Talen Energy is a privately-owned Independent Power Producer (IPP) that generates and sells electricity, capacity, and related products from a fleet of power plants that use diverse fuel sources including zero-carbon nuclear, clean, and flexibly dispatched natural gas, and efficient, resilient coal. Talen is developing a large-scale portfolio of renewable energy, battery storage, and digital infrastructure assets across its expansive footprint. Silverthorn Wind will help further diversify Talen’s generation portfolio, adding renewable energy to its fleet.

Talen Energy operates 15 generation facilities across 6 states, which produce approximately 12,400 megawatts of electricity. Talen’s plants have long-term connections with their communities and their facilities receive industry-leading performance rankings, from operations to safety and commercial management.

Pattern Energy is one of the leading private renewable energy companies, with operating and development footprints in the United States, Canada, and Japan. Headquartered in the United States, our global operational portfolio includes more than 30 utility-scale renewable energy facilities.

Pattern Energy was founded in 2009 and is responsible for building more than 6 GW of renewable energy projects. Our leadership and core management have worked together for more than 15 years, uniting deep industry knowledge with investment expertise.

Silverthorn Wind LLC is a project-level company that owns the assets related to our wind energy efforts located in Rosebud and Treasure counties. Silverthorn Wind LLC is jointly owned by Pattern Energy and Talen Energy.

Silverthorn Wind represents a roughly $1 billion investment within Rosebud and Treasure counties. Throughout development, construction, and operations, residents can expect to see direct and indirect job creation, economic investment, and tax revenue. We anticipate that the project will generate more than $150 million dollars in additional property tax revenues over a 30-year operating life.

Approximately 450-600 workers will be on-site during construction, which will take between one and two years. Local workers and subcontractors will be involved to the greatest extent possible – from building access roads and turbine foundations to assembling and installing turbine components. Subcontractors will be engaged to conduct civil work – grading, excavation, concrete – electrical work, and mechanical assembly. Activities will also include site preparation before infrastructure installation begins and site restoration after construction. Once operational, a Facility Manager and Assistant Facility Manager will oversee site activities, utilizing between 12-20 Turbine Technicians and a variety of local vendors and contractors when possible to provide maintenance services, including for communications, operations, the maintenance building, access roads, the substation, and truck fleet.

Yes! Silverthorn Wind and our contractors take our commitments to the local communities where we build our projects very seriously. We will actively pursue local vendors, job seekers, and local union labor during development and we will hold a job fair before construction to engage interested companies and workers. We will keep a list of interested applicants and vendors during project development to share with the Engineering, Procurement, and Construction company that is selected to hire subcontractors for construction. We will also establish a vendor and worker application portal.

Silverthorn Wind will encourage our contractors to hire locally to the greatest extent possible. We will also support the community through sponsorships of local causes. Please reach out to us at Outreach@SilverthornRenewables.com if you have suggestions on how we can better engage with the community members and support local initiatives.

The development period (before construction of the wind farm) includes many important, necessary steps including obtaining options for land easements, collecting meteorological data, performing environmental studies, and working through the permitting processes, to name a few. This can typically take anywhere from two to five years. Depending on factors such as seasonal conditions and final project size and design, construction is expected to last between one to two years. Construction is targeted to start in 2025, with operations targeted for 2027.

The amount of land required depends on the size of the project. Each wind turbine, however, typically needs less than one acre of land after construction, allowing landowners to continue farming and ranching around them.

Wind turbines in Montana are expected to generate energy between 80- 90% of the time in an average year. Wind forecasting technology makes wind energy easier to predict and more reliable than ever before. Electric grids are designed to handle variability in both demand and supply. Because of the natural variations in demand, the electric grid usually has more power available than it needs in the form of reserves. During a power plant outage – whether a conventional plant or a wind plant – backup is provided by the entire interconnected utility system.

No power plant operates 100% of the time. There are periods when power plants shut down for maintenance and repairs and times when resources run low or unexpected outages occur. At some conventional power plants, the entire plant may have to be shut down for repairs, whereas wind farm maintenance takes place one turbine at a time, without having to shut down the entire plant.

The project is not receiving government grants or other direct payments from taxpayers. Like nearly all infrastructure in the US (including oil and gas), the project’s owner will receive federal tax credits for a portion of the project value. For wind energy, this is called the Production Tax Credit.

