Montana voters seek oversight of data center construction

Montana residents are actively pursuing citizen-led ballot initiatives in Yellowstone and Butte-Silver Bow counties to introduce stricter oversight for data center development. These initiatives aim to require approval from two-thirds of registered voters before any new data center construction or expansion can proceed, driven by concerns over potential impacts on electricity bills, water supplies, and local quality of life.

In Yellowstone County, Kassi Solberg of "Yellowstone County Voices" received approval for her petition from the County Attorney's Office and has begun collecting the 16,650 signatures needed for the November ballot. Similarly, "406 People First" in Butte-Silver Bow County is gathering 3,652 signatures by the end of August for a municipal code provision that would also mandate voter approval. This follows a previous proposal by Sabey Corporation for a data center near Butte that was terminated earlier this year.

The heightened scrutiny comes as Quantica Infrastructure is seeking to build a large-scale data center, the "Big Sky Digital Infrastructure Campus," near Broadview in Yellowstone County. Quantica has filed applications with Northwestern Energy for 7,235 megawatts of power capacity, an amount significantly larger than the utility's current load for all of Montana. While Quantica states it will pay for the power expansion, residents and watchdogs are questioning the overall impact. Local officials, including Yellowstone County Commissioners, have faced criticism for their handling of transparency requests and for proposing an interim moratorium that ultimately saw no action, pushing citizens to take direct action through ballot initiatives. The state Democratic Party also voted to support a two-year moratorium on data center projects.