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Colstrip

Coal power plant · Rosebud County, Montana

Nameplate capacity
1,647 MW
Rank in Montana
#1
of 73 plants
In service since
1984
January 1984

Details

Primary fuel
Coal
Technology
Conventional Steam Coal
Operator
Talen Montana LLC
County
Rosebud County
Generating units
2
Share of state capacity
21.50%
Rank among coal plants in Montana
#1 of 4
EIA plant code
6076

Generating units

Individual generating units at Colstrip
UnitTechnologyNameplateSummerOnlineStatus
3Conventional Steam Coal824 MW740 MW1984Operating
4Conventional Steam Coal824 MW740 MW1986Operating

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

LibbyHydro525 MW
Noxon RapidsHydro488 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 1,647 MW solar plant and a 1,647 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