Today, the cost of wind energy is competitive with other energy sources and the cheapest source of new electricity in many parts of the country. Additionally, the cost of electricity from wind energy is predictable and stable as there are no fuel costs, unlike conventional forms of energy where the cost of fuel can fluctuate significantly over time.

No. Wind turbines do not produce any greenhouse gas emissions, water discharges, or solid waste byproducts.

Wind turbines are extremely complex pieces of machinery that require parts from a variety of vendors and suppliers across the globe. Silverthorn Wind will only engage with direct suppliers of equipment to ensure that the installed project will reliably perform for decades to come. When reviewing new wind projects installed in the US in 2019: 90% of nacelle assemblies were conducted in the US by American labor, 65- 85% of wind tower sections were sourced from US steel mills, and 40-70% of Blades/Hubs were manufactured in the US. When looking at 2020 US import data, turbine components are sourced from some of our largest trade partners in Europe, South America, and Asia as well as a growing number of components being fabricated here in the United States. As the wind industry has continued to grow domestically, so too have domestic production capabilities.

Helicopter surveys are federally required protocol in the permitting process. By using helicopters, we are able to avoid disrupting natural habitats in our survey process. To prevent any unnecessary disruptions, the team is listening to feedback and increasing notifications ahead of surveys. The team is also marking and taking note of no-fly zones and sensitive areas. If you have any concerns, please reach out to your Silverthorn representative at Outreach@SilverthornRenewables.com.

All power generated by Silverthorn Renewables will be combined with the energy generated through other power plants that transmit their power from the local Colstrip substation for distribution.

No, Independent Power Producers (IPPs), like the teams developing Silverthorn Renewables cannot use eminent domain for projects. Silverthorn Renewables is not a regulated utility, and therefore cannot use eminent domain. We are private companies working directly with private landowners.

Tax abatements are a type of incentive offered by governments to businesses to encourage investment in the region. Tax abatements are designed to stimulate economic growth, attract investment, and promote specific industries or initiatives. Tax abatements can have positive economic impacts by attracting investment, creating jobs, and spurring economic growth. A portion of any tax savings received via the abatement process has to be allocated back to the county in the form of an Impact Fee under Montana law.

In the case of Silverthorn Renewables and other energy projects in Montana – developers and county leaders work together to decide upon a set amount for the Impact Fee that adequately defers some of the disruptions or “impacts” of new developments. The impact fee is also a critical part of the negotiation of tax abatements that allow both the county to keep local funding and the developer to have tax certainty for a set amount of time.

Yes, Silverthorn Wind LLC plans to set aside a bond for decommissioning the wind farm at the end of its useful life or, in the very unlikely scenario that the company goes out of business or is unable to continue operating the project. A decommissioning plan must be put in place with Montana DEQ within 12 months after the start of project operation and the project lease has included these requirements contractually for decommissioning. Provisions for removal of turbines and infrastructure, provisions for land restoration, and provisions for Silverthorn Wind to provide financial assurance, accessible by the Montana DEQ, to carry out the decommissioning are all captured as requirements in the lease.

Please reference the Montana DEQ website for further information.

https://deq.mt.gov/Energy/Programs/renewable

Through careful site selection, project design and use of best management practices during construction and operations, Silverthorn Wind is designed to minimize impacts to the natural environment, including wildlife and habitat.

Wind power is far less harmful to wildlife than traditional energy sources it displaces, including to birds and their critical habitats. Overall, wind causes less than 0.01% of all human-related bird deaths. Other causes include buildings (550 million), cars (80 million), pesticide poisoning, (67 million), and radio and cell towers (6.8 million).

Yes. The FAA has guidelines for air navigation in close proximity to wind farms. Silverthorn Wind will work closely with the FAA to ensure proper protocols are in place to avoid material impacts to air navigation in the area. FAA guidelines advise that aircraft should not navigate within 500 feet of a wind turbine both laterally and vertically. Should this impact a landowner’s ranch operations, the lease is structured to include any designated Restricted Areas where turbines cannot be sited.

No. For more than 40 years people have been living near more than 350,000 wind turbines operating globally and more than 50,000 wind turbines operating in North America. There is no scientific evidence indicating that wind turbines have caused any adverse health effects. Overall, health and medical agencies agree that the sound from wind turbines is not loud enough to cause hearing impairment and is not causally related to adverse effects.

