May 16, 2026 - Following a mild winter, mining company Westmoreland laid off more than a fifth of its workforce at the Rosebud Coal Mine with 27 layoffs in March and 36 layoffs in April. Currently, 223 people work at the mine that provides coal to the Colstrip power plant.

Director of external affairs Jon Heroux told the Gazette that sales were down recently because of a warm winter that reduced demand to Montana’s grid and the associated Colstrip plant that provides power to it.

Sen. Steve Daines and Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte stand in a coal seam during a tour of the Rosebud Mine in 2024. Leading the tour is mine manager Ken Wooley, right, and Westmoreland Mining CEO Martin Purvis.

Photo: LARRY MAYER, BILLINGS GAZETTE

“It was a pretty warm winter for us all, so it just was a market demand thing,” Heroux said. “But what we're expecting is — we're hoping to have everybody back by the end of July.”

Several of Montana’s largest cities like Billings recorded daily average highs above any previous winters recorded in decades during the winter. Heroux said the layoffs weren't necessarily common, but weren't unusual either. 

A coal seam is at the Rosebud Mine in May 2024.  

Photo: LARRY MAYER

However, winter and spring months also saw little precipitation overall leading to low snowpack. In southeast Montana, the Powder River’s snow supply was recently recorded at just 26% of normal levels.

Heroux mentioned the low amount of water could lead to less power being generated by hydropower in the summer months, making the grid more reliant on other forms of power like coal once again.