Montana produces more electricity than its roughly 1.1 million residents use, and the plants that do it are scattered across the fourth-largest state by area. Our listings include hydroelectric dams, coal and gas stations, wind parks and newer solar arrays. Most of them are working industrial sites, not public offices. This page explains who owns and regulates them, how they differ from region to region, and how to reach the right people when you have a question, a complaint or a reason to visit.

How Power Plants Are Owned and Regulated in Montana

No single agency runs the state's power plants. Oversight is split among state, federal and local bodies. Knowing which one handles your question saves a lot of phone calls.

Montana's constitution gives people the right to examine the documents of public bodies. That right reaches DEQ, the PSC and county governments. It does not reach a privately owned plant, so permit files are often the best public record of who actually operates a site.

Coal, Gas, Hydro, Wind and Solar: The Mix Behind Montana's Listings

Montana's plants fall into five broad groups, and each tends to sit in a different part of the state.

Hydroelectric. Dams on the Flathead, Marias, Beaverhead, Madison and Missouri rivers supply steady power. Hungry Horse, on the South Fork of the Flathead River near Columbia Falls, is a Bureau of Reclamation project. Tiber Dam near Chester sits on the Marias River in Liberty County, and the Clark Canyon facility near Dillon is on the Beaverhead River. The Madison facility near Ennis is in Madison County, on Ennis Lake.

Coal and gas. Colstrip in Rosebud County is the state's best-known coal-fired center. Units 3 and 4 still run after units 1 and 2 closed in 2020. In Billings, the J E Corette Steam Electric Station at 301 Charlene Street stopped generating coal power in 2015. Gas plants such as Dave Gates Generating Station near Anaconda in Deer Lodge County and Basin Creek Plant in Butte can ramp up quickly when wind output falls. Lewis & Clark Generating Station in Sidney, in Richland County, and Glendive Generating Station serve the eastern side of the state.

Wind. Strong winds along the Rocky Mountain Front and across the central plains made Montana a wind state. Our listings include Naturener Glacier Wind Energy 1 near Ethridge, Greenfield Wind near Fairfield, Horseshoe Bend Wind Park near Great Falls, Gordon Butte Wind at Martinsdale, Jawbone Wind Project near Harlowton, Big Timber Wind Farm near Reed Point, Crazy Mountain Wind near Big Timber and Diamond Willow Wind Facility near Baker.

Solar. South Mills Solar in Hardin, Green Meadow Solar in Helena and Great Divide Solar at Canyon Creek are a newer addition to the mix. They are smaller than the wind farms, and they sit on flat land close to existing lines.

Where Montana's City Listings Cluster: Great Falls, Billings and Helena

Great Falls has more listings than any other Montana city, and the reason is geography. The Missouri River drops sharply there, which earned the city the nickname "the Electric City." Several dams near the city, among them Black Eagle, Rainbow and Ryan, are operated by NorthWestern Energy. Horseshoe Bend Wind Park, at 316 McIver Road, is in Cascade County, which leads the state in listings.

Billings is Montana's largest city and anchors Yellowstone County. Interstate 90 and Interstate 94 meet there, which makes it the easiest starting point for trips to Hardin, Colstrip and Big Timber. The former Corette plant is the city's best-known site. Confirm its current status before you plan a visit, since retired plants often keep their listings.

Helena, in Lewis and Clark County, is where the state's regulators sit. DEQ and the Public Service Commission both have offices in the capital, so in-person records requests are easiest there. Green Meadow Solar at 2 Clink Court and Great Divide Solar at Canyon Creek are both in the county.

Flathead Valley is the western exception. Hungry Horse, at 926 Nucleus Avenue in Columbia Falls, and the Big Fork facility near Bigfork are in Flathead County. Both are tied to river flows rather than to city grids.

Reaching Power Plants in Rural Montana: Harlowton, Reed Point and Ethridge

Many of our listings are rural, and it shows in the addresses. Jawbone Wind Project is listed as 3 miles northeast of Harlowton, not with a street number. Big Timber Wind Farm is on Deadmans Canyon Road near Reed Point. Glendive Generating Station is listed only by Marsh Road.

Distances are long and weather matters. Winter storms can close gravel roads and highway stretches with little notice, and cell coverage drops out on ranch roads. Most wind and solar sites sit on private ranch land, so there is usually no public entrance and no front desk.

Before you set out:

If your issue is a bill or an outage, skip the plant itself. Contact your utility, because plant staff cannot fix a billing error or dispatch a line crew. For a proposed wind or solar project near your property, start with the county commissioners and the county planning office, since they run the local hearings.

