Montana

Challenges and opportunity for energy production in Montana

Published

1 year ago

December 17, 2024

Challenges and opportunity for energy production in Montana

HELENA — Energy needs continue to grow in the Treasure State and on the national level. Industry leaders say there are a number of contributing factors including population growth and the growing tech industry.

On Tuesday, Governor Greg Gianforte hosted an Energy Roundtable in Helena to discuss hurdles faced in Montana’s energy sector, potential solutions and look to the future. The governor was joined by business leaders, large energy consumers and suppliers, community leaders and lawmakers.

“With rising demand on our power grid, we must do more to unleash American energy production in the United States,” Gianforte said. “By bringing together policymakers, the private sector, public utilities, and other energy leaders, I’m optimistic that we can make it easier to produce American-made energy in Montana to benefit consumers and create more good-paying jobs.”

Jonathon Ambarian

Hauser Dam, northeast of Helena

Participants in the round table discussed the need for reliable and affordable energy, improving the regulatory environment both on the federal and local levels and expanding transmission capacity.

State Senator Daniel Zolnikov, R-Billings, will chair the Senate Energy and Telecommunications Committee this legislative session. At the meeting, he said he is working on legislation aimed at improving the amount of power that can be transferred through Montana’s grid.

“Looking for a way to build transmission in Montana with proper oversight but in a timely manner. I think we’ve attempted to hit all three of those appropriately. Transmission is the big conversation in energy across the country right now,” Zolnikov told MTN.

Montana is a net energy exporter supplying electricity to other states and Canada. Electrical generation in the state comes mainly from coal (45%), hydroelectric (30%), wind (18%) and natural gas (4%). According to the roundtable participants, there continues to be an increased demand each year for Montana energy both on a national level and in-state.

“We’re hearing from businesses around the state is that some point in the next 10 years or so we’re going to have real serious challenges, which not only challenge our liability but it also challenges our economic growth opportunities in the state,” said Montana Chamber of Commerce President Todd O’Hair.

Roundtable participants say there are a couple of reasons for the jump in energy demand, including population growth, inflation and more investments in the tech industry like data centers.

According to a recent report from the Western Electricity Coordinating Council, the growth in electricity demand for data centers is projected to grow by 20 percent in the next ten years. The same report projected a 9 percent increase in demand only two years ago.

Data centers are a multi-billion dollar industry seeing record growth in the United States. A big push for that growth is coming from more investments in A.I. companies like ChatCPT. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, data centers consume 10 to 50 times the energy per floor space of a typical commercial office space.

On Monday, NorthWestern Energy announced it signed a letter of intent to provide energy services for a developer planning new data centers in Montana. The energy service load is expected to be a minimum of 50 megawatts, beginning in 2027, with growth to 250 megawatts or more by 2029.

Another topic for discussion was the great potential Montana has for energy growth given geographically where the state is located and the abundance of natural resources in the Treasure State.

“There’s a big opportunity here for the State of Montana. It sits at an intersection of multiple markets so it can both generate and export, but also import when it needs low-cost reliable power,” said Berkshire Hathaway Energy CEO Ed Rihn.

This year the Gianforte Administration has announced several investments into Montana’s energy grid, including $700 million for the North Plains Connector Interregional Innovation project and a $1 billion investment at the Clearwater Wind Energy Center outside of Miles City.

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Montana

Montana Lottery Powerball, Lotto America results for March 2, 2026

Published

5 hours ago

March 3, 2026

Press Room

The Montana Lottery offers multiple draw games for those aiming to win big.

Here’s a look at March 2, 2026, results for each game:

Winning Powerball numbers from March 2 drawing

02-17-18-38-62, Powerball: 20, Power Play: 2

Check Powerball payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Lotto America numbers from March 2 drawing

03-08-17-24-34, Star Ball: 06, ASB: 02

Check Lotto America payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Big Sky Bonus numbers from March 2 drawing

06-12-19-29, Bonus: 11

Check Big Sky Bonus payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Powerball Double Play numbers from March 2 drawing

21-28-58-65-67, Powerball: 25

Check Powerball Double Play payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Millionaire for Life numbers from March 2 drawing

28-41-42-50-55, Bonus: 02

Check Millionaire for Life payouts and previous drawings here.

Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results

When are the Montana Lottery drawings held?

Powerball: 8:59 p.m. MT on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
Mega Millions: 9 p.m. MT on Tuesday and Friday.
Lucky For Life: 8:38 p.m. MT daily.
Lotto America: 9 p.m. MT on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
Big Sky Bonus: 7:30 p.m. MT daily.
Powerball Double Play: 8:59 p.m. MT on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
Montana Cash: 8 p.m. MT on Wednesday and Saturday.
Millionaire for Life: 9:15 p.m. MT daily.

Missed a draw? Peek at the past week’s winning numbers.

This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a Great Falls Tribune editor. You can send feedback using this form.

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Montana

Apparent AI Glitch in Filing by Montana Public Defender, Recent Congressional Candidate

Published

17 hours ago

March 2, 2026

Press Room

Apparent AI Glitch in Filing by Montana Public Defender, Recent Congressional Candidate

Everyone makes mistakes, even experienced professionals; a good reminder for the rest of us to learn from those mistakes. The motion in State v. Stroup starts off well in its initial pages (no case law hallucinations), but is then followed by several pages of two other motions, which I don’t think the lawyer was planning to file, and which appear to have been AI-generated: It begins with the “Below is concise motion language you can drop into …” language quoted above.

Griffen Smith (Missoulian) reported on the story, and included the prosecutor’s motion to strike that filing, on the grounds that it violates a local rule (3(G)) requiring disclosure of the use of generative AI:

The document does not include a generative artificial intelligence disclosure as required. However, page 7 begins as follows: “Below is concise motion language you can drop into a ‘Motion to Admit Mental-Disease Evidence and for Related Instructions’ keyed to 45-6-204, 45-6-201, and 4614-102. Adjust headings/captions to your local practice.” Page 10 states “Below is a full motion you can paste into your pleading, then adjust names, dates, and styles to fit local practice.” These pages also include several apparent hyperlinks to “ppl-ai-file-upload.s3.amazonaws,” “ppl-ai-fileupload.s3.amazonaws+1,” and others. The document includes what appears to be an attempt at a second case caption on page 12. It is not plausible on its face that any source other than generative AI would have created such language for a filed version of a brief….

There’s more in that filing, but here’s one passage:

While generative AI can be a useful tool for some purposes and may have greater application in the future, when used improperly, and without meaningful review, it can ultimately damage both the perception and the reality of the profession. One assumes that Mr. Stroup has had, or will at some point have, an opportunity to review the filing made on his behalf. What impression could a review of pgs. 12-19 leave upon a defendant who struggles with paranoia and delusional thinking? While AI could theoretically one day become a replacement for portions of staff of experienced attorneys, it is readily apparent that this day has not yet arrived.

The Missoulan article includes this response:

In a Wednesday interview, Office of Public Defender Division Administrator Brian Smith told the Missoulian the AI-generated language was inadvertently included in an unrelated filing. And he criticized the county attorney’s office for filing a “four-page diatribe about the dangers of AI” instead of working with the defense to correct her mistake.
“That’s not helping the client or the case,” Smith said, “and all you are doing is trying to throw a professional colleague under the bus.”

As I mentioned, the lawyer involved seems quite experienced, and ran for the Montana Public Service Commission in 2020 (getting nearly 48% of the vote) and for the House of Representatives in Montana’s first district in 2022 (getting over 46% of the vote) and in 2024 (getting over 44%). “Его пример другим наука,” Pushkin wrote in Eugene Onegin—”May his example profit others,” in the Falen translation.

Thanks to Matthew Monforton for the pointer.

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