The company seeking to build a large-scale data center on 5,000 acres near Broadview is seeking a seven-fold increase in its energy-generation capacity with NorthWestern Energy.
Quantica Infrastructure said Wednesday in a news release that it's asking for a maximum of 7,235 megawatts to connect into the power grid through an interconnection agreement with NorthWestern Energy. The company had initially announced the data center would use around 1,000 megawatts, which would still have made it among the highest power users in the state.
To put the number in perspective, the capacity ask from Quantica is roughly 10 times larger than NorthWestern's entire load for all Montana customers.
Company officials said this new filing doesn't necessarily mean the center, known as Big Sky Digital Infrastructure, would use all this power, which includes renewables, firming generation and battery storage, only that the company is planning ahead with increased capacity. Quantica officials have said they will generate their own power on-site, which they say will shield NorthWestern rate payers against rate increases.
“Data center companies are looking for places that can deliver power, connectivity, and building capacity at scale. By investing in additional capacity now, we plan to address what we’re seeing in terms of power demand from data center companies. This expansion significantly increases our total investment in Montana, and the additional power capacity would result in even more economic opportunity, construction jobs over several years, and strengthen the State’s power grid,” said John Chesser, CEO of Quantica Infrastructure, in a written statement.
The company also said in the news release that it is working with the Montana Department of Environmental Quality on permits for its 5,000-acre campus, located by the substation about three miles south of Broadview, including firming power such as natural gas, geothermal and other potential sources.
Company officials say they hope to bring the first building online in 2029. They have not announced which tenant will be housed at the campus.
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Montana has become a recent hotbed for data centers over the last year, with proposals surfacing in Butte and Bonner, near Missoula. Opponents have criticized developers for a lack of transparency and expressed concerns that the project will raise energy rates regionwide and foul nearby groundwater used for cooling.
“They need to come here in a way that does not harm those of us who already live here. Doesn’t increase our electricity bills. Doesn’t harm our water resources. Doesn’t cause contamination of water," Anne Hedges, executive director of the Montana Environmental Information Center, said at a January community meeting in Broadview.
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