Montana Data Center Moratorium Tracker
Montana has 1 state-level data-center restriction in force. 6 city and county measures are tracked here, 4 of them in force. Every entry below links to its primary source: a legislature page, a governor's office, a local government, or the reporting of record.
State-level measures in Montana
Every statewide moratorium, pause, siting restriction, or tax-incentive rollback in Montana we can verify against a primary source. Strongest status first.
| Measure | Status | What it does | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| SB 212Montana: The Montana Right to Compute Act (SB 212), signed by Governor Gianforte on April 16, 2025, establishes a legal right to own and use computational | In force 2025-04 | The Montana Right to Compute Act (SB 212), signed by Governor Gianforte on April 16, 2025, establishes a legal right to own and use computational resources including data centers. The law requires any government regulation restricting computing resources to be 'demonstrably necessary and narrowly tailored,' effectively limiting local governments' ability to restrict data center siting or operations through zoning. The law was enacted without significant organized opposition, representing a setback for community control advocates. |
City and county moratoria in Montana
Most of the movement is local, where a building pause or permit halt does not need a legislative session. 6 tracked measures in Montana, each with its source.
Where Montana stands
Across the whole tracker we hold 334 state-level measures in 49 states and 1253 city and county measures, against 1419 primary sources. Montana accounts for 1 of the state-level measures and 6 of the local ones.
By total measures on record it is #43 of the 50 states and DC carrying any tracked action, and #36 by city and county measures alone. Ranking is by count of sourced entries in this dataset, so it measures documented activity, not the size of the buildout.
Sources for Montana
6 citations behind the entries above. Each opens in a new tab.
- Statewide · SB 212 — Montana: The Montana Right to Compute Act (SB 212), signed by Governor Gianforte on April 16, 2025, establishes a legal right to own and use computational legiscan.com →
- Fort Peck Reservation — Tribal moratorium on data centers with no end date montanafreepress.org →
- Missoula County — One-year interim-zoning data center moratorium montanafreepress.org →
- Montana County — Montana County Calls for More Power to Regulate Data Centers govtech.com →
- Yellowstone County — How Montana’s ‘Right to Compute Act’ stymies data center regulation montanafreepress.org →
- Butte-Silver Bow and 1 other locality — 2 separate measures, cited together bozemandailychronicle.com →
What does bind large loads in Montana
A moratorium is only one way a data center gets stopped. The grid operator decides whether it can connect at all, and on what terms. Montana sits in 3 footprints.
NorthWestern Energy (western two-thirds, Western Interconnection) is non-RTO; eastern MT on the Eastern Interconnection splits between SPP (MDU/WAPA, expanded 4/1/2026) and a small MISO area.
States next door
4 of the 4 states bordering Montana have at least one data-center measure on record. Restrictions tend to travel between neighbors, so this is usually where the next one comes from.
Data centers in Montana
The US Data Center Map identifies 20 facilities run by 10 operators in Montana, each one placed from primary sources and listed by city and by operator, with the measures on this page beside them.
Open the Montana data center map → · The US Data Center Map →
How to read this page
In force = a moratorium, siting restriction, or tax-incentive rollback that is currently enacted, by statute or executive order. Paused = a temporary hold on new incentives or applications. Proposed = introduced and still pending. Failed / vetoed = died in committee, was voted down, or was vetoed.
This page is generated from the same primary-sourced dataset as the national U.S. Data Center Moratorium Tracker and is re-checked on the same weekly cycle, whether or not anything changed. Legislative status changes quickly; it is informational, not legal advice. Spot something out of date in Montana? Tell us.
Companion references: the Data Center Grid Operator Watchlist for the interconnection and curtailment rules that bind here, the Data Center Water Tracker for water mandates, and the Data Center Delay Watchlist for named projects.
Why Montana is pushing back
The objections repeat from state to state: strain on the electric grid, water drawn for cooling, and the sense that a facility takes local resources without giving much back. SAVRN builds AI factories designed around those three objections: on-site power that does not lean on the public grid, direct-to-chip cooling that does not consume municipal water, and a training institute that puts local people to work inside the building.
See how a SAVRN factory works Talk to us about a Montana site