State electricity profile · EIA monthly through May 2026
Montana Electricity
As of May 2026, residential electricity in Montana costs 14.67¢ per kWh (+13.9% vs May 2025). EIA publishes these figures monthly and this page follows them. Montana's 2025 annual residential electricity rate is 12.98¢/kWh, 25% below the US average. That is a below-average rate alongside 58% renewable generation, the combination the national debate usually treats as a trade-off. The sector and fuel detail below shows how it is built.
- 14.67¢
- May 2026 rate
- +13.9%
- year over year
- 12.98¢/kWh
- Residential rate
- -25.0%
- vs US average
- 58%
- Renewable
- 570.9K
- Customers
Verify with EIA → · Methodology
12.98¢/kWh residential, 11.88¢/kWh commercial
In the U.S. Energy Information Administration's 2025 annual-frequency retail-sales series, Montana's residential average revenue per kWh is 12.98¢/kWh, with a commercial average of 11.88¢/kWh and an industrial average of 7.02¢/kWh; a separate EIA generation series for 2025 reports 58% of the state's generation from renewables.
- 25% below the US average vs national residential average
- 58% renewable generation
The verdict · 2025
Montana's residential electricity runs 12.98¢/kWh - 25% below the 17.30¢/kWh national average, cheaper than 90% of other states, with 58% of its power from renewables.
This is EIA state average revenue per kWh across 570.9K reported residential customers, a benchmark for comparing states, not the tariff on any single bill. Source: EIA retail-sales API, annual frequency.
Annual rate change
What changed in the 2025 annual EIA period
- Montana's industrial average fell from 7.59¢/kWh to 7.02¢/kWh between the 2024 and 2025 annual-frequency EIA retail-sales periods, a change of -7.5%.
- Montana's residential average rose from 12.66¢/kWh to 12.98¢/kWh between the 2024 and 2025 annual-frequency EIA retail-sales periods, a change of +2.5%.
- Montana's commercial average rose from 11.87¢/kWh to 11.88¢/kWh between the 2024 and 2025 annual-frequency EIA retail-sales periods, a change of +0.1%.
Energy Generation Mix (2025)
How Montana generates its electricity, from the EIA generation series for 2025 (separate from the 2025 retail-sales price figures above). Renewable sources account for 57.8% of generation.
- Coal35.0%
- Hydrorenewable34.2%
- Windrenewable21.9%
- Natural Gas4.6%
- Solarrenewable1.7%
- Petroleum1.6%
- Other0.9%
Who generates Montana's electricity
Montana has 165 operable generating units on EIA's inventory totalling 7,111 MW of net summer capacity. The largest single plant is Colstrip , a conventional steam coal station operated by Talen Montana LLC , rated 1,480 MW.
Balancing authorities keep supply and demand matched on the grid; the largest here by capacity are NorthWestern Energy (NWMT), Bonneville Power Administration and Avista Corporation.
Showing the 16 largest of 72 operable plants in Montana by net summer capacity.
| Plant | Operator | Technology | County | MW |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Colstrip | Talen Montana LLC | Conventional Steam Coal | – | 1,480 |
| Noxon Rapids | Avista Corp | Conventional Hydroelectric | – | 581 |
| Hungry Horse | U S Bureau of Reclamation | Conventional Hydroelectric | – | 428 |
| Libby | USACE Northwestern Division | Conventional Hydroelectric | – | 420 |
| Clearwater Wind I | Clearwater Energy Resources LLC | Onshore Wind Turbine | – | 366 |
| Yellowtail | U S Bureau of Reclamation | Conventional Hydroelectric | – | 288 |
| Pryor Mountain Wind | PacifiCorp | Onshore Wind Turbine | – | 240 |
| Selis Ksanka Qlispe | Energy Keepers Inc | Conventional Hydroelectric | – | 228 |
| Clearwater Wind East | Portland General Electric Co | Onshore Wind Turbine | – | 208 |
| Fort Peck | USACE-Omaha | Conventional Hydroelectric | – | 198 |
| NaturEner Rim Rock Energy | NaturEner Rim Rock Energy LLC | Onshore Wind Turbine | – | 185 |
| Yellowstone County Generating Station | NorthWestern Energy (MT wind/thermal) | Natural Gas Internal Combustion Engine | – | 166 |
| Judith Gap Wind Energy Center | Invenergy Services LLC | Onshore Wind Turbine | – | 135 |
| Dave Gates Generating Station | NorthWestern Energy (MT wind/thermal) | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | – | 132 |
| Hardin Generator Project | Heorot Power Management | Conventional Steam Coal | – | 107 |
| NaturEner Glacier Wind Energy 1 | NaturEner Glacier Wind Energy 1 LLC | Onshore Wind Turbine | – | 104 |
| Operating company | Plants | Net summer MW |
|---|---|---|
| Talen Montana LLC | 1 | 1,480 |
| U S Bureau of Reclamation | 3 | 773 |
| Avista Corp | 1 | 581 |
| NorthWestern Energy (MT Hydro) | 10 | 450 |
| USACE Northwestern Division | 1 | 420 |
| Clearwater Energy Resources LLC | 1 | 366 |
| NorthWestern Energy (MT wind/thermal) | 4 | 348 |
| PacifiCorp | 2 | 244 |
| Energy Keepers Inc | 1 | 228 |
| Portland General Electric Co | 1 | 208 |
Operable units only, from EIA's generator inventory as reported for 2026-05. Capacity is net summer rating, which is what a unit can reliably deliver in peak conditions rather than its nameplate figure. Ownership and operatorship can differ; the company shown is the one EIA records as operating the unit.