Wind turbine sounds are not unique. Based on the levels and frequencies of the sounds, a multidisciplinary scientific advisory panel comprised of medical doctors, audiologists, and acoustical professionals concluded that there is no evidence the audible or sub-audible sounds emitted by wind turbines have any direct adverse physiological effects. The noise most wind turbines emit is around 40 to 45 decibels, which is similar to the noise from most refrigerators (40 decibels) and less than the noise from an average air conditioner (50 decibels).

In the rare case of a wind turbine fire, there are a set number of measures and steps taken by operators to prevent impacts. We can remotely turn wind turbines off and turbines are well equipped with fire suppression technology. There is also a measured set back around the turbine, should the fire spread beyond the engine. We will also coordinate with local emergency response in order to adequately respond to these events and minimize their impacts.

Studies show, if sited correctly there are no health impacts from wind turbine’s electromagnetic field (EMF). In fact, many common household electrical items have been shown to produce higher EMF levels.

We recognize that tiling is an extremely important element of agricultural practices in the area and will work to prevent and/or mitigate agricultural impacts associated with the construction process. If there are current GPS coordinates of all drainage tiles, those would be used to assess the site before construction commences and tiles would be avoided to the greatest extent reasonable. Drainage tiles that are affected near the wind turbine sites are re-routed around the foundation area. We will complete repairs to tiles cut or damaged during the construction process in a timely manner in accordance with the terms of our leases.

Turbine foundation excavations will be performed in a manner to preserve topsoil. Subsoils that are excavated to install the turbine foundation structure will be used to backfill the foundation and will be redistributed around the turbine after construction. If there is excess material that is not needed for fill on roads or other places in the project area, it will be removed unless otherwise agreed to by the landowner.

A stormwater pollution prevention plan (SWPPP) that includes an erosion control plan will be developed by the general contractor and verified by Pattern Energy and Talen Energy. The SWPPP will be reviewed by the Montana Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) and will need to be approved before construction begins.

The condition of public roads that are expected to be utilized during construction is documented prior to the start of construction activities. All public roads impacted by the construction of the renewable energy projects will be returned to the same or better condition after construction activities. This arrangement is documented and memorialized through a Public Road Use Agreement with the local road engineers at the County level.

The condition of public roads that are expected to be utilized during construction is documented prior to the start of construction activities. All public roads impacted by the construction of the renewable energy projects will be returned to the same or better condition after construction activities. This arrangement is documented and memorialized through a Public Road Use Agreement with the local road engineers at the County level.

During construction, there will be additional traffic in the area as construction of the wind farm will require heavy equipment, which could include bulldozers, graders, trenching machines, concrete trucks, flatbed trucks, and large cranes. Once construction of the wind farm is complete and the project is operational, traffic will return to its pre-construction levels.

Silverthorn Wind will strictly observe a 25 miles per hour speed limit on the property. In order to mitigate significant traffic impacts, we will coordinate with appropriate local (state, county, and town) road authorities.

The Silverthorn Wind team is working with federal, regional, and state entities to finalize the specific path to market utilizing the existing 500kV transmission capability near Colstrip, MT.

Yes. Any owner or owners would be required to continue to comply with the terms of the Lease and further, as a condition of any sale, would need to be fully qualified to own and operate a large-scale wind project.

Yes. Existing cattle guards utilized by construction personnel will be maintained and new cattle guards can be installed at each gate between property owners where access is required to a cattle ranch for construction at the Silverthorn Wind project. A strictly enforced gate closing policy will be implemented. A series of cattle spotters will be employed to ensure that livestock will not wander into areas where active construction is taking place. Cattle at operating ranches will NOT be required to be removed from their current pastures during construction. Where possible, we would encourage landowners who are able to rotate their cattle to a different pasture while construction is active. Prior to the start of construction, construction management will provide concise planned construction schedules and notifications to ranchers, to allow ranchers to plan cattle rotations around the final construction schedule. Cattle grazing can continue throughout operations as well. Please reference our Land Stewardship Commitment in the Wind Energy Agreement for further information.

Agents in the field are employed as direct contractors representing Silverthorn Wind LLC to assist us with our mission to meet face-to-face with as many landowners as possible. Connecting with landowners and beginning the process of discussing land lease details is an important stage for us as it allows us to communicate directly with the community about this project – these agents are allowing us to broaden our reach and expand this process given their significant experience in Montana and the Northwest in general.

Please reach out to our project team with questions, any time via our phone number at (406) 850-1592 or email address, Outreach@SilverthornRenewables.com.