Where Montana Gets Its Electricity
Net generation by source · 12-month average, July 2025 – June 2026.
Generation mix
| Source | Share | Generation |
|---|---|---|
| Natural gas | 4.0% | 1,166 GWh |
| Coal | 30.5% | 8,887 GWh |
| Nuclear | 0.0% | 0 GWh |
| Wind | 23.2% | 6,755 GWh |
| Solar | 1.0% | 302 GWh |
| Hydro | 38.8% | 11,301 GWh |
| Other | 2.4% | 712 GWh |
29.1 TWh generated over the 12 months to June 2026. Shares are of net generation within Montana, which is not the same as what the state consumes — power crosses state lines.
Counting rooftop solar
EIA reports small-scale solar — mostly rooftop panels on homes and businesses — separately, and leaves it out of the state generation total that the mix above is a share of. Montana generated 169 GWh that way. Counting it on both sides of the ratio takes solar from 1.0% to 1.6%.
How the mix has shifted since 2001
| Source | 2001 | 2025 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Natural gas | 0.1% | 4.6% | +4.5 pts |
| Coal | 70.3% | 35.2% | −35.1 pts |
| Nuclear | 0.0% | 0.0% | — |
| Wind | 0.0% | 21.9% | +21.9 pts |
| Solar | 0.0% | 1.2% | +1.2 pts |
| Hydro | 27.3% | 34.3% | +7.1 pts |
| Other | 2.3% | 2.7% | +0.4 pts |
Compared with the U.S. and nearby states
| Where | Renewable | Carbon-free | Largest source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Montana | 63.1% | 63.1% | Hydro 38.8% |
| U.S. average | 25.2% | 42.9% | Natural gas 40.7% |
| South Dakota | 82.4% | 82.4% | Wind |
| Idaho | 74.7% | 74.7% | Hydro |
| North Dakota | 41.3% | 41.3% | Coal |
| Wyoming | 35.0% | 35.0% | Coal |
Montana's generation mix in context
Hydroelectric generation supplied 38.2% of Montana's electricity in the twelve months through May 2026, making it the largest source. Wind provided 22.8%, and coal accounted for 31.1%. Solar generation totalled 1.1% on a utility-scale basis, or 1.6% when rooftop solar is included. Together, renewable sources—wind, solar, hydro, and the renewable portion of other—represented 62.2% of the state's generation, a far larger share than the national renewable average of 24.9%. Montana ranks sixth among the 51 states and DC for renewable generation.
The state's generation mix has shifted dramatically since 2001. Coal's share fell from 70.3% to 35.2% in 2025, while wind grew from nothing to 21.9% in 2025. Hydro remained substantial, rising modestly from 27.3% to 34.3% in 2025. Gas generation began from nearly zero and reached 4.6% in 2025. Solar emerged entirely within this period, contributing 1.2% by 2025. Renewables as a whole expanded from 27.6% in 2001 to 57.6% in 2025, a gain of 30 percentage points.
Neighbouring states show a divided pattern. South Dakota and Idaho both generate higher renewable shares than Montana, at 81.7% and 74.3% respectively, with South Dakota led by wind and Idaho by hydro. North Dakota and Wyoming, by contrast, generate lower renewable shares at 41.1% and 34.2%, both dominated by coal. Montana's carbon-free generation of 62.2% substantially exceeds the national figure of 42.6%, though it trails the national share of gas at 40.8% compared to Montana's 4.2%.
Written from the EIA figures on this page, covering data through May 2026.
Frequently asked questions
›What percentage of Montana's electricity comes from renewable energy?
›What percentage of Montana's power comes from solar?
›Where does Montana get most of its electricity?
›Does Montana still burn coal for electricity?
›Is Montana getting greener?
How this is measured
Figures are net generation reported to the U.S. Energy Information Administration for all sectors — utilities, independent power producers, and industrial and commercial plants that generate their own power. Shares are of the 12 months to June 2026, rather than a single month, because generation is strongly seasonal: solar peaks in summer and hydro with the spring melt, so one month says more about the weather than about the grid.
“Other” is the reported total minus the six named sources, so the shares add to exactly 100%. It holds geothermal, biomass, petroleum, other gases, and pumped storage — the last of which consumes more electricity than it returns, and so can be negative. Geothermal and biomass are renewable, which is why the renewable share above is slightly larger than wind, solar and hydro added together.
This is generation, not consumption. Electricity crosses state lines freely, so a state can generate more than it uses or rely on imports for a large part of its supply; neither shows up here.