# Montana Data Center Moratorium Tracker Source: https://savrn.com/data-center-moratorium-tracker/montana Markdown alternate of the page above; the site index is https://savrn.com/llms.txt --- 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. Last updated October 2026 1 state-level measure 6 local measures 6 primary sources Montana MT In force 1 State-level measure on record, 1 in force 6 City and county measures, 4 in force 6 Primary sources cited on this page #43 of 50 states with anything on record, by measure count ## 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. Fort Peck Reservation 2026-08 In force Tribal moratorium on data centers with no end date Fort Peck Tribal Executive Board (Assiniboine and Sioux) voted to ban all future discussions between tribal government and data center developers, effectively blocking development on the reservation. Chairman Floyd Azure said three companies approached in the past year. Primary concern is water contamination, 'Fort Peck historically struggled with acquiring clean, drinkable water.'. The measure has no end date by design. Missoula County 2026-07 In force One-year interim-zoning data center moratorium Commissioners unanimously adopted interim zoning July 9, 2026 pausing new or expanding data centers countywide (excluding the city of Missoula) until July 8, 2027. Montana County 2026-09 In force Montana County Calls for More Power to Regulate Data Centers Yellowstone County Commissioners wrote a letter to state legislators requesting more local authority to regulate data centers. The letter was approved on Tuesday morning. Yellowstone County 2026-09 In force How Montana’s ‘Right to Compute Act’ stymies data center regulation The article discusses how Montana's 2025 'Right to Compute Act' has limited county commissioners' ability to regulate data center development due to constitutional protections for the 'right to compute.' County officials are uncertain about their legal authority to impose regulations, leading to delays and legal uncertainty in addressing public concerns about data centers. Butte-Silver Bow 2026-09 Proposed Temporary Data Center Moratorium The Butte-Silver Bow County Council of Commissioners directed County Attorney Matt Enrooth to draft a temporary data center moratorium in early September; the judiciary committee began reviewing the draft on Sept. 23 and voted to put it on hold pending a Montana Supreme Court ruling on a related ballot initiative appeal. Butte-Silver Bow County 2026-09 Proposed Proposed six-month interim zoning moratorium After the Butte-Silver Bow Council of Commissioners directed the county attorney in early September 2026 to draft a temporary data center moratorium, the council's judiciary committee began reviewing the draft on Sept. 23, 2026. The committee paused work pending a Montana Supreme Court decision on a related ballot initiative and is scheduled to take the draft up again on Oct. 14, 2026. As drafted, the moratorium would last six months with two possible one-year extensions; no adoption vote has occurred. ## Would you like the weekly update? Every week we re-verify every state and local measure on this map and publish what changed. You get one email when it goes out. Also send me Receive a short introduction on days 3, 7 and 14, plus the updates you select. Unsubscribe in one click. [Privacy](https://savrn.com/privacy) · You're on the list. The next weekly update will land in your inbox when it publishes. You are subscribed. [Read the latest tracker](https://savrn.com/data-center-moratorium-tracker) ### 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 (In force, 2025-04) [legiscan.com →](https://legiscan.com/MT/bill/SB212/2025) - Fort Peck Reservation — Tribal moratorium on data centers with no end date (In force, 2026-08) [montanafreepress.org →](https://montanafreepress.org/2026/08/13/fort-peck-tribes-ban-discussions-data-center-development/) - Missoula County — One-year interim-zoning data center moratorium (In force, 2026-07) [montanafreepress.org →](https://montanafreepress.org/2026/07/09/missoula-county-adopts-temporary-moratorium-on-data-centers/) - Montana County — Montana County Calls for More Power to Regulate Data Centers (In force, 2026-09) [govtech.com →](https://www.govtech.com/policy/montana-county-calls-for-more-power-to-regulate-data-centers) - Yellowstone County — How Montana’s ‘Right to Compute Act’ stymies data center regulation (In force, 2026-09) [montanafreepress.org →](https://montanafreepress.org/2026/09/21/right-to-compute-act-regulatory-authority/) - Butte-Silver Bow and 1 other locality — 2 separate measures, cited together (Proposed, 2026-09) [bozemandailychronicle.com →](https://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/news/big-sky/with-no-ballot-question-butte-will-begin-crafting-potential-temporary-data-center-ban/article_32a2ddb5-c891-551c-9eef-18ec57e5851a.html) [See all 1419 sources across every state →](https://savrn.com/data-center-moratorium-tracker/sources) ## 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. Non-RTO utility territoryDominant No RTO or ISO market here. Interconnection terms, study queues and curtailment rights for a large load are set by the individual utility and its state commission. SPP Speed in exchange for curtailability under the approved HILL framework. MISO Faster parallel studies and a co-located generation fast track, not a pause. 