Montana Already Has Dozens Of Small Data Centers

Montana Has More Data Centers Than Many People Realize

The debate around data centers in Montana might already be a lot bigger than most people realize.

The Billings Gazette recently published a story that found 22 small-scale data centers have already been permitted in Richland and Roosevelt counties, with six of them located along a nine-mile stretch of county road.

Data Centers Are Already Changing Parts Of Rural Montana

The biggest problem with these buildings is that most people probably haven't heard much about them.

Karen Boehler, who lives along the Yellowstone River in Richland County, said she had no idea a new data center was being built just a half-mile from her home until construction was already underway.

She and her family had spent years enjoying the Yellowstone River. Now she's worried about the noise, wildlife, and, perhaps most importantly, what the project could mean for the property she's lived on for two decades.

While the facility in question is relatively small at 14.9 megawatts, it's part of a much larger collection of cryptocurrency-mining operations owned by NYDIG.

The recent projects represent about 177 megawatts of power generation, using natural gas that otherwise would have been burned off during oil production.

Canva

Nearly 75% Of Montana Voters Oppose New Data Centers Nearby

Montana's Department of Environmental Quality says the individual projects have relatively minor impacts and that the permitted facilities are small compared with the massive AI data centers being proposed across the Treasure State.

Plenty of organizations, however, argue that the state should be looking at the combined impact of all these facilities instead of evaluating them one at a time.

And honestly, it's getting pretty hard to ignore how much opposition there is to new data centers in Montana.

A recent Montana poll found nearly three-quarters of registered voters oppose data centers being built in their city or a neighboring county. The poll also found that 92% support state regulations to limit the impact data centers have on electricity prices.

With some of these smaller projects being built without nearly as much attention as the massive data centers, it might already be too late to have a debate.