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In-person · Billings, MTElectrical safety training in Billings, MT
Three of Montana's four oil refineries sit in Yellowstone County, and the Billings area also carries a new NorthWestern Energy gas plant, a major rail yard and the state's largest medical center. We train the electrical crews who keep those refineries, substations and hospitals running, at your facility or in an in-person class we set up in Billings 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 Billings crew
Crews we train in and around Billings: refining, turnaround and industrial contractors, power generation and utilities, rail, healthcare, food processing and mining.
What the class covers for Billings crews
Refinery turnarounds in Billings and Laurel pull in contractors who do not know the unit's switchgear. We cover the host and contract employer duties that decide whose energized work permit and lockout rules apply.
An arc in a process unit can be an ignition source as well as a burn hazard. We spend time on equipment in hazardous locations and why de-energizing first matters even more there.
A reciprocating engine plant like the one outside Laurel packs many generators, breakers and cable runs into one site. We cover stored energy, backfeed and verification steps on multi-unit generation.
Billings Clinic and St. Vincent run on emergency power systems that must stay live. Our class covers planning work on transfer switches and essential electrical systems when a full outage is not an option.
Billings at a glance
Federal OSHA (Billings Area Office)
NorthWestern Energy
Montana State Electrical Board, statewide
BIL
Mountain
Montana: what applies to your crews
Enforcement: federal OSHA
Montana has no OSHA-approved state plan, and the federal OSHA Billings Area Office covers every county in the state. City, county and school employees are not under OSHA. They fall under the Montana Department of Labor and Industry's Safety and Health Bureau. Mines such as Sibanye-Stillwater fall under MSHA.
Licensing: State Electrical Board
The Montana State Electrical Board licenses residential, journeyman and master electricians and electrical contractors, with 16 hours of continuing education for renewal. That license covers installation to the NEC, not energized work practices.
Where NFPA 70E fits
OSHA does not enforce NFPA 70E. Billings refiners and contractors use it to show how they meet OSHA 1910 Subpart S and 1926 Subpart K, and OSHA can cite the General Duty Clause for recognized arc flash and shock hazards.
Billings's electrical work environment
Billings is Montana's refining center. Phillips 66 runs a 60,000 barrel a day refinery in the city that makes gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and petroleum coke. Par Pacific took over the old ExxonMobil refinery near Lockwood on June 1, 2023, and now runs it as Par Montana with about 320 employees and 80 to 100 contractors on site on a typical day. CHS Inc. operates a third 60,000 barrel a day refinery west of the city in Laurel.
Power and rail sit right beside the refineries. NorthWestern Energy fired up its $316 million Yellowstone County Generating Station outside Laurel in March 2024, with 18 engines, 86 miles of power cable and an existing substation next door. Laurel was also the main classification yard for Montana Rail Link, whose operations passed back to BNSF on January 1, 2024.
The rest of the Billings economy runs on health care, trade and agriculture. Billings Clinic employs more than 4,500 people, and Intermountain Health's St. Vincent Regional Hospital adds more than 1,000. The Western Sugar Cooperative processes sugar beets in Billings, and Coca-Cola, Franz Bakery and Meadow Gold run plants in town. Billings also serves as a supply base for Bakken oil work 250 to 350 miles east.
Refineries, gas generation and rail along the Yellowstone
These are the Billings and Laurel sites where industrial electrical crews spend most of their hours. Status reflects the latest public reporting we could confirm.
| Site | What is there | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Phillips 66 Billings Refinery Phillips 66 | 60,000 barrel a day refinery making transportation fuels and fuel-grade petroleum coke. | Operating |
| Par Montana Refinery Par Pacific | 63,000 barrel a day refinery near Lockwood, acquired from ExxonMobil in June 2023. | Operating |
| CHS Laurel Refinery CHS Inc. | 60,000 barrel a day refinery in Laurel, built in 1943, with about 300 employees. | Operating |
| Yellowstone County Generating Station NorthWestern Energy | 175 MW natural gas plant outside Laurel, first fired in March 2024. | Operating |
| Laurel rail yard BNSF Railway | Former Montana Rail Link main classification yard, operated by BNSF since January 2024. | Operating |
| Western Sugar Billings factory Western Sugar Cooperative | Sugar beet processing plant in Billings. | Operating |
NorthWestern Energy and Montana's eastern grid
NorthWestern Energy serves Billings and the surrounding Yellowstone Valley. Its newest local resource is the Yellowstone County Generating Station, a 175 MW plant whose engines can ramp up within minutes. It sits on the western edge of Billings near the Yellowstone River, by an existing substation and gas pipeline. The plant was proposed in 2021, survived zoning and environmental challenges, and had 16 of 18 units fully online by September 2025.
The utility itself is changing hands. In August 2025 NorthWestern and Black Hills Corporation agreed to an all-stock merger that would create a $15.4 billion electric and gas utility headquartered in Rapid City. For refinery and plant electricians the practical issue stays local: large industrial services, on-site substations and cogeneration tie-ins that need clear isolation points and current short circuit data.
Who we train in Billings and the Yellowstone Valley
Unit electricians, instrument techs and operators at the Phillips 66, Par Montana and CHS Laurel refineries.
Billings electrical contractors who staff refinery turnarounds and capital projects along the Yellowstone.
Plant and substation crews at NorthWestern's Laurel gas plant and the transmission work around it.
Shop and yard electricians at BNSF's Laurel classification yard.
Facilities teams at Billings Clinic and St. Vincent Regional Hospital who maintain emergency power.
Maintenance crews at Western Sugar and the Billings food plants, plus electricians at the Stillwater mines southwest of town.
Also serving
Questions from Billings employers
Can you schedule a class around a Billings or Laurel refinery turnaround?
Which OSHA office handles Billings?
Our electricians hold Montana journeyman licenses. Are they qualified for energized work?
Can you train our crews at the Stillwater mines too?
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 Billings 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.