Central Montana Electric Power Cooperative does not own generation. Generation to serve Central’s members is provided through purchase agreements with two entities.
- The Western Area Power Administration (WAPA); Central has long term contracts with WAPA to serve a portion of the members loads. These contracts are for defined amounts of energy and capacity each month. The electricity WAPA provides Central comes from Government dams on the Missouri river drainage. The price Central pays includes payment of an allocated portion of the government dams cost including operation and expenses along with the transmission of the electricity.
- Basin Electric Power Cooperative. Central joined other like cooperatives in a multi state region over 50 years ago when power from the government dams became fully utilized and cooperatives had to look for other sources. The decision to form Basin Electric to build generation has proven to be a great American success story. Basin has coal fired, gas fired and renewable generation to meet our needs in excess of WAPA.