By Susan Gallagher

Four religious sisters intend to capture some of Montana’s world-class wind that blows across the high plains, and use it to help power the monastery where they lead contemplative lives of prayer.

Two wind turbines to generate electricity were transported from Chicago in April, for installation at the Great Falls monastery of the Poor Clares of Montana, sisters who follow St. Clare of Assisi. The Poor Clares describe themselves as “women living the Gospel life in the heart of the Church…in the heart of Montana.”

Wind Power of Montana LLC planned to install the two turbines later this spring, putting them a stone’s throw from the walls of the monastery built during a fiveyear span ending in early 2008. The monastery is designed for 10 sisters, houses four and has guest quarters.

“Because of all the wind we have here, using it to provide our power just seemed like a natural thing,” Sister Catherine Cook, the abbess, said in a phone interview. “We’re excited about it.”

Scott Palmer at Wind Power of Montana said he enjoys the sisters’ enthusiasm. “Every time we do something out there, they’re taking pictures,” he said. The turbines rise only about 35 feet— small compared to those at an industrial wind farm within sight of Great Falls, or compared to a 120-footer installed recently at the Montana State University-Great Falls College of Technology.

Wind Power of Montana and utility NorthWestern Energy differ in their estimates of how much electricity will be produced at the monastery, which is heated with natural gas. NorthWestern’s estimate is the more conservative.

At times of surplus power generation, electricity not needed for the monastery will go into NorthWestern’s system, under an arrangement called “net metering.” The value of that input then will be deducted from utility bills for power consumption by the Poor Clares.

Use of alternative energy by religious communities in the United States is not widespread, nor new.

In Aberdeen, S.D., for example, the Presentation Sisters of the Blessed Virgin Mary use solar collectors, and planned to install a wind turbine this spring. St. Elizabeth Catholic Church in suburban Detroit gets electricity from a wind system, dedicated in 2001, and solar panels.

Since 1997, turbines have been part of the energy supply for the Benedictine Sisters’ Sacred Heart Monastery in Richardton, N.D. The prioress, Sister Ruth Fox, said wind accounts for about 30 percent to 40 percent of the electricity consumed at the monastery in western North Dakota.

“We wish even better results for the Poor Clares,” Sister Ruth said.

The wind project for the Poor Clares is being developed with the help of a grant funded by a charge attached to utility bills and earmarked for energy conservation, for advancement of renewable energy and for low-income energy assistance.

The Poor Clares are within the Diocese of Great Falls-Billings, but their lives of prayer are far-reaching, and they travel to parishes in both of the state’s Catholic dioceses. The Diocese of Helena’s Little Flower Parish in Browning is among those the sisters have visited.

Trimming their utility bills is not the sole reason they want to put the wind to work; the Poor Clares say energy efficiency and respect for the environment are values consistent with their Franciscan heritage.


Published in The Montana Catholic Online, Volume 26, No. 5, May 21, 2010.