Last Updated: May 16, 2024

Overview

Montana, known as Big Sky Country, is the fourth-largest state.^1,2 It is bordered by Idaho to the west, Wyoming to the south, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, and shares a 545-mile border with Canada to the north.³ The state is rich in both fossil fuels and renewable resources and is a net supplier of energy to the rest of the nation.^4,5 One-fourth of the nation's estimated recoverable coal reserves are in Montana, and the northern and eastern areas of the state contain deposits of crude oil and natural gas.^6,7,8 The Continental Divide runs along the state's western mountains, making Montana the only state in the nation with rivers that drain into the Pacific Ocean, the Gulf of America, and Canada's Hudson Bay.⁹ The Missouri River, the longest river in the United States, starts in the Rocky Mountains in western Montana and flows eastward across the state.¹⁰ The river and its tributaries offer substantial hydroelectric energy resources.^11,12 Montana's western mountains capture warm, moist air from the Pacific Ocean, creating a more moderate climate in the western third of the state than farther east, where the Rocky Mountains give way to dry, wind-swept plains that stretch into the Dakotas.¹³ The state's vast plains provide Montana with some of the best wind resources in the nation.¹⁴ Montana is the third least densely populated state, averaging about 8 people per square mile.¹⁵ Montana's population crossed the 1 million threshold in 2012 and the state continues to grow, but still ranks among the 10 states with the fewest residents.^16,17 Montana's residents are clustered in and around a few cities, mainly in the valleys of the Missouri River and its tributaries.¹⁸ Much of the eastern third of the state has, on average, less than one resident per square mile.¹⁹ Montana ranks second only to Texas with over 58 million acres of land in farms and ranches.²⁰

Montana's early economy was built around mining, ranching, wheat farming, and timber. After World War II, spurred by popular destinations such as Glacier and Yellowstone National Parks, tourism increased. In 1970, tourism surpassed mining to become the second-largest industry in the state after agriculture.²¹ Today, finance, insurance, real estate, rentals, and leasing are the largest contributors to the state's gross domestic product (GDP), but energy resource extraction and mining continue to be significant parts of the state's economy.²² Mining, crude oil and natural gas production, petroleum refining, and agricultural industries are all energy-intensive. Those industries, as well as the amount of transportation fuels used to travel the long distances within the state and the state's small population, help place Montana's per capita energy consumption near the top one-fifth of the states, even though its total energy consumption is among the 10 lowest states.^23,24

The industrial sector leads Montana's end-use energy consumption, accounting for 30% of the state total, followed by the transportation sector at 27%. The residential sector makes up 23% of the state's energy use, and the commercial sector accounts for 19%.²⁵ Montana's summer heat can exceed 100°F on the plains and winter can bring Arctic blasts with subzero temperatures.²⁶ The state's temperature extremes and its small population contribute to Montana's residential sector having the highest per capita energy consumption of any state.²⁷

Coal

Montana has the largest estimated recoverable coal reserves among the states, accounting for about 30% of the U.S. total.²⁸ Montana is the sixth-largest coal-producing state. In 2022, the state produced about 5% of the nation's coal from five operating mines.^29,30 Most of Montana's coal production comes from four large surface mines in the Powder River Basin in the southeastern corner of the state and one small surface mine in the western part of the state.³¹ Montana's Spring Creek Coal mine is the eleventh-largest U.S. coal-producing mine.³² The state's Rosebud surface mine supplies almost all of its production to Montana's largest electricity generating plant—the Colstrip coal-fired power plant located next to the mine about 90 miles east of Billings. Two of the plant's 4 generating units were retired in early 2020, reducing the plant's generating capacity to about 1,500 megawatts.^33,34,35,36

In 2022, about four-tenths of Montana's distributed coal was delivered within the state, almost all to the electric power sector. Half of Montana's coal was sent to other states, mainly by rail to Michigan, Minnesota, and Washington, for electricity generation. The remaining one-tenth was exported to other countries, mostly to western Canada, where much of it shipped to Asia.^37,38,39 Montana's coal production has declined by nearly 30% from 2018 to 2022, mainly because of competition in the United States from natural gas and renewable energy sources as fuel for electricity generation and retirements of coal-fired power plants.^40,41,42,43

