Flathead Electric Cooperative generation interconnection: tiers, fees and insurance

How the size is measured

the nameplate capacity in alternating current, which is how the policy’s own fee table is headed. Flathead applies a dual test rather than a single threshold: the policy governs a facility with a nameplate capacity of 200 kW or higher, OR an export capacity greater than 50 kW, so the export leg catches large residential and small commercial jobs that the nameplate leg would not.

Size bands and what each one obliges

200 kW and above, or any size exporting more than 50 kW Size 200 to 20000 kW	A non refundable processing fee of $1,000 applies, with additional requirements and fees determined after an initial screening. A feasibility study requires a deposit of 100 percent of the good faith estimated cost, and so does the detailed interconnection study. Insurance carries no dollar amount at all: the coverage must be sufficient to insure against all reasonably foreseeable direct liabilities given the size and nature of the equipment, with no additional insured requirement and no table of limits, and proof due no later than ten business days before the anticipated commercial operation date. A sufficiently creditworthy member may propose to self insure. $1,000 non refundable processing fee 100 percent deposit on the estimated feasibility study cost, and again on the detailed interconnection study Transmission operator approval from Bonneville Power Administration, or PacifiCorp for Cooke City or Elk Basin, before the cooperative will sign the agreement Accessible and lockable disconnect switch at member expense, with the meter base and all disconnects labeled

200 kW and above, or any size exporting more than 50 kW Size 200 to 20000 kW

A non refundable processing fee of $1,000 applies, with additional requirements and fees determined after an initial screening. A feasibility study requires a deposit of 100 percent of the good faith estimated cost, and so does the detailed interconnection study. Insurance carries no dollar amount at all: the coverage must be sufficient to insure against all reasonably foreseeable direct liabilities given the size and nature of the equipment, with no additional insured requirement and no table of limits, and proof due no later than ten business days before the anticipated commercial operation date. A sufficiently creditworthy member may propose to self insure.

$1,000 non refundable processing fee
100 percent deposit on the estimated feasibility study cost, and again on the detailed interconnection study
Transmission operator approval from Bonneville Power Administration, or PacifiCorp for Cooke City or Elk Basin, before the cooperative will sign the agreement
Accessible and lockable disconnect switch at member expense, with the meter base and all disconnects labeled

The screens that decide it

Below the 50 kW export point that triggers the heavyweight process Limit 50 kW.
This is the most valuable screening rule at Flathead. Because the policy triggers on either 200 kW of nameplate or more than 50 kW of export, a 60 kW commercial rooftop exporting freely falls into the heavyweight process with a $1,000 fee and a Bonneville Power Administration transmission request, while the same 60 kW array with export limited to 50 kW or less stays under the small generation policy. Export limiting is worth real money here.

Ask the utility this, before you sell it

Please provide Administrative Policy E&O 350 Small Generation Interconnection. It governs everything below 200 kW nameplate and 50 kW export, which is almost every residential and small commercial job, and it is not published on the website. Until it is in hand the tiers, fees, insurance, screens and timelines for a normal residential job at Flathead are unknown.
What is the transmission operator’s queue time? Installations of 200 kW and above must obtain interconnection approval from the transmission owner before the cooperative will sign an agreement, which is a schedule risk rather than just a fee.
What fees apply below 200 kW? None appear in the service fee schedule, which lists only connection, deposit and bill credit items with no generation line.

Worth knowing before you quote

There is no fifteen percent screen and no minimum load test in this policy; the word does not appear. Flathead uses a feasibility study then a detailed interconnection study, both funded by a 100 percent member deposit. Published clocks mix units, so read them carefully: completeness notice 10 business days, member returns the feasibility study agreement within 15 business days, the detailed interconnection study agreement within 15 business days, the cooperative provides an executable interconnection agreement within 90 business days after studies, and the member signs within 45 calendar days. Testing notice is at least 5 business days. Nothing is published on time to permission to operate. One purchase constraint is disclosed: the cooperative has notice deadlines and restrictions for buying power from resources above 1 MW of nameplate. Net metering credits apply to eligible energy use and do not offset fixed, service related or demand based charges, and the basic charge and demand charge are called out as not reduced by solar. On a demand metered commercial rate class the demand charge is $20.91 per kW, which solar alone does not touch.

Source

Flathead Electric Cooperative Administrative Policy E&O 351 Generation Interconnection, version E&O.351.2024.11 effective 8 November 2024, including the interconnection agreement as Appendix E

Read and recorded 2026-09-12. Rural electric cooperative. A Montana cooperative, outside the Public Service Commission interconnection rules. This policy governs only 200 kW and above, or anything exporting more than 50 kW; it defers everything smaller to a second policy, E&O 350 Small Generation Interconnection, which is not published anywhere on the cooperative’s website. So Flathead does not publish the rules that apply to almost every residential job.

All Montana interconnection rules

Size bands and what each one obliges

The screens that decide it

Ask the utility this, before you sell it

Worth knowing before you quote

What to do with this