Why Negotiate or Mediate Development Conflicts?

Abstract

In 1972, a consortium of five electric utilities led by the Montana Power Company announced a decision to construct two 700-megawatt coal-burning plants at Colstrip, Montana. These plants would join two plants already generating electricity at the Colstrip site. A combination of low-sulfur Montana coal and sophisticated flue gas desulfurization devices (scrubbers) enabled the two existing plants to rank among the cleanest power plants in the country. The newly proposed plants, although larger, would also burn the same low-sulfur coal and use scrubbers to control emissions. Utility officials expected to receive routine approvals from all state and federal reviewing agencies (Sullivan, 1984).