Petroleum

Montana holds less than 1% of U.S. total proved crude oil reserves, and the state accounts for about 1 in every 200 barrels of U.S. oil produced annually.^44,45 Most of Montana's crude oil production comes from the Bakken Formation in the northeastern corner of the state along the border with North Dakota.^46,47,48 Montana's Elm Coulee field, which began producing oil in 2001, was initially the most prolific oil field in the Williston Basin, a geologic basin that spreads from eastern Montana into North Dakota and Canada.^49,50 However, the state's oil production declined from its 2006 peak of nearly 100,000 barrels per day as drilling activity moved to North Dakota, where the Bakken Shale formation is thicker, covers a larger area, and holds more oil. In 2022, Montana's annual crude oil production increased for a second consecutive year to 64,000 barrels per day, the highest output level since 2015.^51,52

Montana has 4 refineries with a combined crude oil processing capacity of about 205,000 barrels per calendar day.⁵³ The three largest refineries are in the Billings area.⁵⁴ There is a smaller refinery in Great Falls that in early 2023 finished an expansion project that allowed it to make renewable aviation fuel from animal fat and vegetable oil.^55,56 The refineries receive crude oil mainly from Canada and Wyoming and produce a wide range of refined products, including motor gasoline, ultra-low sulfur diesel fuels, aviation fuels, butane, propane, petroleum coke, and asphalt.^57,58,59,60 Pipelines and railroads are used to ship crude oil to the refineries and to transport the facilities' refined products throughout Montana and to nearby states. Several pipelines carry Montana crude oil to refineries in other states as well.⁶¹ In January 2021, the Biden administration canceled the permit for the Keystone XL Pipeline extension, which would have crossed the state as a shorter route to transport Canadian crude oil to refineries along the U.S. Gulf Coast.⁶²

Although Montana's total petroleum consumption is among the lowest 10 states, its small population helps place it among the top 10 states in petroleum consumption per capita.⁶³ The transportation sector consumes more than three-fifths of the petroleum used in Montana.⁶⁴ The state ranks among the top five in both per capita annual vehicle miles traveled and per capita gasoline expenditures.^65,66 During the winter months, federal air quality standards require oxygenated motor gasoline use in the Missoula metropolitan area near the Idaho border.⁶⁷ Montana has no ethanol production plants, but it receives ethanol from other states that is blended with motor gasoline at Montana's petroleum product terminals.^68,69 In January 2024, Montana updated its fuel regulations allowing the sale of E15 fuel blend, which contains 15% ethanol.^70,71 The industrial sector is the second-largest consumer of petroleum, accounting for almost one-fourth of the state's total use. The residential sector—where about 1 out of 7 households heat with propane, fuel oil, or kerosene—and the electric power and commercial sectors together make up the rest, about 15%, of the state's petroleum consumption.^72,73

Electricity

In 2023, coal generated 45% of Montana's in-state generation. Until 2016, coal consistently supplied more than half of its in-state generation. However, over the past decade coal's share declined because of the growth of renewable electricity, retirement of coal-fired power plants, and increased price competitiveness of natural gas.^74,75,76,77 In 2020, hydroelectric power generation exceeded coal-fired generation for the first time in more than two decades before coal returned to the top spot since 2021.⁷⁸

In 2023, hydropower accounted for about 30% of Montana's in-state electricity generation. However, hydroelectric generation in the state declined by 22% in 2023 due to the drought conditions in the Western states—especially Oregon and Washington—led to historically low hydroelectric generation in these states.⁷⁹ While the state's largest power plant by generating capacity in 2023 was coal-fired, 6 of the 10 largest were hydroelectric.^80,81 There are several projects planned to expand the state's hydroelectric generating capacity.⁸² A large pumped hydro storage project, Gordon Butte Pumped Storage, with 400 megawatts of generating capacity is in development about 100 miles northwest of Billings.⁸³ Pumped-storage hydroelectric plants generate electricity during peak demand periods, when power prices are higher, using water pumped into an elevated storage reservoir during off-peak periods and then releasing it to flow back to a lower reservoir through turbine generators when additional power is needed.⁸⁴ In 2023, wind power accounted for the third-largest share, about 18%, of the state's generation, and natural gas provided about 4%. Petroleum coke accounted for almost 2% of Montana's generation, the highest share of any state.^85,86 Montana has no nuclear power plants.⁸⁷

Montana consumers use about two-thirds of the electricity generated in the state.⁸⁸ The excess power is sent over high-voltage transmission lines to other western states, mostly Washington and Oregon.⁸⁹ Several transmission projects are in development that will increase capacity to move Montana-generated electricity to other states.^90,91 Most of Montana is part of the Western Interconnection, an electric grid which serves western states, Canadian provinces, and a small part of northern Mexico. A portion of eastern Montana is connected to the Eastern Interconnection of the U.S. grid.^92,93 One of the nation's eight converter stations that connect the eastern and western electric grids is located at Miles City, Montana.⁹⁴

