Fire at Fort Peck Powerhouse
A fire late Thursday night at the Fort Peck Powerhouses knocked power out for thousands of Montana residents on the hi-line. Witnesses told Kltz/Mix-93 they heard a loud explosion around 10pm Thursday evening and then a fire was visible next to the Fort Peck Powerhouses.
Power was restored to the Glasgow area early Friday morning. No details have been released on the fire from the Army Corps of Engineers or the Western Area Power Administration.
More information on the Fort Peck Powerhouses:
Fort Peck Dam has two hydroelectric powerhouses containing a total of five Francis-type turbines and generators. The facilities have a combined plant capacity of approximately 185 megawatts.
- Powerhouse No. 1 contains three generating units.
- Powerhouse No. 2 contains two generating units.
- Water from Fort Peck Lake travels through large tunnels and penstocks to the turbines.
- The moving water spins the turbines, which turn generators and produce electricity.
The first powerhouse was started in 1941. Power generation began during World War II, although construction was not completed until 1951 because of wartime shortages. The second powerhouse was built later, with construction beginning in 1958 and completed in 1961.
How much electricity do they produce?
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says the two Fort Peck powerhouses produce an average of approximately 1.1 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity per year.
That's roughly enough electricity to supply a community of about 100,000 people, according to the Corps.
The actual amount of electricity produced can vary from year to year. Production depends heavily on:
- Water levels in Fort Peck Lake
- Missouri River runoff
- Snowpack and precipitation
- Drought conditions
- Water-management requirements
- How much water is released through the dam
Where does the electricity go?
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers operates the Fort Peck powerhouses, while the Western Area Power Administration, or WAPA, markets and delivers the electricity.
The power is distributed through a larger regional transmission system serving a 15-state region in the central and western United States. WAPA sells power to customers including rural electric cooperatives, municipalities, public power systems and other preference customers, which then deliver electricity to homes and businesses.
