By Lillian Poulsen, Digital Organizer
Artificial Intelligence data centers are popping up across the country, including in our backyards. In Montana, contractors have proposed three major data centers in Bonner, Butte, and Broadview.
Data centers use servers that power the use of AI. Facilities use millions of gallons of water per year, requiring it to cool the facility, generate electricity, and flow in the supply chain. They usually require over 50 megawatts of power.
Companies like Quantica and Atlas Power want to move centers into our neighborhoods, harming our public health and the environment. Montanans are standing up to combat these destructive data centers.
Power usage
By 2030, NorthWestern Energy (NWE) will supply 1,400 megawatts of power to data centers, which equals the annual electricity needs of more than one million homes.
The Broadview data center, Quantica’s “Big Sky Digital Infrastructure Campus,” requires 5,000 acres and 1,100 megawatts of power, which is among the world’s largest. They asked NWE for 7,235 megawatts of additional capacity. Broadview is a town of about 140 people.
On July 8, Gov. Gianforte signed the Ratepayer Protection Pledge, an initiative to mitigate impacts on consumers’ power bills from AI data centers.
NWE, a major electricity and natural gas provider in Montana, says it will protect consumers by making data centers pay for their energy usage.
Under their drafted proposal, companies using five to 50 megawatts would sign a five-year service agreement, subject to financial penalty, with a maximum load limit. Companies using over 50 megawatts are subject to a 15-year service agreement where they have to agree that their usage won’t fall below a certain level. Montana’s Public Service Commission (PSC) is required to sign off on agreements before NWE provides electricity.
There is opposition from several entities, including environmental and concerned-citizen groups and city and county offices, that want energy rates to remain affordable for customers.
The PSC will hold a hearing, which they haven’t scheduled yet, allowing these groups and NWE to explain their cases for whether this proposal is a good idea. They will then host a briefing and make a decision within four months.
Environmental impact
Some rural AI data centers are projected to use about five million gallons of water per day. Data centers use more water as they expand, since water usage is tied to the number of megawatts used.
People worry about aquifer depletion from this amount of water usage. They are also concerned about the impacts to agriculture since they compete for land, water, and electricity.
Data centers also cause pollutants in wastewater and create “heat islands” that warm the land around them by up to 16 degrees Fahrenheit. This is especially problematic in Montana during the summer when there are warm rivers with low flows.
Legal backing
On the one hand, Montana has a “Right to Compute,” championed by the Frontier Institute, which frames AI and modern computing as free speech protected from government overreach. People may use this as a reason to support AI data centers.
On the other hand, Article II, Section 3 of Montana’s constitution states that every Montanan has the right to a clean and healthful environment. AI data centers will impact this right, making it clear that Montana should work to protect our constitutional rights.
Grassroots opposition
In Silver Bow County, Denise Kelly started a non-profit organization called 406 People First to combat a proposed AI data center in Butte. This effort led to the Sabey Corporation to pull out of the agreement, but they are exploring other sites in the county.
Kelly drafted an initiative that could appear on Butte-Silver Bow ballots in November. The organization is in the signature gathering phase, which requires 15% of registered voters–about 3,650 people–to sign by late August.
In Yellowstone County, activists want to put power in the hands of voters by requiring them to approve new or expanded data centers. The proposed initiative would make it so counties need approval from two-thirds of voters for data centers to move forward. They need about 16,560 registered voters to sign the initiative by August 12 for it to appear on the ballot.
Yellowstone County Commissioners are attempting to battle this in the Montana Supreme Court, saying the initiative shouldn’t be allowed to gather signatures until the court has decided whether it is valid and constitutional. Activists are still collecting signatures as of July 7.
A Missoula County citizen-led petition on change.org received over 40,000 signatures to reject the permit for the data center in Bonner. The community pressure led the property owner to back out.
On July 9, Missoula County Commissioners hosted a public hearing where they approved a one-year pause on data center construction in the county. This is another example of why grassroots organizing is important.
Push back against data centers
Speak out against data centers across the state, especially those in your city and county. Attend city council meetings, provide public comments, and inform your friends about how they can get involved, too.
Sign petitions, start and vote on ballot initiatives, and use your voice to protect our public health and the environment.
When our state and local governments fail to protect us, we, the people, need to stand up and demand they hear us.