In 2023, the residential sector accounted for about 37% of the electricity sales in the state, with the commercial and industrial sectors close behind at 33% and 30%, respectively.⁹⁵ About one-fourth of Montana households use electricity as their primary heating source.⁹⁶ In 2023, Montana's average electricity price was below the national average and less than about three-fourths of the states.⁹⁷

As of early 2024, there were 121 public electric vehicle charging locations with 378 charging ports in service across Montana. The state has the fifth-lowest number of charging locations in the nation.⁹⁸ The charging locations are mostly located in Montana's largest cities—Billings, Missoula, Great Falls, and Bozeman—and along major interstate highways.⁹⁹ With fewer than 3,000 registered battery electric vehicles (BEVs) in 2022, Montana has one of the lowest BEV adoption rates in the nation.¹⁰⁰ The Montana Department of Transportation and Montana Department of Environmental Quality recently developed the 2023 Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Deployment Plan Update to increase BEV adoption and add more charging locations to better serve local residents and visitors.¹⁰¹

Renewable energy

Montana has substantial renewable energy resources, and in 2023 it ranked within the top 10 states with the largest share of electricity generated from renewables. Renewable energy, primarily hydropower and wind, accounted for about 50% of Montana's in-state electricity generation.^102,103 The state's mountainous terrain along the Continental Divide creates fast-running rivers from the 300 inches of snow and rain that fall in the region annually and provide the water resources for hydroelectric power generation. The headwaters of the Missouri River, the longest river in North America, are in the mountains of southwestern Montana.^104,105 In 2023, Montana was the seventh-largest producer of hydroelectric power in the nation.¹⁰⁶ The state has 23 utility-scale (1 megawatt or larger) hydroelectric plants, and most of them are located in the western half of the state.¹⁰⁷ Six of Montana's 10 largest power plants by generating capacity are hydroelectric facilities.^108,109 The state is also home to the first Tribally-owned hydroelectric plant in the United States—the 227-megawatt Seli'š Ksanka Qlispe' plant—on the Flathead River.¹¹⁰

With its broad plains dotted with hills, wide river valleys, and occasional mountains, eastern Montana has some of the best utility-scale wind power potential in the nation.^111,112 The first utility-scale wind farm in the state came online in 2005.¹¹³ Wind energy powers 3 of the state's 10 largest generating plants by capacity and 3 of the 10 largest by annual generation.¹¹⁴ The state's largest wind facility, the 366-megawatt Clearwater wind farm, came online in eastern Montana at the end of 2022. In early 2024, the state had nearly 1,800 megawatts of wind power generating capacity in operation. Another 400 megawatts of wind capacity and related battery energy storage are scheduled to come online by 2025.¹¹⁵

In 2023, solar energy generated about 1% of Montana's in-state generation—the highest to date. Montana's solar energy power was provided only by customer-sited, small-scale (less than 1 megawatt) residential and business solar panel installations until 2017, when the state's first utility-scale power facilities began generating electricity. In early 2024, Montana had eight utility-scale solar power farms with a combined generating capacity of 177 megawatts. The state's utility-scale solar generating capacity was seven times greater in 2023 than in 2022 after two 80-megawatt solar farms—one near Billings and one near Dillon—came online.^116,117,118

Montana has biomass resources, and about 7 in 100 households heat their homes with wood. The state has the third-highest share of wood-burning households, after Vermont and Maine. However, very little electricity generation in the state comes from biomass.^119,120,121 The state's only utility-scale wood biomass-fueled generating facility has 3 megawatts of capacity and is owned by a lumber company in northwest Montana. An electric cooperative owns a 1.6-megawatt generating unit that is fueled by landfill gas.^122,123 Woody biomass is also used as fuel in boilers to provide heat, mostly in western Montana schools, hospitals, and other public buildings.¹²⁴

Montana has geothermal resources, but there are no utility-scale geothermal-fueled electricity generating facilities in the state.¹²⁵ Montana's most significant geothermal resources are in the mountainous southwest. Low- and moderate-temperature geothermal resources are found in nearly all areas of the state.¹²⁶ Montana's geothermal resources have a variety of direct-use applications, including recreational hot springs, greenhouses, and fish farms. Several hot springs resorts and public bathing facilities in Montana use geothermal energy for space heating and mineral baths.¹²⁷

Montana enacted in 2005 a renewable portfolio standard (RPS) that required electricity retail suppliers to acquire at least 15% of the electricity they sell in-state from renewable energy sources by 2015.¹²⁸ They reached the requirement in 2015 and continued to exceed it, which led the state legislature to repeal the RPS in 2021.^129,130 Montana provides low-interest loans to households and businesses to pay for energy-saving measures, like energy-efficient appliances and windows. The loans also cover alternative energy systems, including solar panels, geothermal systems, wind generators, and low-emission wood stoves.¹³¹

