150 MONTANA: INDFt^TRIAL RESOUKCES 



ELECTRICITY 



Uses — Source of liiilit. lic.-it ;iii(l jidwcr for iiidust ri;il mid household purposes. 

 As a therapeutic as'eiit. Jt is iiuinkiud's uiost I'cccutly developed form of 

 eneri;:.v and its field of usefulness in all the industrial and household arts is 

 rapidly and constantly JK'infr expanded. It is the most flexible and cleanly form 

 of enerjry to handle that mankind has found. Its widespread application, according; 

 to economists, has been the chief factor that has made possilile the develoimient 

 of the l;irgc cities of this geueraticm. Distances over Avhich it can be transmitted 

 are steadily beinu h'Uiithened and the eneruy carried is constjintly beiiiir in- 

 creast>d. Ilapid strides are being made in electro-metallurgy. ^loi-e intense heat 

 can be generated in the electric furnace than in any other furnace known to 

 science ;nid it is .gradually supplanting other appliances in miiny fields. Inci- 

 dentally, the largest electric furnaces in the world have been erected at (Jreat 

 Falls, in this state. Electrical energy is easily made available from units small 

 enough to prepai*e the breakfast toast and coffee to units that surpass in effec- 

 tiveness the world's largest locomotives in hauling long and heavily lojided freight 

 trains over the mountainous backbone of the continent. 



While all forms of energy can be converted into electricity, the current de- 

 ri\ed from water power, over a period of years, is said to be the most economical 

 to generate. Montana possesses, according to the United States Geological Survey, 

 approximately one-tenth of the potential hydro-electric power of the country. 

 The potential minimum hydro-electric development on Montana streams is 

 2,749.(XK) horse power, or 9.84 per cent of the total potential minimum of the 

 United States. The potential maximum hydro-electric development in Montana 

 is placed by the Geological Survey at 4,331,000 horse power, or 8.03 per cent of 

 the country's total potential maxinnnn development. The developed cai)acity of Mon- 

 tana hydro-electric plants is placed at 420,0<X) hor.se power by the United States 

 Geological Survey. The installed capacity, according to figures obtained from 

 the Public Service Commis.sioJi and the larger power companies, is 2!M;.430 horse 

 power. A number of the larger plants in the state have dams and st(U"age ca- 

 pacity capable of delivering more power when additional turbines are installed. 

 In 1922 JNIontana produced nearly seven per cent of the nation's electricity from 

 water power and was the fourth ranking state, according to the Geological Survey. 

 Of all the power used in Montana, 99.2 per cent is generated by wnter power. 

 Montana u.ses more electricity per capita than any other state. 



More than two-thirds of the present installed hydro-electric capacity of the 

 state is on the Missouri River and its tributaries, in central Montana, but approxi- 

 mat(»ly three-fourths of the potential undeveloped capacity is in western Montana 

 on the Pacific slope, on the Clark's Fork, the Flathead and Kootenai Rivers prin- 

 cipally. The total potential development in Montana on the Missouri and its 

 tributaries is estimated by the Geological Survey at 700,000 horse power. 



Occiirrenoe — The installed capacity of developed hydro-electric power in 

 Montana, by counties, is as follows: Beaverhead, 4.777 h. p.: Cascade, 130.815 

 h. p.: Fergu.s, 1,0."0 h. p.; Flathead, 2,820 h. p.; Glacier. 00 h. p.: Granite, 2,34^ 

 h. p.: Lake, 700 h. p.; Lewis and Clark, 87,335 h. p.; Lincoln, 1,890 h. p.; ^ladison, 

 1G,700 h. p.; Meagher, 75 h. p.; Mineral, 144 h. p.: INIis.sonla. 3.200 h. p.: Park, 

 3,100 h, p. ; Sanders, 40,000 h. p. ; Yellow.stone. 1.440 h. p. 



The undeveloped water power in ^Montana on four of its principal watersheds, 

 according to an article I).v E, >\'. Kramer, hydro-electric engineer of the United 

 States Forest Service, in The Electrical World, .Tuly ](!. 1921. is as follows: 



