Montana Counties Weigh Data Center Limits

The Yellowstone County dispute has shifted from a resident-led ballot moratorium effort to a proposed temporary-zoning strategy constrained by Montana’s Right to Compute Act and possible litigation. The Bonner proposal is also better defined through newly reported power-capacity figures, highlighting its potential scale.

Missoula’s pause has become a formally adopted regulatory process with defined geographic coverage and a required impact study within 30 days. The update also quantifies Yellowstone petition support and distinguishes Missouri’s tax-incentive debate from Montana permitting disputes.

The story now places stronger emphasis on local political control and project timing, with the Bonner proposal specifically identified as withdrawn after a large petition campaign. It also broadens the comparison set to Missouri, while the core dispute over who pays for infrastructure costs remains unchanged.

The story has sharpened from general local resistance into a more explicit fight over how Montana data centers will pay for power and infrastructure. The Broadview/Quantica proposal is now framed as the central legal and regulatory battleground, alongside new county moratorium and ballot-approval actions.

• Bonner project was withdrawn after public opposition.
• Yellowstone County is suing over the Broadview ballot initiative.
• Quantica cites a roughly 5,000-acre Broadview campus.
• Quantica has sought up to 7,235 megawatts in interconnection applications.
• Montana’s Ratepayer Protection Pledge targets developer-paid energy upgrades.

The story has shifted from mostly county-level scrutiny and interim zoning toward more concrete regulatory action: Missoula County has now imposed a one-year moratorium on new or expanded data centers. At the same time, the issue has broadened into stronger voter-approval fights and cost-allocation pressure as large projects and utility impacts come into sharper focus.

• Missoula County approved a temporary one-year moratorium on new or expanded data centers.
• Residents in Yellowstone County and Butte-Silver Bow are pursuing voter-approval requirements.
• New legal uncertainty surrounds citizen initiatives versus county land-use authority.
• Quantica's Broadview campus is intensifying scrutiny of power and interconnection needs.
• Gov. Greg Gianforte signed a Ratepayer Protection Pledge on cost responsibility.

No material change is visible between the two versions; the story’s framing, actors, and core regulatory conflict remain the same.

No material change is present between the previous and current versions; the story remains a stable account of Montana’s tightening scrutiny of proposed data centers.

The story broadened from a single Missoula County permitting fight into a wider Montana-wide political and regulatory response to data centers. The Bonner proposal is still central, but it is now one example within a larger push for interim zoning, ballot limits, and moratoriums.

• Montana Democrats added a data-center moratorium plank.
• Montana Republicans endorsed local control and resource limits.
• Butte-Silver Bow and Yellowstone counties launched voter-approval ballot efforts.
• Missoula County is considering interim zoning measures.
• NorthWestern Energy became a named reference point for power concerns.

Missoula County is reviewing Krambu’s proposal to convert part of the former Bonner mill site into a data center, and the project has drawn scrutiny over water use, electricity demand, and compatibility with nearby residential areas. The application has faced repeated incompleteness findings, delaying a public hearing and keeping approval unresolved. County rules require special exception review, industrial zoning compliance, e-waste recycling plans, and new renewable power sources, making the proposal a test case for how the county will regulate data centers.