PPL Montana begins $230 million redevelopment of Rainbow hydroelectric plant

PPL Montana has started of the $230 million project to expand the Rainbow hydroelectric plant for a second century of producing clean, renewable energy.

The project will increase by 70 percent the amount of clean, renewable power generated at the Rainbow facility when this project is completed in 2012. PPL Montana is reinvesting in the state and making responsible use of the state’s valuable natural resources. PPL Montana is recommitting itself to the tradition of renewable energy development that has been part of Montana’s history and the Great Falls area for more than 100 years.

The Rainbow Dam redevelopment is part of the significant investment that PPL Montana is making in the state, one that will create hundreds of local construction jobs, boost the local economy and supply the region with more renewable energy.

PPL Montana will construct a new Rainbow powerhouse. Smaller units, installed between 1909 and 1930 with a combined capacity of 37 megawatts, will be replaced with a single 62-megawatt unit that can generate enough electricity to power about 45,000 homes.

The project, part of PPL Montana’s Project 2188 license with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, will also benefit fisheries habitat in the Missouri River. The turbine will have wider flow passages and fewer rotating surfaces, making it easier for fish to pass through unharmed.

PPL Montana also operates the Black Eagle, Cochrane, Ryan and Morony dams on the Missouri River near Great Falls.