What Montana's Electricity Data Tells Us
Residential customers in Montana pay 12.98¢/kWh in 2025, across 570.9K metered households, placing the state 25% below the national residential average of 17.30¢/kWh. Commercial rates sit at 11.88¢/kWh while industrial buyers pay 7.02¢/kWh. These sector averages describe recorded revenue per kWh; this dataset alone does not establish why they differ. Annual residential sales total 5.8M MWh on roughly $752.7M in utility revenue. Sales and revenue are reported retail-series measures and should not be treated as a local load forecast.
Montana prices its sectors in step: 46 of 51 residential against 43 industrial. A state this consistent is the exception rather than the rule, and it means the residential figure above is a fair proxy for how the whole grid is priced. No single fuel reaches half of Montana's in-state generation. Coal leads at 35.0%, with hydro at 34.2% close enough behind that the mix reads as a balance rather than a clear lead. It is the leading fuel in 9 states. Renewable fuels (solar, wind, hydro, geothermal and biomass) account for 57.8% of Montana's electricity output. These shares describe in-state generation, not a utility-specific customer bill.
Looking back across EIA records, residential prices in Montana moved from 10.94¢/kWh in 2016 to 12.98¢/kWh in 2025, a 18.6% shift over that window. States charging a similar rate include Utah, Washington, Oklahoma, a useful peer set for a sanity check. A coal-led grid prices differently from a fuel-market-led one. Montana's generators buy under multi-year contracts and recover plant capital through the rate base, so the rate above tends to move in regulated steps rather than with any commodity price, and the live question is what retiring units get replaced with. Read the number as a floor rather than a promise. A statewide average this far under the national figure is usually held down by a few large low-cost generators, and a household on the wrong side of a service-territory boundary in Montana can pay well above it.
-25.0%
Much cheaper vs the US residential average
90%
of states have higher rates — Among the cheapest
58%
Significant renewable — above the 25% US mix
570.9K
residential customers served
Residential Price History
Montana residential average revenue per kWh moved from 10.94¢/kWh in 2016 to 12.98¢/kWh in 2025 (18.6% over the window).
- Montana residential avg
- 12.98¢/kWh 18.6% since 2016
- 2016 → 2025
- Montana residential: 2016, 10.9¢
- Montana residential: 2017, 11¢
- Montana residential: 2018, 11¢
- Montana residential: 2019, 11.1¢
- Montana residential: 2020, 11.2¢
- Montana residential: 2021, 11.2¢
- Montana residential: 2022, 11.3¢
- Montana residential: 2023, 12.5¢
- Montana residential: 2024, 12.7¢
- Montana residential: 2025, 13¢
Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, retail-sales API · annual frequency. Montana full trend →
Montana Average Price by Sector and Year (¢/kWh)
The chart above tracks households only. In 2025, Montana households paid 12.98¢/kWh while businesses paid 11.88¢/kWh, a 9.3% residential premium, an unusually narrow household-versus-business gap. Every year EIA has published is below, so a single year can be read across all three sectors rather than assembled from three separate EIA queries.
