Citizen groups in two Montana counties are collecting signatures this summer for ballot initiatives that would require voter approval before data centers can be built or expanded, amid rising concern over the energy demands posed by the facilities.
Two Counties, Two Campaigns
In Yellowstone County, a group called Yellowstone County Voices has won approval from the county attorney’s office to begin gathering petition signatures. Organizer Kassi Solberg held the first volunteer training session in Billings, framing the effort as a matter of democratic process regardless of where residents stand on data centers themselves. “Whether you’re for or against data centers, you should sign this so that you can have the vote,” she said.
The initiative would require a two-thirds supermajority of local voters to approve any new data center construction or expansion in Yellowstone County. Organizers need 16,650 valid signatures to qualify for the November ballot — a significant threshold that will require a sustained volunteer effort through the summer.
In Butte-Silver Bow County, a group called 406 People First is pursuing a similar initiative that would prohibit data center construction or expansion without voter approval. That effort has a lower bar: 3,652 signatures by the end of August. The group collected more than 600 signatures within its first week, suggesting early momentum.
The Energy Question Driving the Debate
The citizen campaigns are unfolding against a backdrop of rapid and largely unannounced development interest from the data center industry in Montana. Northwestern Energy has confirmed it is in active discussions with at least 11 developers about potential data center projects across the state.
The most prominent proposal comes from Quantica Infrastructure, which is seeking to develop a large-scale facility near Broadview on roughly 5,000 acres. The scale of the project is striking: Quantica has filed interconnection applications requesting 7,235 megawatts of power capacity — approximately ten times Northwestern Energy’s current total Montana power load.
The proposed Big Sky Digital Infrastructure Campus would include renewable energy generation, battery storage, firming generation capacity, and two gas-fired power plants. Quantica has also announced a partnership with the Southeastern Montana Building and Construction Trades Council, a move likely aimed at broadening support among organized labor.
The energy footprint of such projects has drawn particular attention given ongoing discussions about Montana’s transmission infrastructure. Governor Greg Gianforte signed Montana into an 11-state Western transmission coalition earlier this year, a development that supporters say positions the state to handle growing power demands — though critics of rapid data center expansion argue the grid simply isn’t ready.
Legal Uncertainty and Political Maneuvering
Not everyone sees the ballot initiative strategy as legally straightforward. Attorney Brian Miller cautioned that the measures would be entering novel legal territory. “This is uncharted legal water here. So could this get challenged after passage? Absolutely,” he said.
Meanwhile, one major project has already stalled. The Sabey Corporation, which had been in negotiations to purchase land near Butte for a data center development, terminated its purchase agreement. That decision preceded the Butte-Silver Bow signature campaign but may have contributed to the local organizing climate.
On the political side, the Montana Democratic Party voted at its June 20 state convention to support a two-year moratorium on new data center projects — lending institutional backing to concerns that have largely surfaced at the grassroots level in communities near proposed sites.
What Comes Next
Signature deadlines are fast approaching. The Butte-Silver Bow effort must file by the end of August to make the November ballot, while the Yellowstone County campaign faces a higher signature target and will need to sustain its volunteer network across the summer months.
If either initiative reaches the ballot and passes, legal challenges appear likely — particularly given the questions raised about whether county-level governments have clear authority to impose voter-approval requirements on development of this type.
The data center debate fits into a broader tension in Montana over energy capacity, land use, and the pace of industrial development — questions that have also surfaced in other resource policy disputes across the state. The outcome of these local campaigns could shape how Montana communities respond to large-scale infrastructure proposals in the years ahead.
