Canyon Ferry
Hydro power plant · Lewis and Clark County, Montana
Nameplate capacity
58 MW
Rank in Montana
#32
of 73 plants
In service since
1953
December 1953
Details
- Primary fuel
- Hydro
- Technology
- Conventional Hydroelectric
- Operator
- U S Bureau of Reclamation
- County
- Lewis and Clark County
- Generating units
- 3
- Share of state capacity
- 0.75%
- Rank among hydro plants in Montana
- #11 of 23
- EIA plant code
- 6400
Generating units
| Unit | Technology | Nameplate | Summer | Online | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Conventional Hydroelectric | 19 MW | 19 MW | 1953 | Operating |
| 2 | Conventional Hydroelectric | 19 MW | 19 MW | 1954 | Operating |
| 3 | Conventional Hydroelectric | 19 MW | 19 MW | 1954 | Operating |
Nameplate is the maximum rated output; summer capacity is what the unit can reliably deliver on a hot day, which is typically lower.
Similarly sized plants in Montana
| Cochrane | Hydro | 59 MW |
| Rainbow (MT) | Hydro | 59 MW |
| Ryan | Hydro | 55 MW |
| Basin Creek Plant | Natural gas | 55 MW |
About this data
From EIA’s inventory of operable generators, May 2026 release. Capacity is nameplate — the maximum rated output of the equipment, not what the plant actually generates over a year, which depends on how often it runs. A 58 MW solar plant and a 58 MW nuclear plant have the same entry here and produce very different amounts of electricity.
“In service since” is the earliest in-service date among the units still listed, so a site rebuilt around newer equipment can read as younger than the site itself. All Montana power plants · What Montana actually generates