Missoula County commissioners unanimously approved a temporary moratorium on data center development Thursday, halting new facilities and expansions countywide outside the City of Missoula for up to twelve months while the county conducts a formal review of the technology’s local impact.
The measure applies to both zoned and unzoned areas across the county. Thirty members of the public testified during the hearing, all in support of the pause. Under the moratorium, the county must launch a study within thirty days to formally verify that an emergency condition exists, a procedural requirement that will inform whether the county proceeds with longer-term regulatory changes.
Background and Current Rules
Missoula County adopted its current data center regulations in 2021, following experience with a cryptocurrency mining operation that ran at the Bonner Mill Industrial Park between 2017 and 2020. Those existing rules restrict facilities to industrial zones and require a special exemption if a data center would be located adjacent to residential areas. The regulations also mandate electronic waste recycling verification and stipulate that facilities must use newly developed renewable energy sources not otherwise connected to the electrical grid.
The City of Missoula, meanwhile, revised its zoning code to exclude data centers from most districts. Under the city’s new framework, data centers would only be permitted in heavy industrial areas and would require rezoning approval to operate anywhere within city limits. No heavy industrial zones designated for data centers currently exist in the city.
The Immediate Trigger
The moratorium was prompted in part by a proposed data center project at Bonner that would have expanded operations in the industrial park. The property owner withdrew support for that proposal before the county vote, effectively ending that development plan. However, commissioners framed the moratorium as a broader precaution rather than a response to a single project.
Commissioner Dave Strohmaier said the county would use the pause to think carefully about the sector’s effects. “Missoula County today will be at the tip of the spear in the state of Montana and taking a deep breath to take a deliberative, methodical approach over the next year, or potentially more, to assess the impacts of data centers on our communities,” he said.
Commissioner Josh Slotnick noted that the nature of data centers has shifted. “Back then, a data center meant something very different than what it means right now,” he said, suggesting that the technology’s evolution had outpaced the county’s 2021 regulatory framework.
What Happens Next
The county has thirty days to initiate the study required to document whether an emergency justifies the moratorium. That investigation will likely shape whether commissioners extend the pause beyond one year, revise existing regulations, or impose additional restrictions on the industry. The study will also give the county time to assess state and national trends in data center development and to gather local feedback on energy consumption, infrastructure strain, and other community concerns that have driven similar moratoria in other jurisdictions.
The moratorium does not affect data center operations already permitted or under construction. It applies only to new applications and requests to expand existing facilities.
