Electricity rates in Montana

Montana's electricity comes mainly from regulated, vertically integrated utilities. NorthWestern Energy serves most of the population, Montana-Dakota Utilities covers part of the east, and rural electric cooperatives serve much of the remaining land area. The state briefly opened its retail market to competition around the turn of the century, but that experiment was largely unwound, and residential customers now buy supply from their local utility at rates approved by the Montana Public Service Commission.

Generation has long rested on hydropower from dams on the Missouri and other rivers together with coal, and wind farms have added a growing share in recent years; the state produces more electricity than it uses. Winters are long and cold, so heating shapes household usage far more than summer cooling, although many homes heat with natural gas or propane rather than electricity.