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

Your guide to local sports events, plus what’s on TV

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6 hours ago

March 2, 2026

Press Room

Your guide to local sports events, plus what’s on TV

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Montana

Montana Department of Agriculture focusing on innovation in 2026

Published

18 hours ago

March 1, 2026

Press Room

Montana Department of Agriculture focusing on innovation in 2026

HELENA — You probably have goals and plans for 2026—the Montana Department of Agriculture does too.

“We’re really focusing on innovative agricultural practices,” Montana Department of Agriculture director Jillien Streit said.

It’s no secret that agriculture—farming and ranching—is not easy. There are long days, planning, monitoring crops and livestock, and other challenges beyond farmers’ and ranchers’ control.

(WATCH: Montana Department of Agriculture focusing on innovation in 2026)

Montana Department of Agriculture focusing on innovation in 2026

“We have very low commodity prices across the board,” Streit said. “We still have very high input prices across the board, and we have really high prices when it comes to our equipment, and so, it’s a really tough year.”

But innovation, including new practices, partnerships and technology use, can help navigate some of those challenges.

“We can’t make more time and we can’t make more land, so we need to start putting together innovative practices that help us maximize what our time and land can do,” Streit said.

Practices range from using technology like autonomous tractors and virtual fencing—allowing rangers to contain and move cattle right from their phones—to regenerative farming and ranching.

“It is bringing cattle back into farming operations to be able to work with cover cropping practices to invigorate the soil for new soil health benefits,” Streit said.

The Montana Department of Agriculture is working to help producers learn, share, and collaborate on new ideas to work in their operations.

The department will share stories of practices that work from farms and ranches across the state. Also, within the next year or so, Streit said the department is hoping to roll out technology to help producers collaborate.

“(It’s) providing a communication platform where people can get together and really help each other out by utilizing each other’s assets,” she said.

While not easy, agriculture is still one of Montana’s largest industries, and Streit said innovating and sharing ideas across the state can keep it going long into the future.

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Montana

Frontier Conference women: MSU-Northern, Montana Western pull upsets to advance to semifinal round

Published

1 day ago

March 1, 2026

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Frontier Conference women: MSU-Northern, Montana Western pull upsets to advance to semifinal round

BUTTE — MSU-Northern and Montana Western pulled a pair of upsets Saturday at the Butte Civic Center to wrap up the quarterfinal round of the Frontier Conference women’s basketball postseason tournament.

The fifth-seeded Skylights started the day with a red-hot shooting performance to down No. 4 Rocky Mountain College 82-74. Western, the sixth seed, used a third-quarter surge to defeat No. 3 Carroll College 65-56.

MSU-Northern (17-11) and Western (14-13) now advance to Sunday’s semifinal round, where the Skylights will play No. 1 seed Dakota State at noon and the Bulldogs will face No. 2 Montana Tech at 2:30 p.m.

MSU-Northern 82, Rocky Mountain College 74

MSU-Northern sizzled in the first quarter, making seven 3-pointers to take a double-digit lead, and put together a crucial third-quarter run to get past Rocky and advance to the semifinal round.

Becky Melcher splashed four 3s in the first 10 minutes, and Taya Trottier, Canzas HisBadHorse and Shania Moananu added one apiece as the Skylights built a 29-13 lead. Melcher scored 14 first-quarter points and finished with a game-high 30 on 10-of-19 shooting (7 of 15 from 3-point range). She added 11 rebounds, a blocked shot and three steals to her stat line.

Rocky battled back to tie the game at 36-36 in the second quarter on a Brenna Linse basket, but MSUN responded with consecutive triples from Trottier and Melcher and took a 44-38 lead into halftime. The Bears eventually stole the lead back in the third quarter following a 9-0 run capped be an Isabelle Heggem bucket.

But the Skylights again answered — this time with a 13-2 run to take a 60-51 lead. MSUN led 66-59 going to the fourth and wouldn’t trail the rest of the way. The Skylights trailed for less than two total minutes of the game.

As a team, MSUN made 14 of 26 3s in the game. Ciera Agasiva was 3 for 3 from behind the arc, and Trottier was 2 for 3. Trottier had 18 points, eight rebounds and six assists, while Agasiva had 13 points.

Paige Wasson led Rocky (20-9) with 29 points but was 0 for 10 on 3-point attempts. Heggem had a double-double of 21 points and 12 rebounds.

Montana Western 65, Carroll 56

After neither team led by more than five points in the first half, Western broke open a 25-25 tie game by outscoring Carroll 20-9 in the third quarter.

Bailee Sayler scored 10 points in the quarter, including making two 3-pointers, to help the Bulldogs take control. They led 45-34 going to the fourth, and Carroll wouldn’t get closer than six points the rest of the way.

The Fighting Saints were just 18-of-65 shooting (27.7%) for the game.

Sayler scored an efficient 22 points on 7-of-8 shooting. She was 2 for 3 from 3-point range and 6 for 7 at the free throw line. The Missoula native also had nine rebounds.

Isabella Lund added 16 points for the Bulldogs, and Keke Davis had 11 points and 11 rebounds.

Carroll (19-10) was led by Kenzie Allen with 12 points. Willa Albrecht and Meagan Karstetter scored 11 points apiece for the Saints.

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