Montana Data Center News

Jan 12, 2026

Viewpoint: Data centers a looming environmental catastrophe

Reggie Spaulding, candidate for House District 92, announced that if elected he will push to make data center deals transparent and to require companies to pay for energy and grid upgrades or produce their own renewable energy.

He will educate the public, require companies to pay for energy and grid upgrades, and push for companies to produce their own RENEWABLE ENERGY; he also intends to make agreements transparent and open to public input if elected to House District 92.
Background: In 2025 the Montana legislature passed House Bill 424 granting tax breaks to data centers; the article claims data centers could DOUBLE the energy used in Montana, that they use massive amounts of water for cooling (risking rivers and groundwater or returning polluted water), and that many deals with companies like Amazon and Google are negotiated privately with limited public oversight.

Jan 2, 2026

State Broadband Bills of 2025: A Legislative Review

State legislatures across the United States enacted and considered broadband-related legislation in 2025; fewer than 140 of more than 600 proposed bills became law.

Main actions: States enacted laws prioritizing infrastructure and permitting reforms, pole and rights-of-way access, criminal penalties for theft/vandalism, state broadband funding, and data center incentives. Notable enacted measures include Hawaii H 934 (established a state Broadband Office and programs, enacted in June and backed by $400 million in combined funding), West Virginia SB 907 (expanded the Economic Development Project Fund to allow up to $25 million annually for broadband incentives and up to $125 million annually for broadband loan insurance) and West Virginia HB 2014 (signed in April; created microgrid districts with zoning/permitting exemptions and special property tax treatment for qualifying projects).
Additional details and timelines: States also raised criminal penalties (e.g., Oklahoma classified willful damage to a critical infrastructure facility as a Class D3 felony with fines up to $100,000 and prison up to 10 years; Louisiana authorized fines up to $50,000 and prison up to 20 years; California AB 476 increased penalties for knowingly buying illegally obtained scrap metal to $5,000). Other enacted programs include California SB 338 (a $2 million telehealth pilot), New Mexico SB 126 (Rural USF increased from $30 million to $40 million), and Oregon’s device support up to $100 in Lifeline-related assistance. At least 37 states passed data center incentives in 2025 and over 1,000 AI-focused bills were introduced nationwide, with ~38 states adopting or enacting roughly 100 AI measures in 2025.

Dec 30, 2025

Smart Building Environmental Monitoring With EC312-LoRaWAN Gateway

InHand Networks announced the EC312-LoRaWAN industrial gateway solution for smart building environmental monitoring in a press release distributed via ACCESS Newswire on December 30, 2025 from Chantilly, Virginia.

Main announcement: InHand Networks unveiled the EC312-LoRaWAN industrial gateway as a low-power, wide-coverage solution for continuous monitoring of temperature, humidity, water leakage, and door/access status; the solution supports LoRaWAN sensors, built-in LNS, private LoRaWAN deployment, and multiple backhaul options (Ethernet, Wi‑Fi, cellular). The release was published via ACCESS Newswire on December 30, 2025 (Chantilly, Virginia).
Background and details: The company highlights industrial-grade 24/7 operation, zero-code integration via InHand DSA, and a global footprint serving customers in over 60 countries including United States and China. Media contact listed: Eleanor Chen, Marketing & Communications (eleanor.chen@inhand.com). SOURCE: ACCESS Newswire press release.

Dec 30, 2025

Credo Releases 2025 Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Report

Credo Technology Group Holding Ltd released its 2025 Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Report.

Main announcement: Credo reported advances in energy-efficient connectivity aimed at supporting the energy-efficient growth of AI data centers, highlighted improvements across its product portfolio (targets for 100G, 200G, 400G, 800G and emerging 1.6T port markets), strengthened its Code of Business Conduct and Ethics, expanded employee programs, and broadened Credo Cares partnerships in 2025. The company’s CEO, Bill Brennan, is quoted describing product improvements and reduced power consumption efforts in 2025.
Background and details: The report emphasizes product families including SerDes and DSP technologies, Integrated Circuits (ICs), Active Electrical Cables (AECs) and SerDes Chiplets; markets noted are optical and electrical Ethernet interconnects (100G–1.6T). The release links to Credo’s ESG page and includes media and investor contacts (diane.vanasse@credosemi.com, dan.oneil@credosemi.com).

