Farm & ranch
Rural lines get de-energized first, and restored last
Long radial feeders through timber and grass are the highest-risk circuits on any Montana utility map, which makes them the first candidates for a Public Safety Power Shutoff. Livestock, irrigation, and cold storage do not pause while the weather window closes.
What we size for
Agricultural loads, ranked by consequence
- Irrigation and well pumps
- Three-phase motor starting is the sizing driver, not running watts. We calculate locked-rotor inrush and specify soft-start or an oversized alternator accordingly.
- Livestock water and ventilation
- Stock tanks, heaters, and barn ventilation are life-safety loads for animals. These carry first on every plan we write.
- Milk cooling and bulk tanks
- Compressors and agitators must restart in sequence to avoid nuisance trips and product loss.
- Cold and controlled storage
- Seed, chemical, produce, and meat storage have narrow temperature bands and long thermal recovery times.
- Grain handling and drying
- Aeration fans and dryers protect stored crop value through a multi-day outage window.
- Shop, office, and connectivity
- Point-of-sale, records, and the internet uplink that your operation actually runs on.
Funding
You may be able to offset a meaningful share of the cost
01
USDA REAP
Agricultural producers who derive at least 50% of gross income from agricultural operations, and rural small businesses, may qualify for grants and/or guaranteed loans for eligible renewable energy systems and energy efficiency improvements.
02
Hybrid paths open more doors
Diesel-only standby has specific eligibility considerations. Solar + storage, hybrid configurations, and efficiency upgrades that improve resilience often open stronger funding paths.
03
We do the screen for free
Send your operation type and county and we'll return a plain-language read on whether a REAP application is worth your time, plus an application support package if it is.
Typical specification
What a working ranch package looks like
- Generator
- Liquid-cooled 48–150 kW, natural gas, propane, or diesel depending on on-site fuel and expected runtime
- Transfer
- Service-entrance rated automatic transfer switch, with load shedding so the well and stock water always win
- UPS bridge
- Battery UPS on controls, monitoring, and connectivity to eliminate the generator start-up gap
- Fuel plan
- On-site propane or diesel storage sized for a multi-day event, not a two-hour blip
- Maintenance
- Annual service with load-bank verification, plus remote monitoring so a failed weekly exercise reaches us, not just your panel
Get a free load study for your operation
Tell us your pumps, tanks, and storage. We'll return a sizing recommendation, a REAP read, and a firm quote within 48 hours.