| Year | Residential | Commercial | Industrial |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 12.98¢/kWh | 11.88¢/kWh | 7.02¢/kWh |
| 2024 | 12.66¢/kWh | 11.87¢/kWh | 7.59¢/kWh |
| 2023 | 12.54¢/kWh | 12.11¢/kWh | 7.80¢/kWh |
| 2022 | 11.33¢/kWh | 10.68¢/kWh | 7.49¢/kWh |
| 2021 | 11.22¢/kWh | 10.54¢/kWh | 6.24¢/kWh |
| 2020 | 11.24¢/kWh | 10.51¢/kWh | 5.18¢/kWh |
| 2019 | 11.13¢/kWh | 10.41¢/kWh | 5.45¢/kWh |
| 2018 | 10.96¢/kWh | 10.11¢/kWh | 5.19¢/kWh |
| 2017 | 10.95¢/kWh | 10.12¢/kWh | 5.25¢/kWh |
| 2016 | 10.94¢/kWh | 10.19¢/kWh | 5.06¢/kWh |
Average revenue per kilowatt-hour, U.S. Energy Information Administration annual-frequency retail-sales series. Revenue per kWh is what customers in each sector actually paid on average, not an advertised tariff rate. Years with no EIA figure for a sector show —.
Where Montana's residential rate sits nationally
2025 average revenue per kWh across every reporting state
12.98¢/kWh Top 12% most affordable More affordable than 90% of 50 other states
all reporting states, equal-width bands
Each bar spans 5¢/kWh. Taller bars contain more states; the dashed marker locates this state. Hover, focus or tap a bar for its exact count and share.
Source U.S. Energy Information Administration, retail-sales API · 2025 annual frequency
How Montana compares
Average revenue per kWh, EIA retail-sales API. Pick a benchmark above to compare Montana against the US average or a peer state.
Market Overview
Residential Revenue
$752.7M
Commercial Revenue
$611.8M
Residential Sales
5.8M MWh
Residential Customers
570.9K
Using Montana's numbers
Renewables already carry a large share of generation here, so the marginal question in Montana has shifted from building supply to firming it. Storage and interconnection are what the next rate moves turn on.
- Montana sits 25% below the national average, see exactly where it lands among all 50 states. See the rankings
- Check the multi-year trend before you judge the rate, a low price rising fast can cost more over a decade than a steady one. Montana price trend
- Compare Montana side by side with the US average and peer states using the tool above, then estimate your own bill from your monthly kWh. Cost calculator
Figures are EIA state averages by sector, computed as revenue divided by sales, so delivery and taxes are inside them but not broken out. Your actual rate depends on your utility, plan, and usage, see our disclaimer.
States with Similar Electricity Prices
Other states led by coal
These grids also report coal as their largest generation share in the latest EIA mix — a different peer set from the price neighbors above.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Read with Montana: cheapest states for electricity
Where Montana's figures come from
Every price and generation figure on this page is drawn from the EIA series below, and from nothing else.
Utilities serving Montana
The 14 utilities that reported bundled residential service in Montana to EIA Form 861 (2024), largest first. Entity prices below are Form 861 averages for that release, not the same survey as the 2025 retail-sales statewide average above, and not a household tariff. What an individual household pays depends on which of these serves its address.
| Utility | Ownership | Customers | Avg ¢/kWh |
|---|---|---|---|
| NorthWestern Energy LLC - (MT) | Investor Owned | 328.1K | 14.23¢ |
| Flathead Electric Coop Inc | Cooperative | 63.3K | 9.67¢ |
| Yellowstone Valley Elec Co-op | Cooperative | 21.2K | 13.35¢ |
| Montana-Dakota Utilities Co | Investor Owned | 19.6K | 12.89¢ |
| USBIA-Mission Valley Power | Federal | 16.3K | 8.91¢ |
| Missoula Electric Coop, Inc | Cooperative | 14.7K | 10.50¢ |
| Fergus Electric Coop, Inc | Cooperative | 6.7K | 15.52¢ |
| Northern Lights, Inc | Cooperative | 4.0K | 12.52¢ |
| Lower Yellowstone R E A, Inc | Cooperative | 3.5K | 8.83¢ |
| Fall River Rural Elec Coop Inc | Cooperative | 1.5K | 11.39¢ |
| Powder River Energy Corp | Cooperative | 52 | 12.69¢ |
| McKenzie Electric Coop Inc | Cooperative | 25 | 8.61¢ |
| Black Hills Power, Inc. | Investor Owned | 12 | 6.96¢ |
| Avista Corp | Investor Owned | 9 | 8.50¢ |
The 1 serving 100.0K+ residential customers link to a full profile. Presence in EIA Form 861 is not evidence that a utility is available at a given address or that a customer may choose it.
Related
Disclaimer: This information is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute professional advice. Data is sourced from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). Consult a qualified professional before making decisions based on this data.
Every figure on RateWatt is rendered directly from official U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) data, no number is typed in by an editor. Statewide prices use the EIA retail-sales annual series (2025). Generation mix uses a separate EIA generation series (2025). Utility rows use Form EIA-861 (2024) and are not averaged into the statewide retail-sales figure. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of 2025.