Dec 24, 2025

10 biggest environmental stories of 2025

Columbia Insight (Chuck Thompson) published a year-end roundup listing the “10 biggest environmental stories of 2025,” summarizing major events and policy actions affecting the Pacific Northwest and broader U.S. environment.

Main summary: The piece catalogs federal rollbacks and regulatory changes (EPA 31 deregulatory provisions, President Trump’s memorandum withdrawing from a 2023 Columbia River salmon-restoration agreement), major weather and disaster events (record floods and drought-driven water shortages), and environmental incidents including Idaho’s copper treatment that left up to 90% invertebrate mortality in treated Snake River stretches.
Additional details and timelines: It documents the USDA plan to move the Forest Service Pacific Northwest headquarters to Fort Collins, Colo. (announced July), Washington State House funding cuts to the Gorge Commission for the 2025–27 biennium (27% reduction), data center expansion concerns (271 existing water-using data centers in OR/WA plus proposed new projects), and EPA actions described as the “biggest deregulatory action in U.S. history“ (March announcement of 31 provisions).

Dec 18, 2025

How the 2026 Washington Legislature Can Right-Size the Power Grid

Washington State lawmakers are being urged to overhaul transmission planning and permitting to expand grid capacity and connect more clean energy by 2026.

Main reforms proposed include creating a state transmission authority with revenue bonding power, broadening EFSEC expedited processing to avoid trial-like adjudicative hearings, clarifying or mandating that transmission lines be allowed in most/all local zones, and targeted SEPA exemptions or substitutions where impacts are minimal or already covered by EFSEC standards, all while preserving Tribal consultation and privacy.
Context and details: Article cites New Mexico, Colorado, and California public or quasi-public transmission models, highlights decade-long stagnation in Washington grid build-out, documents multi-year local conditional use permit delays (e.g., Energize Eastside) and their cost pass-through to PSE customers, and references recent historic flooding in Washington as evidence of escalating climate risks that make faster grid expansion urgent.

Dec 2, 2025 · RMI

The Five Types of Electro-Industrial States

Rocky Mountain Institute presents a typology classifying US states into five electro-industrial archetypes.

Main announcement/action: RMI authors classify states into five archetypes — Momentum Hubs (Arizona, California), Fast‑Track Builders (Texas, Georgia, South Carolina, Florida, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Ohio, Idaho), Policy Champions (New York, Michigan, Virginia, Oregon, Washington, North Carolina, Wisconsin, Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania), Open‑Door Starters (Vermont, Wyoming, Nebraska, Kansas, North Dakota, South Dakota, Mississippi, Iowa), and Early‑Stage Starters (Missouri, New Hampshire, Kentucky, Maine, Alabama, Louisiana, Indiana, West Virginia, Montana, Arkansas). The typology is based on policy reliability, regulatory ease, economic capacity, physical infrastructure (power and interconnection), and market momentum.
Background and details: The analysis highlights that market momentum and policy reliability should operate in tandem; low regulatory burdens accelerate short-term investment but may strain local housing and infrastructure without accompanying policy ambition. The authors reference the report GREASE Lightning as a policy playbook for designing investment-led, state-driven electro-industrial strategies.

Oct 2, 2025

Hitachi Energy, Grid United Advance North Plains Connector to Link Eastern and Western Grids

Hitachi Energy and Grid United have formalized an Engineering Services Agreement (ESA) to advance the North Plains Connector (NPC) HVDC project.