Natural gas

Montana accounts for about 0.1% of U.S. total natural gas reserves and marketed production.^132,133 The state's natural gas production is about one-third of what it was at its peak in 2007. Production from natural gas wells and coalbed methane wells in the state generally trended downward in recent years as energy companies focused on drilling for oil rather than for natural gas.^134,135 About three-fourths of Montana's natural gas production comes from wells located in the northern part of the state near the Canadian border. Almost all the remaining natural gas production comes from wells in the Williston Basin in northeastern Montana near the North Dakota border.¹³⁶

Montana consumes about twice as much natural gas as it produces.^137,138 Interstate natural gas pipelines cross Montana from Canada, North Dakota, and Wyoming.^139,140 In 2022, about 86% of the natural gas that entered the state came from Canada, crossing the border at 3 import points of entry. Of the remaining natural gas shipments, 8% came from Wyoming and 6% from North Dakota.^141,142 In 2023, almost 7% of all the natural gas the United States imported by pipeline from Canada entered through Montana.¹⁴³ About four-fifths of the natural gas that enters Montana leaves the state, almost all of it continuing on to North Dakota on its way to Midwestern markets.¹⁴⁴ Some of the natural gas that enters Montana is put in storage. The state has more underground natural gas storage capacity than any other state in the Rocky Mountain region and has the nation's largest single underground storage site—the depleted Baker field in the Williston Basin in eastern Montana. That storage field can hold 287 billion cubic feet of gas.^145,146

Montana's total natural gas consumption is among the five lowest states. However, with its frigid winters and small population, Montana ranks near the middle of the states in per capita natural gas use.^147,148 The commercial sector is the largest natural gas consumer in Montana, accounting for about 32% of the state's total natural gas use, followed by the industrial sector at 31%. The residential sector makes up 28% of natural gas consumption and the electric power sector accounts for about 9%.¹⁴⁹ About half of Montana households use natural gas as their primary energy source for home heating.¹⁵⁰

Energy on tribal lands

More than 6.4 million acres in Montana, about 7% of the state's total land area, are Native American tribal lands.^151,152 Montana has 8 reservations that are home to 12 tribes and more than 60,000 Native Americans.^153,154 In December 2019, the U.S. Department of the Interior updated regulations to make it easier for tribes to control development of energy resources on their lands.¹⁵⁵ Most of Montana's tribal lands sit on top of coal, crude oil, or natural gas resources.¹⁵⁶

The largest reservation in the state, the Crow Nation Reservation, covers 2.2 million acres in south-central Montana, and the Crow Tribe mines some of its estimated 9 billion tons of coal reserves. The Crow Nation Reservation also has crude oil and natural gas resources.^{157,158,159,160} The Northern Cheyenne Reservation in southeastern Montana, adjacent to the Crow Nation Reservation, also has large coal reserves, but the Northern Cheyenne Tribe does not mine its coal.¹⁶¹ The Blackfeet Reservation—located on the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains near Glacier National Park with more than 1.5 million acres—has crude oil and natural gas resources. In September 2023, after an almost 10-year court battle, the last oil and gas lease in Badger-Two Medicine, an area considered sacred, was relinquished. While the Blackfeet Tribe has opposed leases on its most sacred lands, it is not against oil and gas development in other areas on the reservation.^162,163,164 Crude oil was discovered in the early 1950s on the Fort Peck Reservation, which is home to two tribes and is the second-largest reservation in the state at over 2 million acres. The Fort Peck Reservation is located in northeastern Montana, and it overlies the western edge of the Bakken formation where there is crude oil production.^165,166

Much of Montana's tribal lands also have abundant renewable energy resources. The Fort Peck, Blackfeet, and Crow Nation reservations are among the 15 reservations in the nation with the greatest potential for wind-powered electricity generation, and the Fort Peck Reservation has some of the highest potential for solar power generation.¹⁶⁷ The Flathead and Crow tribal lands have some of the largest hydropower potential among U.S. tribal lands.¹⁶⁸ The Salish and Kootenai tribes, on the Flathead Reservation in western Montana, became the first tribal owners and operators of a major hydroelectric facility in the nation when they acquired sole ownership of the Kerr Dam on the boundary of their reservation in September 2015, which was renamed Seli'š Ksanka Qlispe' plant.^169,170 The Flathead Reservation, with its timber resources on the mountains and valleys of northwestern Montana, has the greatest biomass generation potential of all the tribal lands in the state.^171,172

Endnotes

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