Stoltze celebrates biomass boiler groundbreaking

There were no golden shovels, but there is a golden opportunity. With more than 100 people on hand, F.H. Stoltze Land and Lumber Co. celebrated the groundbreaking for a new biomass boiler at its Half Moon mill Aug. 21. They also recognized the company’s 100th anniversary.

The $22 million high-tech boiler, which utilizes waste wood from the mill, will not only provide heat for the plant, it will also generate about 2.5 megawatts of electricity that will be purchased by Flathead Electric Cooperative.

“There’s not many companies in Montana that are 100 years old,” Stoltze vice president Chuck Roady said. “And there aren’t any (Montana) forest products companies that are 100 years old. We’re really proud of that.”

Roady thanked a host of agencies, including the U.S. Forest Service, the state Department of Natural Resources, FEC and others for making the project possible.

The Co-op sealed the electrical power deal earlier this year. The Co-op’s board set a criteria that the impact from purchasing Stoltze’s power at 9 cents a kilowatt-hour could not raise members’ retail rates by more than 1 percent. The 2.5 megawatt purchase amounts to about 1 percent of the Co-op’s total load, so there is little impact to costs.

Roady also recognized the plant’s employees, many of which have been there for years, through thick and thin.

“We have the best employees in the world,” he noted.

Members of the Stoltze family also attended the event, which looked like it would be hampered by a thunderstorm. While it did rain briefly, the ceremony itself went off without a hitch.

Carolyn Stoltze Benepe, one of founder F.H. Stoltze’s two living granddaughters and a company co-owner, attended the ceremony along with her son Mason. Both were pleased with the community’s support for the company and the new project.

“We’re rejoicing,” Carolyn said.

She said while on a boat tour on Flathead Lake, the captain thanked her for keeping Stoltze’s 38,000 acres of timberlands open to public use.

“I think F.H. Stoltze is an asset, and the residents think so, too,” she said.

Mason said the investment in the new facility marks the company’s continuing evolution.

“You have to be (innovative),” he said. “If you’re not, you’re like the mills that aren’t here anymore. This opportunity is too good to be missed.”

Also attending the event were Jim Hubbard, deputy chief of the Forest Service, and Montana State Forester Bob Harrington. Hubbard said the Forest Service supports community-minded projects like this. Harrington noted the project’s great implications.

“It connects us to the community, natural resources and the future,” he said.

Work on the new boiler plant actually started in May. Pilings have been driven, and concrete for the fuel silos has been partially poured. The boiler is expected to go online next October. The old stack and boilers, including one more than 100 years old, will eventually be removed.