Candidates in Montana's Eastern Congressional race discuss data centers

The debate over large data center development has become a major talking point in the midterm election. Nonstop Local caught up with the candidates running for Montana’s Eastern House District, where Montana’s largest data center project is currently being developed.

The four candidates for MT-02 that will appear on the November ballot are the Republican incumbent U.S. Rep. Troy Downing, Democratic candidate Brian Miller, Independent candidate Dr. Mike Eisenhauer and Libertarian candidate Patrick McCracken.

Democratic candidate Brian Miller has been directly involved in the debate, serving as legal counsel for citizens challenging the Quantica Infrastructure development in Yellowstone County.

“We need to have maximum local control and respect state sovereignty on data centers,” said Miller. “And the bottom line is, if these guys cannot make their pitch and convince the people that this is good, after laying their cards on the table, then they absolutely should not be coming in.”

Miller has also been critical of what he sees as a lack of transparency when large data center projects go into a community.

“And they don’t disclose what they’re doing with water. They don’t disclose agreements; they use a lot of nondisclosure agreements to kind of hide the data that they are operating under,” he said. “And so this causes a tremendous amount of concern for people, especially in eastern Montana. You know, outsiders may come in and see the Yellowstone River and think, ‘You guys got lots of water,’ no, we don’t.”

Quantica Infrastructure recently outlined its planned water use in Yellowstone County. They estimate using 20,000 gallons of water per day once completed, using closed-loop cooling technology.  They also said the company is in the early stages of evaluating opportunities to make water available to surrounding communities and neighboring farmers and ranchers in the long term. 

Independent candidate Dr. Mike Eisenhauer told Nonstop Local he has a 5-Pillar policy on data center development, which includes requiring closed-loop cooling, protecting ratepayers and workers in the area, and letting each community have the final say.

“I think local control is the way it needs to be. I am not in favor of a mandate either for or against, by either the federal level or the state level. I think there are ways to make this mutual and to make it beneficial for both parties,” said Eisenhauer.

Eisenhauer said he’s not opposed to data centers as a whole, and recognizes the potential technological benefits. 

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“It's almost become a necessity for our way of life. But that doesn't mean we need to do it in a negative or environmentally damaging way. And we don't need to put it, you know, where people don't want it to be,” he noted.

Candidates told Nonstop Local a big thing they’ve heard from people is that they don't want a large data center “in their backyard.”

“The reality is most people would not want to live next door to a data center,” noted Libertarian candidate Patrick McCracken. “It just seems like in Montana right now, and across the nation, is a national infrastructure project that’s being delivered to us state by state on behalf of billion- and trillion-dollar companies.”

McCracken said he is necessarily against data center developments, but communities need to make the decisions and there needs to be a real look at the resources they’re use and impacts they’ll have. 

“Here we have two major problems,” said McCracken, “They haven’t addressed electrical needs and how Montanans aren’t going to pay increased electrical bills and we haven’t addressed how the water is going to come back into our environment. Which we’re guaranteed under the Montana State Constitution: a healthful environment.”

The incumbent in the race, Republican U.S. Representative Troy Downing, was unable to do an interview because he was traveling back to Montana on Thursday, but he did provide a statement on his stance.

“Data centers can bring investment and opportunity to Montana, but these decisions should be made by the communities that will live with them,” said Downing. “The federal government should take a light-touch approach and leave these choices to the state and local level. One thing is nonnegotiable: Montana’s senior water rights must be protected. No data center should ever be allowed to usurp the water rights our communities depend on.”

The debate around large-scale data centers will likely continue even after the election, with economists predicting trillions of dollars in new developments across the nation in the coming years.