Montana HB 490 · Public Safety Power Shutoffs · Missoula, Montana
Montana utilities can now shut your power off on purpose.
Montana HB 490 put de-energization strategies into every electric provider's wildfire mitigation plan. NorthWestern Energy runs an active Public Safety Power Shutoff program, and Bonneville Power Administration has already cut transmission-level power to Flathead Electric members in Libby.
Generac · Cummins · Kohler · Briggs & Stratton · Champion · Missoula, Montana · Free load study · 48-hour firm quote
HB 490
Already in effect
Planned shutoffs are written into Montana wildfire mitigation plans.
Days
Not hours
Lines stay dark until weather clears and every mile is patrolled.
48 hrs
Firm quote
Free engineered load study, then a fixed number in two business days.
What the law actually changed
A shutoff is a decision now, not an accident
Nothing was broken in Libby. The power was turned off because the weather forecast said so.
Power can be cut on purpose
Notice can be short, or absent
Restoration waits on weather
Winter did not go away
Who this reaches in Montana
NorthWestern Energy, Flathead Electric Cooperative, Missoula Electric Cooperative, Vigilante Electric and the other Montana co-ops all sit downstream of the same wildfire mitigation framework, and transmission-level cuts by Bonneville Power Administration can take a whole service territory dark regardless of what the local utility decides. The Libby de-energization is the part Montanans should read twice. It already happened, it was preventive rather than reactive, and the customers affected had no equipment failure of their own to point at.
Who we power
One discipline, very different load profiles
A freezer and a well pump are not a nurse call system. We size for the loads that actually matter on your site.
Residential
Whole-home and essential-circuit standby, sized to your well, heat, and freezers.
View sector →Farm & ranch
Irrigation, livestock water, cold storage, and processing on lines that get shed first.
View sector →Small & medium business
Keep POS, refrigeration, and servers online through a shutoff window.
View sector →Clinics & critical care
Patient safety and documented readiness when a shutoff can be ordered.
View sector →Light industrial
Protect processes and controls that cannot restart cleanly after an outage.
View sector →Commercial
Liquid-cooled gensets, paralleling, and code-driven life-safety branches.
View sector →New construction
Designed in at the plan stage: conduit, pad, gas, and ATS before drywall.
View sector →Federal layer · SPP West
On top of the state law, the grid operator can now call your generator
On April 1, 2026, Montana joined the Southwest Power Pool West Balancing Authority Area, which has already issued multiple Energy Emergency Alerts. DOE Order No. 202-26-37 (July 26, 2026) authorizes SPP to direct backup generation resources to run as a last resort before or during a Level 3 Energy Emergency Alert.
For most Montanans this is the second story, not the first. The state shutoff framework is what takes your power. The federal order is what happens to backup capacity once the region is already short.
What the federal order actually says →MT
Montana
WY
Wyoming
NE
Nebraska
UT
Utah
CO
Colorado
AZ
Arizona
NM
New Mexico
Live since April 1, 2026. SPP is now the first RTO operating across both the Eastern and Western Interconnections, spanning 17 states in total.
How we're different
Engineered, not oversized
Most backup power failures are decided at the quote. Read the panel, round up, install the bigger unit, leave maintenance to the customer: that is how generators lose their warranty and become bricks by year three.
We engineer with real numbers
Shedding and growth, designed in
We stay on the unit
Zero-interruption packages
A generator alone still leaves a gap
A transfer switch and standby generator still produce a short interruption while the unit starts and stabilizes. For a freezer that is fine. For a point-of-sale system, a security panel or a process controller, it is not. We size a battery UPS on the circuits that cannot tolerate the transfer window.
See the Seamless package →Rural & agricultural funding
Stack federal urgency with federal dollars
Agricultural producers and rural small businesses may qualify for USDA REAP grants and guaranteed loans on eligible renewable energy systems and efficiency improvements.
- Serving commercial, industrial, agricultural and critical facilities across the SPP West footprint
- Code-compliant installations (NEC, local AHJ, NFPA 110 where applicable)
- Engineered load studies with shed schemes and documented growth headroom, not rule-of-thumb oversizing
- Full documentation package for insurance, lenders, and regulatory review
- Every install leaves on a maintenance plan, so the unit and its warranty stay alive
- Rapid response inventory for priority customers
Authorized dealer
Five manufacturers, specified on merit
We are not a single-brand shop. The right unit depends on fuel availability, load character, runtime expectation, and how sensitive your electronics are.
Generac
Air-cooled and liquid-cooled standby
7.5 kW – 750 kW
Cummins
Diesel and gaseous industrial gensets
13 kW – 3,500 kW
Kohler
Premium standby and switchgear
6 kW – 4,000 kW
Briggs & Stratton
Home standby and portable
8 kW – 200 kW
Champion
Portable and inverter generation
2 kW – 22 kW
Final step
The order is already live. Your window to act is now.
Request a free, no-obligation load study. We will size the right system for your critical loads, outline financing and any available incentives, and deliver a firm quote within 48 hours.