Krambu submits application for Bonner Data Center, public comment period continues

MISSOULA COUNTY, Mont. – Missoula County received a complete application from Idaho-based company Krambu to build a data center in Bonner.

The Bonner Data Center project application is available to review and comment on at the Missoula County website and a public hearing is scheduled for July 1 at 6 p.m.

The project is to build a data center at an existing building at 9314 Bonner Mill Rd in Bonner. The building sits by the Blackfoot river and is within a mile of several businesses, churches, houses and a school.

The application for the data center was submitted by Krambu, a company founded in 2017 and located near Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. Krambu also owns a data center near Newport, Washington that it built around 2020.

The Missoula County website features over 140 public comments about the data center, with nearly all of them speaking out against the project. Comments focused on elements like noise, pollution, energy, lack of trust, risks to the aquifer and other environmental factors and more. 

“There is no benefit for the people of Missoula County and instead it is a risk to our aquifer, general environment, and the health of all life in the area. NO! We do not want this!” a commenter using the name of Annie B wrote on May 14, 2026. 

Paperwork submitted by Krambu provides information about the plans for the data center and the projected impact it will have on water, energy, heat, noise and other factors. 

The data center will not require regular staffing, Krambu said in paperwork provided to the County. 

The company summarized the project’s projected impact by saying it “is a permitted use for this zoning district and confirms to the site performance standards and the requirements for Data Centers. The proposed use can be adequately served by the available infrastructure and has a minimal developmental impact on the community and immediate neighborhood.”

A July press release from Krambu proposed developing a “INext Generation AI Factory” in Montana, depicting a warehouse near a river in a Montana-esque forest and mountains backdrop. 

In the press release, Krambu laid out goals to be sustainable and to focus on renewable energy.

“The Montana project reflects KRAMBU’s mission to transform stranded or underutilized industrial sites into regenerative digital infrastructure—turning brownfields into AI powerhouses that serve local communities and global innovation at once,” Krambu wrote.

According to Missoula County, the next step in the process to approve the data center project is the “Public Notice Period,” which lasts from late May to early June. In this period, the County will mail notices to property owners within 500 feet, publish a legal notice and post notices near the property.

The Land Use Board hearing will take place on July 1, 2026 and the Missoula County Consolidated Land Use Board will make the decision to approve or disprove the project afterwards.