Home / In-person training by city / Great Falls, MT
In-person · Great Falls, MTElectrical safety training in Great Falls, MT
Great Falls pairs the largest missile complex in the Western Hemisphere with a chain of Missouri River hydro dams and a biorefinery making sustainable aviation fuel. We train the electrical crews who build and maintain those sites, at your facility or in an in-person class we set up in Great Falls when you ask.
Private employers in Montana are inspected by federal OSHA. Every class is live, on the 2027 edition of NFPA 70E, and taught by a Certified Safety Professional. Montana electrical safety training requirements →
Among the teams we have trained in the last year
Four ways to train your Great Falls crew
Crews we train in and around Great Falls: defense contractors, hydro and utilities, fuels and refining, healthcare, agriculture and grain, electrical contractors.
What the class covers for Great Falls crews
Malmstrom construction and utility upgrades bring outside contractors onto a secure site with its own rules. We cover host and contractor coordination so energized work and lockout procedures are settled before mobilization.
Alert and launch facilities sit far out on the plains, often with small crews. We stress job briefings, a second person for higher risk tasks and emergency response planning far from help.
Dam powerhouses combine generators, exciters, station service and DC battery systems. We cover the battery and DC hazards that hydro electricians face along with AC switchgear.
The Montana Renewables expansion repurposes a hydrotreater, hydrogen plant and naphtha splitter from the neighboring refinery. Tie-ins like that change one-line diagrams, so we cover updating labels and isolation points when equipment changes hands.
Great Falls at a glance
Federal OSHA (Billings Area Office)
NorthWestern Energy
Montana State Electrical Board, statewide
GTF
Mountain
Montana: what applies to your crews
Enforcement: federal OSHA
Great Falls private employers and base contractors fall under federal OSHA's Billings Area Office, because Montana has no state plan. Federal civilian and military workers follow federal agency safety programs, and city and county employees are covered by Montana's Safety and Health Bureau under state law.
Licensing: State Electrical Board
Electricians in Great Falls hold licenses from the Montana State Electrical Board, which issues residential, journeyman and master electrician and electrical contractor licenses. The license tests the NEC, not shock and arc flash work practices.
Where NFPA 70E fits
OSHA does not enforce NFPA 70E. Contractors at Malmstrom and the biorefinery use it to show how they meet OSHA 1910 Subpart S and 1926 Subpart K, and OSHA can cite the General Duty Clause when a known hazard is ignored.
Great Falls's electrical work environment
Malmstrom Air Force Base, next to the city, is the community's largest employer. Its 341st Missile Wing operates Minuteman III missiles and alert facilities spread across about 23,000 square miles. The Sentinel program to replace Minuteman III is starting to show up on base, with a maintenance facility, training center and utility upgrades slated for 2027 and a wing command center and missile handling complex for 2028.
The city grew up on hydropower. Black Eagle Dam, first built in 1890, was Montana's first hydro dam, and Rainbow, Cochrane, Ryan and Morony dams follow the river downstream. NorthWestern bought Black Eagle (18 MW) and Ryan (60 MW) from PPL in 2014, so utility hydro crews work within sight of downtown.
Industry has shifted from smelting to fuels. The Anaconda smelter at Black Eagle closed in 1980. Today Calumet's Montana Renewables biorefinery makes sustainable aviation fuel, while the adjacent Calumet Montana Refining plant keeps producing asphalt. Benefis Health System and Great Falls Clinic anchor health care. TAC Data Centers withdrew a 551-acre campus proposal near the AgriTech Park in November 2025.
Missile wing, Missouri River dams and the biorefinery
These are the Great Falls sites drawing electrical crews now. The Sentinel work and biorefinery expansion are the biggest changes in years.
| Site | What is there | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Malmstrom Air Force Base U.S. Air Force, 341st Missile Wing | Minuteman III missile wing with alert facilities across about 23,000 square miles. | Operating |
| Sentinel facilities at Malmstrom U.S. Air Force | Maintenance, training and utility upgrades scheduled for 2027, with command and missile handling buildings for 2028. | Under construction |
| Montana Renewables MaxSAF expansion Calumet | Revised $137 million plan to lift SAF output toward 200 million gallons a year by end of 2028. | Under construction |
| Calumet Montana Refining Calumet | Asphalt plant next to the biorefinery, keeping its employees and sharing site infrastructure. | Operating |
| Ryan Dam NorthWestern Energy | 60 MW hydro plant at the Great Falls of the Missouri, built in 1915. | Operating |
| Black Eagle Dam NorthWestern Energy | 18 MW dam with three Kaplan turbines, rebuilt in concrete in 1926. | Operating |
NorthWestern Energy and the Missouri River dams
NorthWestern Energy serves Great Falls and owns the hydro plants on the river through town. The company bought the former Montana Power dams from PPL in 2014 for $900 million, which made Black Eagle and Ryan part of the regulated utility. Those plants put generation, switchyards and transmission within a few miles of the city center.
Sentinel will add a different kind of load. The Air Force's 2023 environmental assessment, written for the original plan, described more than 1,200 miles of new utility corridors, and the program now plans to drill new silos rather than reuse old ones. For local contractors that means remote substations, fiber and site power work on a schedule set by the federal government.
Who we train in Great Falls and north central Montana
Electrical and facility contractors working on Malmstrom construction, maintenance and Sentinel projects.
Powerhouse electricians and substation crews on NorthWestern's Missouri River dams.
Electricians and operators at Montana Renewables and Calumet Montana Refining.
Facilities teams at Benefis Health System and Great Falls Clinic.
Elevator and mill maintenance crews serving the wheat country around Great Falls.
Great Falls contractors who move between base work, industrial sites and commercial buildings.
Also serving
Questions from Great Falls employers
Can you train contractor crews working at Malmstrom?
Do your classes cover hydro powerhouse equipment?
Our biorefinery is tying in equipment from another plant. What should we update?
Which OSHA office covers Great Falls?
Does finishing the class make someone a qualified electrical worker?
What the people in the room say
“Virtual can never replace hands-on, but the engagement from our instructor and the class made it feel more engaging than some in-person courses I've taken.”
“Probably one of the most useful safety courses I've ever attended. Rick genuinely cares about people and their well-being.”
“This is the 2nd arc flash training course I've taken and the class was amazing. I feel like I'm leaving the training safer than before I took this class.”
Train your Great Falls crew on the 2027 edition.
Onsite within a few days, or private live virtual as soon as tomorrow. Need it fast? Call (813) 725-0999.