States › Montana › Sanders County
Electric utilities serving Sanders County, Montana
Utilities that list the county in their Form EIA-861 service territory for 2024, with each one's average price, bill and outage minutes.
Sanders County, Montana, appears in the Form EIA-861 service territory of 5 utilities for 2024; NorthWestern Energy LLC, Flathead Electric Coop Inc and USBIA-Mission Valley Power are the largest by residential customers statewide.
Their average residential prices ran from 8.91¢ to 14.23¢ per kilowatthour, with a median of 11.10¢, against a Montana average of 12.66¢ and a US average of 16.48¢. Each price is the utility's figure for all of its Montana customers, not for this county alone.
The median SAIDI they reported was 352.4 minutes per customer including major event days; the median among all Montana utilities reporting was 352.4.
The Census Bureau estimates the county's population at 14,062. EIA does not publish customers by county, so which utility serves a given address has to be confirmed with the utility or the state utility commission.
Average price is revenue divided by sales for the sector and year; it is not a tariff rate. Reliability figures are as reported by utilities to EIA on Form 861 and may use different calculation methods. Figures are for each utility's whole Montana operation; EIA publishes nothing at county level.
Utilities and their 2024 figures
| Utility | Ownership | Residential customers | ¢ per kWh | Monthly bill | SAIDI, all events | SAIDI, no major events |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NorthWestern Energy LLC | Investor-owned | 328,127 | 14.23¢ | $101.20 | 233.4 | 117.9 |
| Flathead Electric Coop Inc | Cooperative | 63,317 | 9.67¢ | $116.16 | 586.4 | 235.2 |
| USBIA-Mission Valley Power | Federal | 16,292 | 8.91¢ | $116.92 | — | — |
| Northern Lights, Inc | Cooperative | 3,985 | 12.52¢ | $134.38 | 352.4 | 266.7 |
| Avista Corp | Investor-owned | 9 | — | — | — | — |
Ordered by residential customers in Montana. Short-form filers are small utilities that report only totals to EIA, so no residential price is available. A utility with no customers shown reported its retail sales elsewhere or delivers power that other companies bill for.
Against the state and the country
| Measure, 2024 | Utilities listing Sanders County | Montana | United States |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average residential price per kWh | 11.10¢ median | 12.66¢ | 16.48¢ |
| Average monthly residential bill | $116.54 median | $107.91 | $142.26 |
| SAIDI, all events (minutes) | 352.4 median | 352.4 median | 184.5 median |
| SAIDI, without major event days | 235.2 median | 177.2 median | 99.8 median |
| Utilities counted | 5 | 14 | 1,413 |
Outage minutes reported
SAIDI for 2024 across each utility's whole system, including major event days (paler bars: only the figure without major event days was reported). Not a measure of outages in Sanders County itself.
Population: 14,062 (U.S. Census Bureau, Vintage 2025 estimate). Statewide, residential sales came to 4,980 kWh per resident in 2024.
Other Montana counties
- Powell County 3
- Prairie County 4
- Ravalli County 3
- Richland County 5
- Roosevelt County 6
- Rosebud County 6
- Sheridan County 2
- Silver Bow County 3
- Stillwater County 4
- Sweet Grass County 4
- Teton County 3
- Toole County 4
All 56 counties and every Montana utility
Questions and answers
Who provides electricity in Sanders County?
NorthWestern Energy LLC, Flathead Electric Coop Inc, USBIA-Mission Valley Power, Northern Lights, Inc and Avista Corp list the county in their Form EIA-861 service territory for 2024. Territories overlap, and a utility may cover only a corner of the county.
What is the electricity price in Sanders County?
EIA has no county-level prices. The utilities serving the county reported average residential prices of 8.91¢ to 14.23¢ per kilowatthour across their Montana customers in 2024; the state average was 12.66¢.
How reliable is power in Sanders County?
Reliability is reported per utility, not per county. The utilities listed reported a median of 352.4 minutes of interruption per customer in 2024 including major event days and 235.2 minutes excluding them.
Provenance
Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Form EIA-861 for 2024, final release: service territory file (counties by utility), sales to ultimate customers, reliability and short form files. State and US averages: Form EIA-861M workbook. Population: U.S. Census Bureau. Public domain. To confirm the utility at an address, ask the utility or the state utility commission.