Data center big jobs claims don’t match permit application | Jim Morton
An opinion piece by Jim Morton in the Billings Gazette questions the claims that data centers will create high-paying jobs to solve Montana's affordability crisis. Morton argues that these claims are a false solution, pointing to the state's rising energy and water utility costs, unaffordable housing, and increasing gas and food prices.
Jim Morton, former Executive Director of the District XI Human Resource Council and a steering committee member for Montanans for Affordable Energy, authored an opinion piece in the Billings Gazette. Morton criticizes the narrative that data centers will bring high-paying jobs sufficient to alleviate Montana's ongoing affordability crisis.
Morton highlights several economic pressures facing Montanans, including escalating energy and water utility costs, unaffordable housing, and rising prices for gas and food. He contends that advocating for data centers as a solution to these challenges is misleading, suggesting their purported economic benefits, particularly regarding job creation, do not align with the realities reflected in permit applications or the broader economic situation.