Missoula County adopts temporary moratorium on data centers
Missoula County commissioners unanimously approved a temporary one-year moratorium on new or expanded data centers within the county, excluding the city of Missoula. This measure allows the county time to update its regulations to address potential impacts on public health, safety, and natural resources, including water and energy use, and noise. The decision followed public support for the moratorium and was prompted by a recently proposed data center project in Bonner that has since stalled.
The Missoula County commissioners unanimously approved a temporary, year-long moratorium on new or expanding data centers across the county, effective Thursday. The interim zoning proposal, championed by county staff, aims to provide time for the county to update its regulations to mitigate potential impacts on public health, safety, and natural resources. This moratorium applies to all zoned and unzoned areas within the county but explicitly excludes the city of Missoula, where a new zoning map does not currently allow data centers in heavy industrial areas without a rezoning process.
The vote followed overwhelming public support, with 30 individuals speaking in favor of the measure, and was met with applause. Commissioner Dave Strohmaier praised the county for taking a "deliberative, methodical approach" to assess the impacts of data centers. The county is now mandated to initiate a study within 30 days to verify the emergency and determine a course of action.
Karen Hughes, director of Missoula County’s Planning, Development and Sustainability Department, stated that current regulations, adopted in 2021 in response to a cryptocurrency mine, do not adequately address modern data centers' potential impacts on water quality and quantity, air quality, heat, noise, vibration, and energy infrastructure. The moratorium proposal was triggered by a specific data center project proposed for Bonner, which has since been withdrawn by the property owner. Commissioner Josh Slotnick emphasized the need for updated zoning given the evolving nature of data centers.