Key takeaways
- 30 community-owned utilities: 1 municipal utility and 29 electric cooperatives reported bundled retail sales in Montana in 2024.
- Together they served 228,527 of the state's 692,103 bundled retail customers (33%); 4 investor-owned utilities served most of the rest.
- The largest public power utility is City of Troy, with 1,058 customers.
- The largest electric co-op is Flathead Electric Coop Inc, with 75,982 customers.
Every public power utility and co-op in Montana
Ranked by bundled retail customers in 2024, with retail sales in megawatt-hours and average price in cents per kilowatt-hour. Names are as EIA abbreviates them. Filter by type or search.
Showing all 30 utilities
| # | Utility | Type | Customers | Sales, MWh | Avg. price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Flathead Electric Coop Inc | Cooperative | 75,982 | 1,617,371 | 8.56¢ |
| 2 | Yellowstone Valley Elec Co-op | Cooperative | 23,296 | 312,454 | 13.22¢ |
| 3 | Missoula Electric Coop, Inc | Cooperative | 16,504 | 257,642 | 10.22¢ |
| 4 | Ravalli County Elec Coop, Inc | Cooperative | 12,088 | 190,984 | 10.43¢ |
| 5 | Vigilante Electric Coop, Inc | Cooperative | 11,288 | 130,539 | 9.67¢ |
| 6 | Glacier Electric Coop, Inc | Cooperative | 7,959 | 171,014 | 9.81¢ |
| 7 | Fergus Electric Coop, Inc | Cooperative | 6,999 | 260,850 | 10.68¢ |
| 8 | Park Electric Coop Inc | Cooperative | 6,946 | 193,248 | 8.87¢ |
| 9 | Lincoln Electric Coop, Inc | Cooperative | 6,742 | 134,041 | 10.91¢ |
| 10 | Beartooth Electric Coop, Inc | Cooperative | 6,457 | 70,389 | 13.34¢ |
| 11 | Sun River Electric Coop, Inc | Cooperative | 6,268 | 102,078 | 12.71¢ |
| 12 | McCone Electric Coop Inc | Cooperative | 5,464 | 69,263 | 16.22¢ |
| 13 | Lower Yellowstone R E A, Inc | Cooperative | 5,228 | 300,737 | 10.09¢ |
| 14 | Tongue River Electric Coop Inc | Cooperative | 5,177 | 96,731 | 13.60¢ |
| 15 | Northern Lights, Inc | Cooperative | 4,287 | 64,845 | 11.88¢ |
| 16 | Hill County Electric Coop, Inc | Cooperative | 3,970 | 173,502 | 10.17¢ |
| 17 | Marias River Electric Coop Inc | Cooperative | 3,833 | 75,119 | 10.22¢ |
| 18 | Sheridan Electric Coop, Inc | Cooperative | 3,759 | 114,702 | 11.76¢ |
| 19 | Big Horn County Elec Coop, Inc | Cooperative | 3,655 | 53,465 | 13.89¢ |
| 20 | Southeast Electric Coop, Inc | Cooperative | 2,198 | 72,172 | 12.39¢ |
| 21 | Fall River Rural Elec Coop Inc | Cooperative | 2,080 | 52,250 | 9.22¢ |
| 22 | Big Flat Electric Coop Inc | Cooperative | 2,075 | 29,219 | 13.06¢ |
| 23 | Mid-Yellowstone Elec Coop, Inc | Cooperative | 2,040 | 27,687 | 14.75¢ |
| 24 | NorVal Electric Cooperative, Inc | Cooperative | 1,937 | 51,267 | 15.59¢ |
| 25 | City of Troy | Municipal | 1,058 | 16,768 | 8.10¢ |
| 26 | Goldenwest Electric Coop, Inc | Cooperative | 861 | 9,971 | 20.13¢ |
| 27 | Powder River Energy Corp | Cooperative | 172 | 72,089 | 6.95¢ |
| 28 | McKenzie Electric Coop Inc | Cooperative | 117 | 647 | 12.86¢ |
| 29 | Big Horn Rural Electric Co | Cooperative | 71 | 18,724 | 12.86¢ |
| 30 | Grand Electric Coop, Inc | Cooperative | 16 | 154 | 13.64¢ |
Public power vs. co-ops in Montana
- Public power utilities — municipal utilities, public utility districts and state-owned utilities — are owned by the communities they serve and governed by a city council or elected board. They buy much like local governments: through public bids, board approvals and published budgets.
- Electric cooperatives are private, not-for-profit utilities owned by their members, who elect the board. Most buy power from a generation and transmission (G&T) co-op and make purchasing decisions through their own policies, often faster than public agencies.
Both publish their plans: watch board and council agendas, budgets, capital improvement plans and rate filings. Our utility funding tracker and rate case & IRP tracker show where the money is coming from.
Selling to Montana utilities
- Start with the right person. Line, engineering, metering, IT and member-services managers usually define the need; the general manager or CEO and the board approve large purchases.
- Use the networks. State public power and cooperative associations, joint action agencies and G&T co-ops shape purchasing and share vendor experiences.
- Expect small teams. Many of the utilities on this list have only a handful of staff, so phone outreach and a clear reason to talk matter.
Read our guide to how public power, co-ops and water utilities buy, or see the largest public power utilities and largest electric co-ops nationally.
About this data
- Source. EIA's "2024 Utility Bundled Retail Sales – Total" (Table 10), from forms EIA-861 and EIA-861S. Average price is EIA's revenue divided by sales.
- Bundled customers only. The table counts customers who buy both energy and delivery from the utility, so it excludes distribution-only utilities and customers who buy energy from another supplier in retail-choice areas.
- Community-owned utilities only. This page lists municipal, public utility district, state-owned and cooperative utilities. Investor-owned and federal utilities are left out.
Sources
- U.S. Energy Information Administration, 2024 Utility Bundled Retail Sales – Total (Table 10): eia.gov