This piece is part of MTFP’s 2026 poll week, where we’re exploring data on how Montana voters feel about their elected officials, environmental concerns, immigration enforcement and other issues. Montanans are bullish on solar, natural gas and hydropower for electricity generation — but wa ry of adding additional coal power to the state’s energy mix, according to a new Montana Free Press-Eagleton poll.  The results of the poll, conducted in late December and early January, come as the Trump and Gianforte administrations work to expand domestic energy production amid a surge in demand wrought by growth in artificial intelligence and other electricity-intensive industries. Respondents were presented with a list of electricity sources and asked if they thought Montana should produce more, less or about the same amount of power from each source. The options included hydropower, coal and wind — all of which play a prominent role in Montana’s current energy mix — as well solar and natural gas, which make up a smaller but growing contribution to the state’s energy grid. According to an October analysis by Montana Free Press, the state’s single largest power producer is the 40-year-old coal-fired power plant in Colstrip, which is capable of generating up to 1,650 megawatts of electricity. The largest class of generation in the state, in contrast, is hydropower: Western Montana dams can generate more than 2,500 megawatts of power when they’re operating at full capacity.  A third behemoth in the energy landscape is wind. Since 2020, energy developers like Berkshire Hathaway Energy and Pacific Northwest utilities such as Avista and Puget Sound Energy have invested in massive wind projects collectively capable of generating more than 1,000 megawatts of power — and additional wind farms are planned. Utility-scale solar energy makes a tiny share of Montana’s electricity mix, accounting for just 2% of the megawatt hours generated within the state’s borders. But it garnered the most enthusiasm in the poll, with 56% of respondents supporting additional solar generation. A similar percentage, 55%, said the same about natural gas, which accounts for nearly 700 megawatts of capacity distributed between seven small- and medium-sized plants. Coal, which represents about 22% of the state’s current generation capacity, was much less popular. Just 36% of respondents supported additional coal-fired power and around the same number, 39%, said they want less. Gov. Greg Gianforte and Montana’s federal delegation, all Republicans, are aligned with President Donald Trump in backing coal, which has fueled Montana’s largest power plant for more than 40 years. Jon Tester, the last Democrat to hold a statewide office, supported both renewable and fossil fuel energy sources during his tenure at the U.S. Senate, occasionally countering the Biden administration’s efforts to tighten emission regulations and restrict new federal coal leasing. Despite the current delegation’s vigorous support for coal mining and the long-debated Colstrip plant, demand for the carbon-intensive fuel has waned in recent years as utility companies shift broadly to cheaper and cleaner power sources such as natural gas and solar. Bob Morris, Montana Tech’s Lance Energy Chair, described Colstrip as a “vital” and reliable resource that has helped Montana be an energy exporter for many decades. Even so, he said, market and political conditions aren’t spurring future investment in coal.  “With emissions and the political uncertainty, you won’t find anyone willing to invest in coal,” Morris said. “Maybe today’s administration is favorable, but in three years it may be a different administration.” NorthWestern Energy, Montana’s largest utility company, has significantly expanded the amount of coal and natural gas in its portfolio in recent years, building a 175-megawatt gas plant in Laurel and acquiring expanded stakes in the Colstrip plant as climate legislation forces West Coast utilities to exit the facility. Morris said there is a long list of solar developers eager to tie utility-scale projects into the electrical grid, but the weather-dependent nature of solar power can pose a challenge for utilities. The Trump administration’s move to nix tax incentives for renewable energy projects may have dampened investors’ appetite for new solar projects, he added.  Shifting subsidies are also making things harder for wind developers looking to tap into the state’s ready supply of wind. Despite D.C. policymakers’ move to eliminate tax incentives for new wind projects, utilities in Washington State and mega-investors like Berkshire Hathaway Energy have invested billions of dollars in Montana wind farms in recent years and additional investments are planned. Morris said that future hydropower expansion is unlikely because most of the state’s potential dam locations have already been developed. He said concerns about fish passage also merit consideration in hydropower discussions. “Every single energy conversion has a negative environmental impact,” he said. “We need to look at which impacts we’re willing to live with.” The MTFP-Eagleton poll surveyed 801 registered voters through telephone interviews and text-to-web questionnaires. Data was collected from Dec. 23, 2025 to Jan. 3, 2026. The poll, which was weighted to reflect the state’s population of registered voters, has an overall margin of error of plus or minus 4.1 percentage points. This piece is part of the Montana Insights project, which is commissioning rounds of polling to help MTFP readers understand public sentiment on key Montana policy issues. Further findings from the Dec. 2025-Jan. 2026 poll are available here. The post Montanans want more solar, natural gas development, are less interested in new coal plants appeared first on Montana Free Press. ...read more read less