Missoula's Story and Our Process

Origins of 100% Clean Electricity for Missoula

The foundation of Missoula’s 100% Clean Electricity Initiative lies in our 2015 Community Climate Smart Action Plan, which established a goal of carbon neutrality for the Missoula urban area and outlined the vision, goals and strategies to build environmental, economic, and social resilience and sustainability in our community. The plan was based on extensive public and private cross-sector input and expertise derived from a series of community conversations and “summits” the City of Missoula and Climate Smart Missoula convened. Renewable energy was a critical focus area of that plan with a stated vision of “A Missoula area that is powered by renewable energy and where community members are engaged with and have control over affordable energy systems.”

Over the years, Missoula leaders and citizens made progress on renewable energy campaigns, such as Solarize Missoula and the SolSmart Silver designation for both the City and County. While those were exciting steps, we always knew that a broader change in our energy system would be necessary to reach carbon neutrality. Updated climate projections, including the 2017 Montana Climate Assessment and the 2018 Special Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, reinforced the urgency of making that change.

To meet this challenge, local government staff joined with Climate Smart Missoula, local experts and citizens to develop a 100% Clean Electricity Options Report in 2018. The Options Report was the foundation for Missoula’s 100% Clean Electricity Resolution, which the Missoula City Council and the Missoula Board of County Commissioners jointly and unanimously adopted in 2019. The 100% Clean Electricity Resolution establishes the goal of powering our community by 100% clean electricity by 2030, along with an interim goal of 80% clean electricity by 2025.