After strong early support from Governor Schweitzer and GOED, NorthWestern Energy’s Mill Creek Generating station, a $200 natural gas fired facility capable of producing 150 MW, was completed in 2010. The plant, located west of Anaconda will provide NorthWestern with the ability to respond to changing electric demand and is scheduled to begin serving customers by January 1, 2011. The plant created 10 full-time jobs on completion
After a switch from coal to natural gas, Southern Montana Electric Generation and Transmission Cooperative (SMEGT) broke ground on their 45 MW facility outside of Great Falls in October 2010. Phase 1 will be the construction of a 40 MW simple cycle unit along with a 4.6 mile 230 kV transmission to interconnect with NorthWestern Energy’s existing transmission line. The commercial operation date for phase 1 is scheduled to for June 2011. The second phase will be the construction of the second combustion turbine and the combined cycle portion of the Highwood Station, with a commercial operation date tentatively scheduled to be in the fourth quarter of 2013.
This 119 MW pulverized coal power plant went on line in April of 2006. The Hardin Generating Station has the distinction of being the cleanest burning coal plant in Montana and was the first pulverized coal plant to be built in Montana in over 20 years.
Basin Electric Power Cooperative in November 2007 announced the development of a $100 million natural gas fired peaking plant in Culbertson capable of producing about 91 MW of electricity. The station started generating power to the grid in June of 2010 and interconnects with a 115-kilovolt line operated by the Western Area Power Administration. The plant came on line in fall 2010.
The Basin Creek Power natural gas fired power plant in Butte was constructed in 2005 and produces 51+ MW of peaking power, tied to firming wind power from Judith Gap Wind Farm.