Special Edition - A Recap of 2024
Scroll to the bottom of this page to view your Co-op’s financial statements and a PDF of the full Annual Review, which is included in our March Light Reading Newsletter.
2024 Recap – Your Co-op at a Glance
59,078 members
76,589 meters
5,272 miles of energized line:
60% underground; 40% overhead
Growth
Northwest Montana’s steady growth, while not as explosive as in recent years, is reflected here in the continued increase of members and meters.
Increase in Demand
What is explosive is the increase in peak electric demand from 2019 to 2024 – during the January cold snap, demand on the system was thirty percent higher than just five years prior! That extended period of cold weather tested our local and regional grids like never before.
442 MW – Peak electric system load in January of 2024 – an all-time record.
That is a 100 MW (or 30%) increase compared to 2019’s peak.
165 employees at year-end
Vegetation Management
Your Co-op is working hard to increase system reliability and mitigate the risk of wildfire. Here’s what we accomplished in 2024.
Completed annual updates to our Wildfire Mitigation Plan.
100+ miles of overhead lines trimmed – equivalent to the distance from Lakeside to Missoula.
$9 million — three grants secured, totaling $9 million for vegetation maintenance to enhance wildfire resilience.
As of 2024, your Cooperative has 40 team members (staff + contractors) dedicated to keeping lines clear of vegetation, which is a significant increase since 2019.
While member requests for tree work have held pretty steady over time, our recent Vegetation Management has become even more proactive.
In 2024, we completed 1,019 member requests for tree work, and knocked on a record 3,103 member doors to notify them of upcoming tree work in their neighborhood.
332% increase in funds allocated to the Vegetation Management budget compared to 2019.
2024 Community Impact
Cooperatives operate differently from other businesses in many ways. While focusing on member needs, cooperatives work for the sustainable development of their communities. We are proud to make Northwest Montana a more vibrant place to live through our support of food banks, safety projects, and education – to name just a few of our efforts.
Our area food banks shared in over $19,000 in cash raised via raffle sales, and
1,000+ pounds of meat donated.
Over the last nine years, local food banks have received $89,588 in cash and about 8,000 pounds in meat from the Ribeye Raffle.
$5,277,134
Lifetime member funding since 1997
$292,777
Total yearly contributions from members. Average monthly contributions from members totaled $22,220.
$4,366
The average amount awarded in 2024 to the 77 grantees that the Roundup for Safety board awarded.
Community Education
$120K
in scholarships awarded
$3,750
average scholarship amount
32
scholarship recipients
Your Co-op sent three outstanding youth from Glacier, Flathead, and Bigfork High Schools on this year’s national Youth Tour of Washington, D.C.
Montana sent 32 students from 18 co-ops.
In total, there were over 1,600 participants from 44 states.
Scholarships and Youth Tour were funded by unclaimed capital credits.