Announcement details: The ESA (announced Oct. 2, 2025) tasks Hitachi Energy with early-stage engineering services for the ±525 kV, 3-GW, ~420-mile HVDC line between Colstrip, Montana and endpoints in Center and St. Anthony, North Dakota, including technical specifications for two HVDC converter stations, valve hall layouts, control-system architecture, harmonic mitigation studies, dynamic and steady-state modeling, and AC–DC interface definitions for integration with MISO, SPP, and WECC. Grid United will advance corridor refinement, land-rights acquisition, stakeholder engagement, environmental permitting support, and supply-chain sequencing for long-lead items; procurement timelines will be aligned with permitting and construction schedules.
Background and concrete project details: The NPC is a $3.2 billion project that received $700 million from DOE’s GRIP program (with a $2.8 billion recipient cost share); Grid United expects approvals in 2026, potential construction begin in 2028, and operation in 2032. An Astrapé/PNNL-reviewed evaluation estimated an ELCC of ~3,550 MW and quantified reliability benefits (~1,800 MW for WECC, 1,350 MW for SPP, 400 MW for MISO). The ESA is an enabling engineering step but does not constitute a final investment decision.

Sep 3, 2025

New Data Center Developments: September 2025

DataCenterKnowledge published a curated roundup of recent global data center project announcements and large power and financing deals.

Key development summary: The roundup details multiple major projects and deals, including Equinix’s new partnerships with Radiant, ULC-Energy, and Stellaria for next-gen nuclear power and expanded solid-oxide fuel cell use with Bloom Energy; Caterpillar agreed with Joule Capital Partners to provide 4 GW of CHP power for a planned Utah campus (target launch sometime next year); Meta’s Hyperion Louisiana campus is expected to consume up to 5 GW; CoreWeave bought a 102-acre campus for $322 million; Vantage revealed plans to invest over $25 billion in a 1.4 GW / 1,200-acre Texas campus; EdgeConneX and Lambda are developing a 30+ MW dual-city AI data center in Chicago and Atlanta; Oracle / Elea / Rio de Janeiro target 1.5 GW by 2027 (expandable to 3.2 GW by 2032) for ‘Rio AI City’.
Background and technical/financial details: The article frames projects against record-breaking demand and grid limitations; it notes energy and cooling approaches such as CHP and captured waste heat, solid-oxide fuel cells, high-voltage battery storage, and CDC Australia’s proposed 200 MW campus with a closed-loop zero-water primary cooling system. It also lists financing and deal figures: QTS announcing a $10 billion campus, STACK investing $1.66 billion in Johor, NEXTDC adding A$3.5 billion new debt within A$6.4 billion total facilities, and Keppel raising $4.9 billion this year toward a $150 billion funds target by 2030.

Aug 12, 2025 · RMI

Reality Check: We Have What’s Needed to Reliably Power the Data Center Boom, and It’s Not Coal Plants

RMI authors (Gabriella Tosado, Ashtin Massie, Joe Daniel) state that clean, resilient resources already exist to meet data center-driven electricity demand growth and that keeping aging coal plants online for reliability is misguided.

Confirmed findings & data:>20% projected load growth by 2035 driven by data centers; Virginia accounts for 13% of global and 25% of US reported data center capacity; coal plant capacity accreditation often ~83% (ESIG/PJM) with examples like Colstrip at 54%; average coal cold-start >12 hours and typical ramp 4% per minute (~20+ minutes for large events); MISO congestion costs > $1 billion/year documented.
Planned initiatives & concrete solutions: RMI finds >95% of future demand can be met with clean options including 50+ GW energy efficiency, 60 GW of VPPs by 2030 (with programs enrollable in under 6 months; Virginia bill requires 450 MW VPPs), 80+ GW incremental peak capacity from grid-enhancing transmission, 14 GW of retiring fossil sites available for clean repowering, and >30 GW Power Couples under $100/MWh (and >50 GW under $200/MWh). These are presented as implementable options rather than speculative outcomes.

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