About the Butte Data Center Initiative
A massive shift is facing our energy grid, and everyday residents could end up paying the price.
NorthWestern Energy provides 760 average megawatts of power to existing Montana customers, but a surge of proposed data center demand could explode that projected megawatt load toward 4,000 MW. A recent report from the Montana Environmental Information Center (MEIC) reveals that NorthWestern Energy is currently in secret negotiations with up to 14 massive data centers.
Because Montana has no precedent for such a protective regulatory framework, residential and small business customers face “cost-shifting,” effectively subsidizing electricity for these data centers. This massive demand threatens to drive up electricity prices, compete with home AC during heat waves, and potentially cause cascading power outages for an entire region.
The consequences go far beyond rising utility bills; data centers strain water supplies and bring air and noise pollution. According to the MEIC, just one data center can consume as much as five million gallons of drinking-grade water in a day, and communities’ wells have gone dry when large data centers move into their neighborhoods.
Despite optimistic predictions about job creation, the reality is disappointing: one center in Michigan promised 1,000 jobs but hired only 26 people at an average wage below $38,000, earning data centers a dismal reputation for creating the lowest number of jobs per square foot.
With investors and CEOs raising questions about whether this current AI craze is a bubble that will burst, local opposition has successfully delayed or blocked $64 billion of data center projects between May 2024 and March 2025.
The goal of 406 People First is to give you a voice to vote on data centers in your backyard. Regardless if you are for or against data centers in Montana, their presence should be put to a vote rather than dictated by unilateral agreements.
The Butte Data Center Initiative will establish new provisions in the Butte-Silver Bow Municipal Code to prohibit, after November 3, 2026, any necessary authorization to construct or expand any Data Center within the city-county without prior approval via an election in which 2/3 of all registered voters approve.