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. [See the full Data Center Grid Operator Watchlist →](https://savrn.com/data-center-grid-operator-watchlist) ## 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. [Idaho 13](https://savrn.com/data-center-moratorium-tracker/idaho) [North Dakota 12](https://savrn.com/data-center-moratorium-tracker/north-dakota) [South Dakota 9](https://savrn.com/data-center-moratorium-tracker/south-dakota) [Wyoming 6](https://savrn.com/data-center-moratorium-tracker/wyoming) ## 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 →](https://savrn.com/data-center-map/montana) · [The US Data Center Map →](https://savrn.com/data-center-map) [Alabama](https://savrn.com/data-center-moratorium-tracker/alabama) [Alaska](https://savrn.com/data-center-moratorium-tracker/alaska) [Arizona](https://savrn.com/data-center-moratorium-tracker/arizona) [Arkansas](https://savrn.com/data-center-moratorium-tracker/arkansas) [California](https://savrn.com/data-center-moratorium-tracker/california) [Colorado](https://savrn.com/data-center-moratorium-tracker/colorado) [Connecticut](https://savrn.com/data-center-moratorium-tracker/connecticut) [Delaware](https://savrn.com/data-center-moratorium-tracker/delaware) [Florida](https://savrn.com/data-center-moratorium-tracker/florida) [Georgia](https://savrn.com/data-center-moratorium-tracker/georgia) [Hawaii](https://savrn.com/data-center-moratorium-tracker/hawaii) [Idaho](https://savrn.com/data-center-moratorium-tracker/idaho) [Illinois](https://savrn.com/data-center-moratorium-tracker/illinois) [Indiana](https://savrn.com/data-center-moratorium-tracker/indiana) [Iowa](https://savrn.com/data-center-moratorium-tracker/iowa) [Kansas](https://savrn.com/data-center-moratorium-tracker/kansas) [Kentucky](https://savrn.com/data-center-moratorium-tracker/kentucky) [Louisiana](https://savrn.com/data-center-moratorium-tracker/louisiana) [Maine](https://savrn.com/data-center-moratorium-tracker/maine) [Maryland](https://savrn.com/data-center-moratorium-tracker/maryland) [Massachusetts](https://savrn.com/data-center-moratorium-tracker/massachusetts) [Michigan](https://savrn.com/data-center-moratorium-tracker/michigan) [Minnesota](https://savrn.com/data-center-moratorium-tracker/minnesota) [Mississippi](https://savrn.com/data-center-moratorium-tracker/mississippi) [Missouri](https://savrn.com/data-center-moratorium-tracker/missouri) [Montana](https://savrn.com/data-center-moratorium-tracker/montana) [Nebraska](https://savrn.com/data-center-moratorium-tracker/nebraska) [Nevada](https://savrn.com/data-center-moratorium-tracker/nevada) [New Hampshire](https://savrn.com/data-center-moratorium-tracker/new-hampshire) [New Jersey](https://savrn.com/data-center-moratorium-tracker/new-jersey) [New Mexico](https://savrn.com/data-center-moratorium-tracker/new-mexico) [New York](https://savrn.com/data-center-moratorium-tracker/new-york) [North Carolina](https://savrn.com/data-center-moratorium-tracker/north-carolina) [North Dakota](https://savrn.com/data-center-moratorium-tracker/north-dakota) [Ohio](https://savrn.com/data-center-moratorium-tracker/ohio) [Oklahoma](https://savrn.com/data-center-moratorium-tracker/oklahoma) [Oregon](https://savrn.com/data-center-moratorium-tracker/oregon) [Pennsylvania](https://savrn.com/data-center-moratorium-tracker/pennsylvania) [Rhode Island](https://savrn.com/data-center-moratorium-tracker/rhode-island) [South Carolina](https://savrn.com/data-center-moratorium-tracker/south-carolina) [South Dakota](https://savrn.com/data-center-moratorium-tracker/south-dakota) [Tennessee](https://savrn.com/data-center-moratorium-tracker/tennessee) [Texas](https://savrn.com/data-center-moratorium-tracker/texas) [Utah](https://savrn.com/data-center-moratorium-tracker/utah) [Vermont](https://savrn.com/data-center-moratorium-tracker/vermont) [Virginia](https://savrn.com/data-center-moratorium-tracker/virginia) [Washington](https://savrn.com/data-center-moratorium-tracker/washington) [Washington, DC](https://savrn.com/data-center-moratorium-tracker/washington-dc) [West Virginia](https://savrn.com/data-center-moratorium-tracker/west-virginia) [Wisconsin](https://savrn.com/data-center-moratorium-tracker/wisconsin) [Wyoming](https://savrn.com/data-center-moratorium-tracker/wyoming) ### 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](https://savrn.com/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](https://savrn.com/contact). Companion references: the [Data Center Grid Operator Watchlist](https://savrn.com/data-center-grid-operator-watchlist) for the interconnection and curtailment rules that bind here, the [Data Center Water Tracker](https://savrn.com/data-center-water-tracker) for water mandates, and the [Data Center Delay Watchlist](https://savrn.com/data-center-delay-tracker) 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](https://savrn.com/system) [Talk to us about a Montana site](https://savrn.com/engage)