025
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Energy prices are rising due to US tariffs on Chinese solar panels, a tripling of insurance premiums in MISO, ERCOT, and SPP due to weather events, supply/demand gaps due to permitting delays, higher interest rates, and increased corporate demand for green power. Keep in mind, that power purchase agreements almost always show the subsidized cost of an energy source, so in reality; the cost of these resources is even higher, according to substack.com in a review of a JPMC (JP Morgan Chase) report.

Substack further states, “…these rising price trends are a key reason why we believe the use of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s Annual Technology Baseline in energy modeling amounts to utilities and ‘renewable’ special interest groups fudging their numbers to justify massive capital spends on wind, solar, and battery storage technologies.”

Summation about the JPMC report by Substack stated, “… the so-called energy transition is hitting the brick wall of reality. Let’s hope policymakers come to their senses and end the subsidies for wind and solar so we can get back to rational energy policies.”

The JPMC reports that battery storage prices are falling again after a price spike in 2022. According to Energy Storage News, the main drivers of the fall are cell manufacturing overcapacity, economies of scale, low metal and component prices, a slowdown in the EV market, and increased adoption of lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries, which are cheaper than nickel manganese cobalt (NMC) batteries. Also, global storage capacity is growing quickly, with the vast majority of batteries being installed in China, the United States, and Germany.

The “energy transition” depends on massive expansions of US high-voltage transmission grid, but capacity additions are falling, and per-mile costs and utility product costs are soaring. It is not necessarily imperative to build a massive build out in interregional transmission infrastructure given the existence of other sources of electricity, like new natural gas plants, which would require far less new transmission and deliver more reliable, affordable electricity, states Substack.

The JPMC (JP Morgan Chase) report acknowledged just how ineffective wind and solar are at reducing US dependency on dispatchable generators. For every megawatt of wind or solar installed in various regions, it only offsets 10 to 20 percent of gas capacity. Installing 10 MW of wind or solar in MISO (Midcontinent Independent System Operator) would only offset the need for natural gas capacity by 2 MW. In the Southeast, adding 10 MW of wind or solar would only offset the need for 1 MW.

Even this can overstate the reliability contribution of wind and solar due to wind droughts in MISO. Furthermore, utilities in the Southeast are often winter peaking systems, and the peak demand for power usually happens at night when the sun isn’t shining, rendering the solar capacity useless for meeting that demand.

MISO continues to see its reserve margin dwindle as its margin for error sits at just four percent. The JPMC report notes MISO’s warnings of “serious challenges to grid reliability due to increased exposure to wind/solar intermittency, having averted a capacity shortfall in 2023 only due to postponement of planned thermal capacity retirements.”

MISO also warned of adverse consequences from prior EPA proposals to require coal plants, some existing gas plants and new gas plants to (a) retire by a certain date, (b) retrofit with carbon capture or (c) co-fire with green hydrogen; MISO has cited cost and technological readiness issues as major constraints.

PJM is also sounding the alarm as it has increased its projected capacity needs by 40 percent in its Long Term Load Forecast, with PJM’s President saying, “We need capacity… a lot of capacity”. PJM’s report concluded that as demand growth and thermal resource retirements accelerate, the region may experience a shortfall in power supply as early as 2026/2027.

The JPMC report notes, “Hyperscalers will probably have to walk back green power commitments and run data centers primarily on natural gas, as they have been.” As of 2024, 43 percent of U.S. data center power consumption was provided by natural gas, 17 percent by coal, 19 percent by nuclear, 9 percent by wind, 6 percent by solar, and 7 percent by hydro.

This makes a lot of sense because we have yet to hear of data centers that are happy to power their operations intermittently. It’s also why data centers are seeking to build hundreds of MWs of diesel generators on-site to limit supply interruptions.

Wind and solar advocates argue we must rapidly “electrify everything” by using electric vehicles and converting our home heating systems from natural gas, propane, or fuel oil to electric heat pumps. The problem? Doing so costs much more than using natural gas to keep warm in winter.

