Montana-Dakota Utilities Co. offers an array of services and products to meet your energy needs. Our goal is to provide safe and reliable service at the lowest cost possible.
Natural Gas
Natural gas is a colorless and odorless fuel. We maintain a constant, reliable supply to meet your needs. Our natural gas is produced from abundant domestic sources and is not vulnerable to supply disruptions by foreign governments.
Interconnection Requirements
Montana-Dakota Utilities has requirements for generation, transmission and end-user facility interconnections. For more information …
Heating Your Home in Montana
| Energy Source | Space Heat Efficiency | Annual Energy Cost | Installation Costs | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Natural Gas | 95% Furnace | $446 | $13,000 | |
| Electric | 100% Furnace | $1,541 | $12,000 | |
| Propane | 95% Furnace | $1,145 | $13,000 | |
| Heat Pump (Air Source) | 160% Seasonal Efficiency | $963 | $14,000 | |
| Heat Pump (Ground Source) | 350% Seasonal Efficiency | $440 | $21,000 | *after tax credits |
Simple payback of Ground Source Heat Pump vs Natural Gas Furnace is 12.1 years.
Heating Your Home in North Dakota
| Energy Source | Space Heat Efficiency | Annual Energy Cost | Installation Costs | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Natural Gas | 95% Furnace | $436 | $13,000 | |
| Electric | 100% Furnace | $815 | $12,000 | |
| Propane | 95% Furnace | $1,145 | $13,000 | |
| Heat Pump (Air Source) | 160% Seasonal Efficiency | $613 | $14,000 | |
| Heat Pump (Ground Source) | 350% Seasonal Efficiency | $233 | $16,500 | *after tax credits |
Simple payback of Ground Source Hear Pump vs Natural Gas Furnace is 12.8 years.
Heating Your Home in South Dakota
| Energy Source | Space Heat Efficiency | Annual Energy Cost | Installation Costs | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Natural Gas | 95% Furnace | $378 | $13,000 | |
| Electric | 100% Furnace | $815 | $12,000 | |
| Propane | 95% Furnace | $962 | $13,000 | |
| Heat Pump (Air Source) | 160% Seasonal Efficiency | $480 | $14,000 | |
| Heat Pump (Ground Source) | 350% Seasonal Efficiency | $233 | $20,000 | *after tax credits |
Simple payback of Ground Source Heat Pump vs Natural Gas Furnace is 35.9 years.
Heating Your Home in Wyoming
| Energy Source | Space Heat Efficiency | Annual Energy Cost | Installation Costs | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Natural Gas | 95% Furnace | $405 | $13,000 | |
| Electric | 100% Furnace | $1,137 | $12,000 | |
| Propane | 95% Furnace | $1,277 | $13,000 | |
| Heat Pump (Air Source) | 160% Seasonal Efficiency | $669 | $14,000 | |
| Heat Pump (Ground Source) | 350% Seasonal Efficiency | $325 | $20,000 | *after tax credits |
Simple payback of Ground Source Heat Pump vs Natural Gas Furnace is 56.7 years.
The abundance of natural gas had also made its use very economical. Find out more about the saving in the Home Energy Guides from Montana-Dakota.
Electricity
Summertime is upon us, which brings all the great things such as grilling, boating, hiking, camping and time with family. It also can bring hot weather, which means an increase in energy demand.
Montana-Dakota Utilities has sufficient electric generation resources to meet its peak demand requirements. The company, however, does not operate the regional transmission grid. Montana-Dakota is a member of the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO), an organization that operates the electric grid across 15 states, stretching from Louisiana to the Canadian province of Manitoba.
MISO and the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) have communicated concerns that there is risk for the MISO region to encounter days where it does not have enough electric generation to meet demand, especially during extreme hot conditions.
The retirement of baseload power plants, such as coal and natural gas, has happened faster than anticipated, and the construction of new renewable generators, such as wind and solar, have not kept pace. Also, baseload plants can operate 24 hours a day while wind and solar facilities are limited to when the wind is blowing, or the sun is shining.
North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Minnesota and parts of Iowa and Wisconsin all have excess generation to support the needs of their service areas. The states with a deficit include parts of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Missouri.
The first step would be to ask customers to conserve power on a voluntary basis. Montana-Dakota also has over 40 megawatts assigned to its demand side management and interruptible customer programs. These demand response and interruptible customers have agreed to switch to back-up generation or curtail their power needs, if necessary.
If demand exceeds supply, MISO will then call for a firm load shed or rolling blackout, which is a controlled, temporary power outage that power grid operators use to manage the system. These short-term interruptions, which generally last less than one hour, help reduce the likelihood of longer, large-scale outages.
In the event where customers are asked to conserve power, there are a number of ways you can have an impact:
- Use only necessary lights and turn them off when you leave a room.
- Use fewer electrical appliances.
- Turn your air conditioning thermostat up a few degrees.
- Keep window covers closed during the day.
- Delay unnecessary laundry and dishwashing.
Customers with a medical need that requires consistent electricity should have a backup plan in case of a power outage, not only in a high-demand scenario, but to account for any type of power outage, such as storm damage.
The MISO grid is going through a transition where it needs to balance the retirements of baseload generation with the increase in renewable resources. That being said, MISO membership has numerous benefits:
- If Montana-Dakota has electric generation resources out of service for maintenance or repairs, it can draw on power from generating units in other states.
- Buying power from the MISO market has saved Montana-Dakota customers millions of dollars over the years via access to power at prices lower than the company could provide with its own generating units.
- There also is an advantage to being located at the far edge of the MISO system where there is a surplus of generation. During periods of high demand within MISO, it doesn’t help the overall system to create temporary power outages within Montana-Dakota’s service territory if there is not sufficient electrical transmission to move all of the power out of the state.
In summary …
The company has sufficient generation resources to meet its peak demand requirements. While we do not anticipate any issues and a blackout or firm load shed event is not likely, there is always a possibility it could happen.
We take pride in our record of reliable electric service. We never realize how much we depend on this silent servant until it is interrupted by a bad storm or equipment failure.
Montana-Dakota’s primary goal is to furnish reliable electric service at fair rates. But, our electric system is widespread and exposed to storms and other factors we cannot control. Although we employ the latest developments in equipment and operating methods to maintain adequate service, we cannot guarantee uninterrupted power. If you have computers and other sensitive equipment that require high grade, uninterrupted power, you should check with your computer equipment supplier for information on devices that will ensure the power quality you need.