Rainbow Dam is a hydroelectric dam on the
Missouri River, high and long, located six miles northeast of
Great Falls
Great may refer to: Descriptions or measurements
* Great, a relative measurement in physical space, see Size
* Greatness, being divine, majestic, superior, majestic, or transcendent
People
* List of people known as "the Great"
*Artel Great (born ...
in the
U.S. state of
Montana
Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbi ...
.
History
The dam is named for the downstream
Rainbow Falls, a waterfall that is the third of the five
Great Falls of the Missouri. Built in 1910, the dam furnishes water to an eight-unit hydroelectric plant with a capacity of 36
megawatt
The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of Power (physics), power or radiant flux in the International System of Units, International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantification (science), ...
s.
As the dam's power plant is located over a half-mile downstream, the flow of water over Rainbow Falls and downstream Crooked Falls is significantly reduced during the dry season. The water from the penstocks re-enters the river a few hundred yards east of Crooked Falls.
Montana Power Company
The Montana Power Company (MPC) was an electric utility company based in Butte, Montana, which provided electricity to Montana consumers and industry from 1912 to 1997.
History
The Montana Power Company was founded in 1912 by John D. Ryan, the ...
acquired the dam when it was founded in 1912,
PPL Corporation
PPL Corporation is an energy company headquartered in Allentown, Pennsylvania in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania. The company is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange.
History
Pennsylvania Power & Light was founded in 1 ...
purchased it in 1997 and sold it to
NorthWestern Corporation
NorthWestern Corporation owns NorthWestern Energy, a utility company that serves South Dakota, Nebraska, and Montana that is based in Sioux Falls. , the company serves approximately 718,000 customers. The company's corporate headquarters are loc ...
in 2014.
See also
*
Ryan Dam
Ryan Dam is a hydroelectric dam on the Missouri River, downstream from the city of Great Falls, Montana, Great Falls in the U.S. state of Montana. The dam is long and high; its reservoir is long and has a storage capacity of . It is a Run-of-th ...
References
External links
*
Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) documentation, filed under End of Rainbow Dam Road, Great Falls, Cascade County, MT:
**
**
**
**
**
**
**
**
**
**
**
**
**
**
**
Buildings and structures in Cascade County, Montana
Dams completed in 1910
Dams in Montana
Dams on the Missouri River
Gravity dams
Historic American Engineering Record in Montana
NorthWestern Corporation dams
{{CascadeCountyMT-geo-stub