Fourth-graders in the Great Falls School District are learning how electricity is made from water power by visiting PPL Montana's Rainbow Dam on the Missouri River near Great Falls.

By the time the class tours are complete in mid-April, every fourth-grade student in the district — about 750 in all — will have learned how PPL generates clean, reliable and low-cost electricity at the dam.

"This is an excellent learning opportunity for these kids," said Great Falls environmental sciences teacher Mike Reitz. "We're very thankful to the folks at PPL Montana who take time out of their day to give these tours."

The tours are part of a growing partnership between PPL Montana and the Great Falls School District, said David Hoffman, manager of external affairs for PPL Montana. "These tours are just one of the ways that PPL Montana becomes involved in the communities where we do business."

Additionally, PPL Montana has awarded the Great Falls School District a grant of about $5,000 to purchase environmental education equipment for fourth-grade students, Hoffman said.

PPL Montana has pledged $23 million over 10 years for recreation, water quality, fishing and wildlife along the Madison and Missouri rivers, Hoffman said. The company supports community needs, funds education programs, provides hiking trails and recreation areas near its hydroelectric dams, and is a major sponsor of the Lewis and Clark anniversary celebration.

The dam tours are a tradition that dates back 30 years or more in Great Falls. They were suspended last year because the U.S. Department of Homeland Security increased the terrorism alert level, leading to increased security precautions at dams and other facilities, according to Hoffman. "We are very pleased to be able to resume this program," Hoffman said.

PPL Montana has offices in Billings, Butte and Helena. With about 500 employees, the company operates the coal-fired Colstrip and Corette power plants and 11 hydroelectric facilities along the Missouri, Flathead, Clark Fork and Madison rivers and Rosebud Creek. PPL EnergyPlus, another PPL subsidiary, operates an energy trading floor in Butte that markets and sells power in the wholesale energy market.

PPL Corporation (NYSE: PPL), headquartered in Allentown, Pa., controls about 11,500 megawatts of generating capacity in the United States, sells energy in key U.S. markets and delivers electricity to customers in Pennsylvania, the United Kingdom and Latin America.