Oppose Data Center Development Without Environmental Safeguards and Transparency

I am writing to urge you to oppose the rapid expansion of AI data centers in Montana until comprehensive environmental protections and transparency requirements are in place. Three massive proposals have emerged in just 14 months, and developers are rushing to secure financing before communities can fully understand the impacts. The scale of these projects is staggering. Quantica Infrastructure's proposed 1,000-megawatt facility near Broadview would consume more continuous power than NorthWestern Energy uses to serve its 400,000+ electricity customers. Yet critical details about water usage remain undisclosed across all three projects. Quantica currently possesses no water rights despite planning to begin construction in 2025. Sabey Data Centers in Butte will use approximately 16 million gallons of water annually for evaporative cooling, while Atlas Power Group's expansion plans remain vague about both water needs and whether the facility will continue cryptocurrency mining. Anne Hedges, Executive Director of the Montana Environmental Information Center who has worked on environmental issues for 32 years, described the public engagement on this issue as unlike anything she has encountered. Educational events have drawn standing-room-only crowds of hundreds, with people being turned away. This unprecedented response reflects genuine concern about rising electricity bills to fund infrastructure for data centers that might shutter within years, and impacts on rivers, lakes, and aquifers that support Montana's agriculture and outdoor recreation industries. Data center experts interviewed by Montana Free Press suggest the lack of transparency is intentional, as developers seek rural locations with "less resistance" before regulatory changes materialize. Montana communities deserve better than being treated as easy targets. I urge you to support legislation requiring comprehensive environmental impact assessments, guaranteed water usage specifications, and protections ensuring existing ratepayers do not subsidize speculative data center infrastructure. Economic development should not come at the expense of Montana's water resources and the communities that depend on them.