Start here
Pick the door you need
Walk-in office, full utility profile or the explainer on Montana's regulated market.
Walk-in offices
2 published Montana utility offices on a filterable card finder (NorthWestern Energy in Conrad, Fergus Electric Cooperative in Roundup), plus 24/7 outage and gas-emergency lines.
Find an officeUtility directory
NorthWestern Energy, Montana-Dakota Utilities and the largest rural electric cooperatives with service areas, customer service and outage lines.
Open directoryHow the MT market works
Why Montana ended residential retail choice in 2007, what the PSC actually approves and how co-op territory differs from IOU territory.
Read the primerWho serves your address
Two big IOUs, plus 26 rural electric cooperatives. Pick the one that delivers your power.
Investor-owned · IOU
NorthWestern Energy
NWE · electric + gas
Butte, Helena, Bozeman, Missoula, much of western and central MT
Investor-owned · IOU
Montana-Dakota Utilities
MDU · electric + gas
Eastern MT: Glendive, Sidney, Miles City, Wibaux
Member co-op
Fergus Electric Cooperative
FEC · member-owned · central MT
14 central MT counties around Lewistown + Roundup
Member co-op
Southeast Electric Cooperative
SEEC · member-owned
Powder River, Carter, Custer, Fallon counties (SE MT)
Member co-op
Flathead Electric Cooperative
Largest MT co-op · NW MT
Flathead, Lincoln + parts of Lake & Sanders counties (Kalispell)
Member co-op
Missoula Electric Cooperative
MEC · member-owned · western MT
Missoula, Mineral, Ravalli, Sanders + parts of Idaho
See the full MT utility directory with the 24/7 outage + gas emergency table.
Regulated state
Bundled rate, PSC-approved — three ways MT customers buy electricity
Montana ended residential retail choice in 2007 after the wholesale market crisis. Your utility is also your supplier, end of story for residential.
IOU bundled rate
NorthWestern Energy and MDU charge a bundled supply + delivery rate. The Montana PSC approves each component in a contested rate case.
- ✓You can intervene in rate cases via the Montana Consumer Counsel.
- !No competitive supplier option.
Co-op member rate
If you live on one of the 26 rural electric cooperatives' lines, the co-op generates or buys wholesale power and resells it at a board-approved rate.
- ✓Rates often 10 to 25% below NorthWestern equivalent.
- ✓Annual capital credits return excess margin to members.
Large industrial only
Only customers with peak demand above 5 MW can shop a competitive supplier in MT — about 30 industrial sites statewide.
- !Not available for residential or small commercial customers.
- !Industrial customer can shop, but still pays utility delivery.
Note: co-op customers cannot switch between an IOU and a co-op — territory is set by the 1937 Rural Electrification Act and the MT territorial law.
Save these
MT emergency phone lines
For outages and gas leaks, always call your delivery utility, never an office.
Quick answers
The questions MT households ask before calling.
Call your utility at least three business days before move-in. NorthWestern Energy: 1-888-225-4570. MDU: 1-800-638-3278. If you live on co-op territory (Flathead, Fergus, Missoula Electric, Southeast etc.), call the co-op number printed on the bill of the previous tenant. Montana is a regulated state — no supplier choice to set up, the utility handles everything.
No, not as a residential customer. Montana's 1997 deregulation was rolled back in 2007 after the 2000-2001 western US energy crisis exposed retail customers to spot prices. Only customers with peak demand above 5 MW (about 30 large industrial sites) can shop alternate suppliers today. Everyone else buys bundled supply from their IOU or co-op.
Three reasons. Co-ops are not-for-profit — there is no shareholder return baked into the rate. Their distribution systems are mostly depreciated. And the co-ops buy a large share of wholesale power from Bonneville Power Administration (BPA), the federal preference-power provider, which prices hydropower well below market. Annual capital-credit retirements return excess margin to members on top.
The Western Electricity Coordinating Council is the regional reliability organisation for the western US grid, covering all of Montana plus 13 other western states and parts of Canada and Mexico. WECC sets the reliability standards your utility follows. Montana sits in the Northwest Power Pool sub-region. Unlike PJM in the east, WECC does not run a competitive day-ahead market — wholesale trades happen bilaterally between utilities.
The Montana Public Service Commission (PSC), a five-member elected body, approves IOU rates and major investments. The 26 rural electric cooperatives set their own rates through member-elected boards and are exempt from PSC rate jurisdiction. The Montana Consumer Counsel is the state-recognised residential ratepayer advocate in PSC proceedings.
Call the co-op directly, 24/7. Fergus Electric Cooperative: (406) 538-2000. Southeast Electric Cooperative: (406) 487-2741. Flathead Electric: (406) 751-4449. Missoula Electric: (406) 541-4433. Every co-op publishes its own 24/7 outage number on every monthly bill.