The JPMC report states:

“The high cost of electricity compared to natural gas (particularly in places without a carbon tax) is another impediment to electrification that is not easy to solve since this ratio reflects relative total costs of production and distribution.”

Natural gas remains much more affordable than using electricity for home heating in states throughout the country, and even heating oil and propane are more affordable than electricity on a nationwide basis.

The JPMC report notes: “Europe is the world leader with respect to the pace of decarbonization. However, Europe is paying a steep price for this transition. Its energy prices have risen from 2x to 4x US levels, and its residential electricity prices are now 5x-7x higher than in China and India.

“There have been many articles on European deindustrialization due to rising absolute and relative energy costs. The spike in relative prices is not just a function of the renewable transition; higher energy prices also reflect Europe’s transition from pipeline Russian gas to more expensive imported LNG. It will be interesting to see if an end to the Russia-Ukraine war results in resumed Russian pipeline gas flows to Europe or not.”

As Doomberg noted in their piece, Project Porcupine, Europe’s irrational energy policies will make it difficult to increase its military might. The JPMC report concurs, stating “European defense capabilities are only 10% of US levels. Higher energy prices, intermittent power and deindustrialization are not going to make the task of European rearmament any easier.”

The report also touched on Germany’s coming Energieweimar. Despite Deutschland’s heavy investments in wind and solar, the country has become a net importer of electricity. Long story short, installed power capacity continues to rise but actual generation is falling. The same story is unfolding in the United Kingdom.

Despite heavy subsidies and much hype, the so-called green hydrogen industry is floundering. Quarterly mentions of hydrogen project delays and cancelations are skyrocketing in the news and in company disclosures.

The report included this quote, with the caveat that it somewhat exaggerates the plight of green hydrogen:

“Electrolyzers, which do not exist, are supposed to use surplus electricity, which does not exist, to feed hydrogen into a network that does not exist in order to operate power plants that do not exist. Alternatively, the hydrogen is to be transported via ships and harbors, which do not exist, from supplier countries, which – you guessed it – also do not exist.”

According to the report:

“Hydrogen has an “original sin” problem: early estimates of electrolyer costs were too low. It started with an influential IRENA paper in 2020 estimating electrolyzer costs at $750 per kW. The European Energy Transitions Commission now concedes that costs are far higher, at least when sourced from Western manufacturers; the latest estimates for 2024 range from $2,100 to $3,200 per kW. This revised assessment had led to a 5x increase in Western 2030 electrolyzer cost projections from BNEF and the Hydrogen Council relative to initial projections.”

This quote pretty much sums up the “energy transition.” Boosters of unproven and expensive technologies assure us that their preferred energy sources are already cheaper, or will soon be much cheaper, than the reliable, affordable technologies we already use. Within a few years, the promises fail to materialize, and they move on to some other unicorn technology, and the hype cycle repeats itself.

Some grim realities for the industry:

“Only 12 percent of green hydrogen projects scheduled for completion by 2030 have identified offtake agreements, and only 5 percent of projects scheduled for completion by 2030 have reached the final investment decision stage. It gets worse: of the projects that have offtake agreements, only 11 percent of that amount represents binding contracts. So…just 1 percent of all projected green hydrogen production has a binding offtake agreement.”

A key reason for the problems plaguing green hydrogen is the cost. Even after assuming optimal electrolyzer utilization rates (which won’t materialize in the real world if they are, in fact, powered by wind and solar), the cost is still massive. In Texas, green hydrogen production is around $6.50 per kilogram (kg). In New York, the cost is around $7.50 per kg.

It takes approximately 7.4 kg of hydrogen to produce 1 million British thermal units (MMBtu) of energy, and it takes 10 MMBtus to produce one megawatt hour (MWh) of electricity in a combustion turbine power plant. This means the fuel cost of green hydrogen is approximately $481/MWh in Texas and $555/MWh in New York. At that price, it’s no wonder the industry is hitting hard times.