Power plant facilities in Montana include a mix of federal, state, and municipally owned generation assets that contribute to the region's overall electricity supply. Montana's energy mix and the number of publicly owned facilities reflect the state's natural resources, regulatory environment, and historical development of its utility infrastructure.

Power Plant locations are available in 46 cities across Montana. They are spread across 35 counties.

Areas with the highest concentration of power plant locations include Great Falls, Billings, Hardin, often reflecting proximity to water resources, fuel supply infrastructure, or industrial demand centers.

Residents of Montana who are customers of a municipal or public power utility can contact their local power authority for billing assistance, energy efficiency programs, and information about planned outages or infrastructure upgrades in their service area.

Power Plant by Counties

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Residents of Montana who receive electricity service from a publicly owned utility can visit or contact that utility's customer service office to learn about outage reporting, billing options, and energy assistance programs. For information about a specific power generation facility in Montana, contacting the state's public utility commission is often the best starting point.

Browse Power Plant by county across Montana to find the nearest location.

Picking the Right Contact for a Montana Power Plant Question

Montana's generating fleet has several kinds of owners: investor-owned utilities, member-owned electric cooperatives, independent power producers and federal agencies. That mix explains why one phone call rarely settles everything. A billing error belongs with your utility. A dust or air complaint belongs with DEQ. A rate case belongs with the Public Service Commission. A question about a federal dam, such as Hungry Horse, Tiber or Clark Canyon, belongs with the agency that operates it.

Our listings give you a starting point: a name, a town and a county. From there, confirm the current operator before you drive anywhere, particularly for older sites and for plants that have changed hands. When you call, have the facility name, the nearest town, the date of the event and any photos ready. Clear details get faster answers, and they help staff route your request to the right desk instead of passing you along.

Power Plant Questions Montana Residents Ask

Several bodies share the job. The Montana Department of Environmental Quality issues air and water permits and administers the Montana Major Facility Siting Act for large generating and transmission projects. The Public Service Commission, based in Helena, regulates rates and service for investor-owned utilities such as NorthWestern Energy and Montana-Dakota Utilities, but generally does not set rates for member-owned cooperatives. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission licenses non-federal hydroelectric dams, and federal agencies manage their own dams. Counties control zoning and local permits. If you are unsure where to start, pick the body that matches your problem: pollution, rates or land use.

Rarely, and it depends on the owner. Federal dams such as Hungry Horse near Columbia Falls in Flathead County have historically offered seasonal visitor facilities, but hours and access change with staffing, security rules and weather, so confirm before you drive. Most wind farms and solar arrays sit on private land behind locked gates, and utility-run thermal plants usually allow visits only by arrangement. Schools and civic groups have the best luck writing to the operator weeks ahead. Expect to show photo ID and follow escort rules. Never climb fences or enter posted areas near spillways and intakes, because water releases can change quickly.

Colstrip, in Rosebud County, still generates coal power. Units 1 and 2 were retired in January 2020, while units 3 and 4 remain in service under a group of owners that includes NorthWestern Energy. Their future has been debated for years, with costs, environmental rules and the town's economy all in play, so check current news or the operator before relying on any date. Our directory also lists a Colstrip Energy Power Plant at 1 Willow Street in Colstrip. For tours, jobs or community questions, contact the operator directly and confirm which facility you are asking about.

Call your own utility first; its name is on your bill. NorthWestern Energy, Montana-Dakota Utilities and the state's electric cooperatives each run their own outage reporting, and a generating plant's staff cannot send line crews for you. Treat any downed line as live and keep well away, and keep children and pets back too. Report it to the utility, and call 911 if it blocks a road or has started a fire. If an investor-owned utility does not resolve a billing or service complaint, the Public Service Commission accepts consumer complaints. Cooperative members can raise concerns with the co-op's board.

It depends on size and location. Large generating facilities fall under the Montana Major Facility Siting Act, which DEQ administers. Smaller projects, including many solar arrays, are handled mainly through county planning and zoning, along with road-use agreements. Federal permits apply if the site touches federal land or protected species. Counties with active wind development, such as Toole County, where Glacier Wind operates near Ethridge, hold public meetings you can attend. A landowner offered a lease should have an attorney review the term, decommissioning and road clauses before signing anything.

Many plants sit far from any town grid. Jawbone Wind Project is listed as 3 miles northeast of Harlowton, Diamond Willow Wind Facility is on U.S. 12 near Baker, and Culbertson Generation Station is on Montana 16. Those entries describe a general location, not a front door or a mailing address. Use a map app with satellite view, confirm the access road with the operator, and do not drive onto private ranch roads without permission. Cell service is thin in much of rural Montana, so download offline maps first. Also check that a listed facility is still operating, because some, like the former Corette station in Billings, have been retired.