Ryan Dam
Generating capacity: 60 megawatts*

Ryan Dam is a six-unit hydroelectric plant on the Missouri River, about 10 miles downstream from Great Falls, Mont. The units have a total generating capacity of 60 megawatts. (One megawatt can satisfy the average energy needs of 750 households.)

Built at the crest of the Great Falls of the Missouri, Ryan Dam began operation in 1915. It is 1,366 feet long and 61 feet high, and its reservoir is 7 miles long and has a storage capacity of 5,000 acre-feet. The dam is classified as a “run-of-river” project because it can generate electricity using the water that flows down the river, without the need to store additional water supplies.

Ryan Dam is one of eight hydroelectric plants and one reservoir along the Missouri and Madison rivers covered under PPL Montana’s Project 2188 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.

The Ryan Island Park public recreational picnic area is located just downstream from Ryan Dam.

Ryan Dam, which is part of the Great Falls Portage National Historic Landmark, is located between PPL Montana’s Cochrane and Morony dams. The company also operates the Black Eagle and Rainbow dams on the Missouri River near Great Falls.

*winter capacity as of August 2006.