Montana-Dakota Utilities Co, SD
Power reliability at Montana-Dakota Utilities Co
South Dakota's grid here runs a bit rougher than most: 2.6 outages from Montana-Dakota Utilities Co in the most recent year, 3.5 hours total. That is 21% less outage time than the South Dakota state average of 4.5 hours a year.
What a typical outage at Montana-Dakota Utilities Co looks like
At an average of 81 minutes per outage, most interruptions here end before a fuel generator would even be worth starting up. Why outage length, not count, picks the backup: how often vs how long.
What this means for buying a generator
Serving 9,554 customers here, Given how often Montana-Dakota Utilities Co goes out, you should consider a backup generator rather than treat it as optional.
Where this number comes from
These figures come from EIA Form 861, the reliability report an investor-owned utility like Montana-Dakota Utilities Co files with federal regulators every year - serving 9,554 customers hereaveraged across the whole territory, not any one address or storm. Every other utility in South Dakota is covered too: see South Dakota's full record. One big storm can move a single year a lot; major event days explains how.