{"id":44675,"date":"2026-11-07T07:55:37","date_gmt":"2026-11-07T12:55:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/?p=44675"},"modified":"2026-11-07T07:55:37","modified_gmt":"2026-11-07T12:55:37","slug":"battle-butte-solar-farm-montana","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/battle-butte-solar-farm-montana\/44675\/","title":{"rendered":"Montana plans a 130-MW solar farm beside a recently completed wind project, targeting completion in mid-2028"},"content":{"rendered":"

A large-scale renewable energy project has been approved in Montana.<\/p>\n

Puget Sound Energy (PSE) has begun developing a 130-megawatt (MW) solar farm, called the Battle Butte Solar Farm, located just off Interstate Highway I-94 in the high plains area of Montana.<\/p>\n

This solar farm was chosen because it is located near PSE’s other renewable energy assets.<\/p>\n

The solar panels will be built alongside an operating wind farm called the Beaver Creek Wind Project<\/strong>, which began commercial operation in 2025.<\/p>\n

The proximity of the two projects will allow for easier connection to existing electrical transmission lines.<\/p>\n

Building beside a wind project removes several development hurdles<\/h2>\n

In addition to being able to connect to existing transmission lines, the site offers other advantages, including flat land and complete control over all aspects of the project.<\/p>\n

Typically, when companies seek to build large-scale renewable energy farms, they face many challenges related to finding suitable land.<\/p>\n

By selecting a location that already includes an existing renewable energy farm<\/strong>, PSE has reduced these challenges and made it possible to complete their project sooner than if they had selected a different location.<\/p>\n

The project brings jobs, tax revenue, and early community involvement<\/h3>\n

Both construction and operation of the Battle Butte Solar Farm are expected to have significant economic impacts on the local community.<\/p>\n

During construction, the project will employ approximately 250 skilled workers who will be paid<\/strong> competitive wages.<\/p>\n

Local communities will receive revenue generated from various project-related expenses such as local impact fees and property tax payments.<\/p>\n

As part of their commitment to engage with the local community early and often, PSE held a public meeting (open house) in late January in Rapelje to provide information regarding project plans and schedules.<\/p>\n

Battle Butte will become one of the region’s largest power sources<\/h2>\n

Upon completion, the Battle Butte Solar Farm will produce enough electricity to serve approximately 20,000 households per year<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Construction began in fall 2026, with commercial operation anticipated for mid-2028.<\/p>\n

When completed, the Battle Butte Solar Farm will cover an area of 1,400 acres of high-plains ranch land.<\/p>\n

It will represent one of the largest single additions to the regional generation mix<\/a> over the coming years.<\/p>\n

The solar farm is part of a much larger clean-energy transition<\/h3>\n

The facility supports PSE’s long-term transition plan to comply with Washington State’s Clean Energy Transformation Act.<\/p>\n

Under this mandate, the utility has committed to supplying retail customers<\/strong> with 100% renewable or non-emitting electricity by the year 2045.<\/p>\n

To meet this requirement, it has contracted for 22 long-term clean-energy deals representing more than 4,000 MW of installed capacity since 2019.<\/p>\n

The Battle Butte Solar Farm is the newest individual resource added to the expanding generation portfolio of Puget Sound Energy<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Battle Butte extends decades of energy investment in Montana<\/h2>\n

Unlike earlier PSE projects in Montana, Battle Butte expands the utility’s existing footprint rather than standing alone.<\/p>\n

Historically, the utility has maintained a diverse group of power-purchase agreements across the region.<\/p>\n

These agreements have included hydro allocations with Energy Keepers, Inc., as well as contracts with Clearwater Wind and Haymaker Wind.<\/p>\n

The addition of the Battle Butte Solar Farm expands this long-standing statewide investment history into<\/strong> solar generation.<\/p>\n

The project now shifts from planning to construction<\/h3>\n

With final design and layout plans completed and public meetings finished, the focus of the Battle Butte Solar Farm now shifts to deploying the necessary materials and labor<\/a> required for construction.<\/p>\n

Site preparation activities began this fall as the project moved into its active construction phase.<\/p>\n

Upon completion in mid-2028, the facility will cease to operate as an active construction site and become a permanent source of generation, providing power to the regional transmission system.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A large-scale renewable energy project has been approved in Montana. Puget Sound Energy (PSE) has begun developing a 130-megawatt (MW) solar farm, called the Battle Butte Solar Farm, located just off Interstate Highway I-94 in the high plains area of Montana. This solar farm was chosen because it is located near PSE’s other renewable energy … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":44700,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_focus_keyword":"Montana,solar,project","rank_math_title":"","rank_math_description":"Puget Sound Energy is developing the 130-MW Battle Butte Solar Farm in Montana beside its existing Beaver Creek Wind Project, targeting operation by mid-2028.","footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-44675","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-energy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44675","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/27"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44675"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44675\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":44879,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44675\/revisions\/44879"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44700"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44675"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44675"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44675"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}