Yellowstone County Dems are seeking two-year moratorium on large data centers in Montana

Last week, the Yellowstone County Democratic Central Committee adopted a position seeking a two-year moratorium on large data center development in Montana.

The platform action item could be adopted during a statewide Democratic Party convention slated next month in Billings and ultimately influence what sort of policies the party’s legislators might propose in the 2027 state Legislative session.

“I think it's on everyone's radar now,” the county committee's chair Virginia Duke told the Gazette. “Plus the sort of growing presence of the proposed Broadview data center has been animated, at least in Yellowstone County, it’s been a much more real, pressing issue. The intention is a two-year moratorium takes us to the next legislative session, gets us through this legislative cycle, and it gives our legislators time to enact policy that would protect ratepayers and our local communities.”

Currently, Quantica Infrastructure is looking at building more than 7,000 megawatts of power of gas, wind and solar power for data center companies south of Broadview, according to a recent press release by the developer.

Duke said she would like to see those two years used to establish regulations and strict criteria around energy consumption and environmental impacts that could be addressed first in 2027 and then again in 2029. She hoped it would also allow for third-party impact studies with developers as well.

“The desire is for development to slow down, and to give regulatory frameworks and enforcement measures the chance to catch up,” Duke said.

There are currently little state regulations on data centers beyond general environmental regulations. The 2025 Legislative session’s sole successful regulations explicitly around data centers reduced property taxes for the projects.

The two-year moratorium would specifically affect projects above 20 megawatts, likely affecting most of the data centers publicly announced in Montana. A single megawatt generally provides enough power for 750 homes for a year.

A portion of the committee has been working on the policy proposal for months before it was approved last week. Web developer Mels Smith helped inform the project. She said she uses AI in her work, but questioned the current spending race of billions in creating data centers to further refine tools.

“There needs to be a use for it that is beneficial to people, otherwise we're distracting from solving problems that already exist — that are getting ignored,” Smith, a current Montana House District 39 candidate, told the Gazette.

She referenced xAI’s Colossus, reportedly built in 122 days and powered by off-the-grid gas plants near Memphis, Tennessee. Smith said it rapidly spread “misery” to the local community, without them having a chance to react to it.

“That drove me to really question: do we need to have such a large data center in order to use and benefit from the technology that it's supposed to be providing for? Or are there other ways to handle it that are more sustainable and can integrate better with a healthy lifestyle and a healthy community?” Smith said.

At the meeting last week, nearly everybody agreed that there was a need for some sort of moratorium, with a nearly unanimous majority voting for the policy. A two-year term was considered the best compromise in a group featuring diverse occupations, including an electrician.

“I think everybody agreed that at least giving us enough time to examine the issue and debate it in the Legislature and develop some regulatory framework would be enough to still capture those potential jobs if that is a useful outlet for us, while protecting the people who live here,” Smith said.

The policy proposal comes amid grassroots opposition to data centers.

A Gallup poll in May found 71% of Americans opposed the development of data centers in their area amid quality of life and environmental concerns. Opposition to data centers has also grown among Republicans nationally in the past year, with Florida’s Republican-majority Legislature adopting further regulations around the projects this May.

The county committee's policy will be decided statewide as a potential platform position on June 20 and 21 in Billings at the Montana Democratic Party’s 2026 Platform Convention.