PPL Montana has begun lowering the elevation of the Cochrane Dam reservoir near Great Falls to allow for maintenance at its Cochrane hydroelectric plant.
The drawdown, expected to take several weeks, will reduce the reservoir elevation to about 3,095 feet. While the reservoir is lowered, PPL Montana employees will conduct maintenance for the continued safe and reliable operation of the plant.
“We expect to have the reservoir back to its full elevation of about 3,117 feet by mid-December,” said David Hoffman, director of External Affairs for PPL Montana. “The drawdown, approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, is required to keep our hydroelectric plants in peak operating condition.”
Recreational access is closed on the north side of the Missouri River upstream of Cochrane Dam because of the start of construction at nearby Rainbow Dam. PPL Montana last week began the $230 million redevelopment of the Rainbow hydroelectric plant, which will increase by 70 percent the amount of clean, renewable energy produced there and improve passage for fish.
Boaters and fishermen can call Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks at 406-454-5840 for information about recreational issues in the Great Falls area. Fish, Wildlife and Parks officials caution the public against venturing out onto the exposed, unstable mud flats in Cochrane Reservoir. Activities on the Rainbow Reservoir are unaffected by the work being conducted at Cochrane Dam.
Cochrane Dam, with a total generating capacity of 60 megawatts, provides clean, renewable energy for the region. It supplies enough electricity to satisfy the average energy needs of 45,000 typical households.
Cochrane Dam is one of eight hydroelectric plants and one reservoir along the Missouri and Madison rivers covered under PPL Montana’s federal operating license. Through this license, PPL Montana works with state and federal agencies and private groups to implement a diverse array of environmental stewardship projects to protect habitats on or near the banks of the Missouri and Madison rivers.
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 Great Falls, 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).