Solar permitting — Golden Valley County, Montana
No tracked activity yet — coverage expands weekly.
✅ LOW RISK (Score 32/100, Grade A, stable trajectory) — Extremely small market and limited grid capacity make any commercial solar project economically marginal. Permitting: Conditional Use Permit; 50-ft setback. Track record: Magpie Solar (Cypress Creek Renewables). Political environment: Republica…
Permitting process
Local permitting pathway
Conditional Use Permit (CUP) or Special Use Permit (SUP) in Agricultural (A) or Rural zoning district; administered by county planning board or zoning board of adjustment. Process varies by county; most counties lack solar-specific ordinance.
Setbacks & buffers
No Montana state-mandated solar setback floor for sub-250 MW facilities. Standard agricultural district setbacks apply (typically ≥25–50 ft from property line, ≥50 ft from road ROW) where no county solar ordinance exists. County-specific setbacks may apply if local ordinance adopted.
Spacing requirements
None codified.
Size restrictions
None codified; managed via CUP/SUP conditions
Penalties & bonding
Total: -5 | Permissive ordinance flag: -5
State-level permits & approvals
Sub-250 MW: county-level CUP or SUP in agricultural/rural zone; county planning board or BZA approval; process and timelines vary by county (typically 60–180 days). Facilities ≥250 MW nameplate: Montana Major Facility Siting Act (MCA 75-20) — requires BER siting certificate; full environmental review. MPSC regulates net metering interconnection for qualifying facilities. No state preemption statute; counties retain full authority for sub-250 MW.
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State policy & grid context
State RPS & clean energy policy
15% by 2015 (target passed; still in force) | Montana Renewable Power Production and Rural Economic Development Act (2005) | MCA §69-3-2001 et seq.
State incentive programs
Montana: No binding RPS. Voluntary 15% renewable goal (expired 2015). Net metering: available under MPSC rules (≤50 kW residential, up to 5 MW commercial). Property tax exemption: renewable energy systems exempt from state property tax (MCA 15-6-225). No state solar production tax credit or SREC market. Federal ITC (30% under IRA 2022) and USDA REAP grants apply. NorthWestern Energy community solar program limited in capacity.
Grid & interconnection
WECC / NorthWestern Energy (NorthWestern Corp) transmission zone
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Community opposition P1
No organized opposition on record for this county yet — no petition, group, or oppositional coverage tracked. Absence of opposition is a positive siting signal.
Subscriber intel Subscribers
Researched for this county and available with a subscription:
- 🔒Project track record
- 🔒Developer intelligence
- 🔒Community & board sentiment
- 🔒Governing board
Energy-related meetings & dockets P1
No tracked activity yet — coverage expands weekly.
State PSC dockets P1
No tracked activity yet — coverage expands weekly.
Sentiment rollup P2
No sentiment rollup yet (requires meeting transcripts to be processed).
Local news P3
No tracked activity yet — coverage expands weekly.
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