Montana energy profile
Manufacturing energy costs in Montana
The current industrial power rate in Montana is 7.71 cents per kWh (Jul 2026, EIA), ranking 8 of 51 states and sitting 21.1% below the national average.
Current prices in Montana
- Industrial electricity: 7.71 cents per kWh (Jul 2026, EIA).
- Commercial electricity, the rate a warehouse or distribution center in Montana typically pays: 13.33 cents per kWh.
- Industrial natural gas: 6.66 per Mcf (Jul 2026), 45.4% above the national average.
- Just below Montana on the price ladder: Kentucky at 7.51, Washington at 7.51, Mississippi at 7.66 cents. Just above: Arkansas at 7.84, South Carolina at 7.84, Oklahoma at 8.16 cents.
What the rate does to operating cost
- A 10 kW machine running a 4,000 hour year costs about 3,084 in electricity at Montana rates versus 3,908 at the national average; at 50 kW the gap is 15,420 versus 19,540, and at 200 kW it is 61,680 versus 78,160.
- For site selection and quoting, Montana sits on the favorable side of the power map. Processes that live or die on electricity cost, from electrolysis to induction heating, price out better here than in most states.
What factory labor pays in Montana
- Industrial production managers: $58.03/hr median in Montana versus $60.61 nationally (OEWS 2025).
- Industrial engineers: $50.21/hr median in Montana versus $49.25 nationally (OEWS 2025).
- Production supervisors: $33.06/hr median in Montana versus $35.79 nationally (OEWS 2025).
- Industrial machinery mechanics: $32.33/hr median in Montana versus $31.02 nationally (OEWS 2025).
- Machinists: $29.29/hr median in Montana versus $28.24 nationally (OEWS 2025).
- Quality inspectors and testers: $27.92/hr median in Montana versus $23.35 nationally (OEWS 2025).
- Montana employs about 21,000 manufacturing workers as of Aug 2026 (BLS).
Manufacturing base in Montana
- Montana has 1,393 manufacturing establishments employing about 21,825 workers (Census County Business Patterns, 2023).
- Largest sectors by establishment count: fabricated metal products (243), food manufacturing (177), wood product manufacturing (149), furniture and related products (106), printing and related support (96).
Sources and update cadence
- Prices come from the U.S. Energy Information Administration and refresh automatically when the agency publishes; this page also archives each month's Montana observation so the local price history deepens over time.
Last reviewed 2026-09-30.