News Releases

PPL Montana announced Thursday (8/22) that it will lower water levels in the Rainbow Dam reservoir for about three weeks beginning Sept. 2 to allow for maintenance work.

Water levels will be dropped about 13 feet below the reservoir’s normal level when full. This will allow crews to replace aging inflatable rubber dam gates used to manage river flow and reservoir elevation. The two new, 250-foot-long rubber dam gates will be installed atop a portion of the dam.

The company will lower the Rainbow reservoir water levels in accordance with plans that have been approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. The company expects to return the mile-long reservoir to normal levels by October.

Earlier this year, PPL Montana completed a $245 million expansion and redevelopment project at Rainbow Dam, replacing the century-old powerhouse with a new, 60-megawatt powerhouse capable of generating 70 percent more power. The new facility began commercial operation in late April.

PPL Montana provides safe, reliable energy from coal-fired power plants at Colstrip and Billings, as well as 11 hydroelectric plants along West Rosebud Creek and the Missouri, Madison, Clark Fork and Flathead rivers. It has a combined generating capacity of more than 1,200 megawatts and has offices in Billings, Butte and Helena. PPL Montana and its 500 employees are dedicated to Montana and its communities, supporting educational, environmental and economic development programs across the state. PPL EnergyPlus operates a trading floor in Butte that markets and sells power for PPL Montana in wholesale and retail energy markets throughout the western United States. PPL Montana and PPL EnergyPlus are subsidiaries of PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL). More information about PPL Montana is available at www.pplmontana.com.