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Cochrane

Hydro power plant · Cascade County, Montana

Nameplate capacity
59 MW
Rank in Montana
#30
of 73 plants
In service since
1958
July 1958

Details

Primary fuel
Hydro
Technology
Conventional Hydroelectric
Operator
NorthWestern Energy (MT Hydro)
County
Cascade County
Generating units
2
Share of state capacity
0.78%
Rank among hydro plants in Montana
#9 of 23
EIA plant code
2182

Generating units

Individual generating units at Cochrane
UnitTechnologyNameplateSummerOnlineStatus
COC2Conventional Hydroelectric31 MW31 MW1958Operating
COC1Conventional Hydroelectric28 MW31 MW1958Operating

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

Yellowstone Energy LPOther68 MW
MoronyHydro63 MW
Rainbow (MT)Hydro59 MW
Canyon FerryHydro58 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 59 MW solar plant and a 59 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