MEIC urges Montana Legislature to set strict terms for incoming data centers

Anne Hedges, executive director of the Montana Environmental Information Center, told a Missoula Climate Solutions Week audience that lawmakers have a narrow window to set "terms" for data centers entering the state.

"If we can't get a handle on methane emissions because of how potent they are in the short term, then we are not going to win this fight, and we have to win this fight," Hedges said, linking data-center build-out to new gas-fired plants and short-term climate risk. She argued that unless communities can require protections on water, electricity and public health, the projects should not proceed.

Hedges said the legislature should consider moratoriums and siting laws that require public participation, annual energy-use reporting to the Public Service Commission and reclamation plans for facilities that could be abandoned. "We need transparency," she said, urging bills to define data-center obligations for energy, water and remediation.

The presentation emphasized coalitions across political lines and warned that utilities and large customers can shift costs onto residential customers without explicit legislative guardrails. Hedges said MEIC will ask supporters to engage during the session by signing up for alerts.