MT — State Policy Updated 2026-07-17

Montana

1) Incentive programs

  • Qualified data center property remains Class 17 property taxed at a 0.9% taxable valuation rate. Montana’s Department of Revenue describes qualified data centers as Class 17 property and points applicants to MCA 15-6-162 for the definition and requirements; the current statute covers land, improvements, personal property, and qualifying dedicated communications infrastructure for facilities meeting the investment and construction requirements. Montana Department of Revenue, accessed 2026-07-17; Montana Code Annotated, accessed 2026-07-17
  • HB 424 is the controlling 2025 change to Montana’s data-center tax incentive. The enacted bill extended the qualified data center construction window to 2037, revised ownership requirements, added qualifying on-site generation and storage equipment, preserved 10-year Class 17 treatment for qualified dedicated communications infrastructure, and applied retroactively to tax years beginning after December 31, 2024. Montana Legislature, 2025-05-13
  • Montana still has no general sales tax, so the state incentive posture is primarily property-tax based rather than a sales-and-use-tax exemption regime. Montana Department of Revenue, accessed 2026-07-17
  • No new data-center incentive was enacted between February 1 and July 17, 2026. The live 2027 bill-draft list instead shows proposals by Sen. Ellie Boldman to revise data-center and tax law, Sen. Dave Fern to revise data-center property taxation and data-center law, Sen. Laura Smith to revise data-center law, and Rep. Wylie Galt to prohibit data centers in areas that use tax-increment financing. These are draft requests only—not introduced bills, enacted restrictions, or incentive changes. Montana Legislature, 2026-04-07, accessed 2026-07-17

2) Restrictions and moratoriums

  • Montana did not hold a regular legislative session in 2026, so there were no 2026 regular-session outcomes for statewide data-center incentives, moratoriums, reporting mandates, or utility-cost-allocation bills. The Montana Legislature states that regular sessions occur in odd-numbered years for up to 90 working days. Montana Legislature, accessed 2026-07-17
  • Missoula County adopted Montana’s first current local data-center pause during the update window. On July 9, 2026, the county commissioners adopted interim zoning that bars permits for new or expanded data centers in both zoned and unzoned areas outside Missoula city limits. The measure is effective through July 8, 2027, unless superseded sooner by permanent zoning, and the county identified electricity and water demand, waste heat, noise, and vibration among the impacts requiring study. Missoula County Voice, 2026-07-10
  • The Butte-Silver Bow and Yellowstone County voter initiatives were still proposals, not moratoriums or bans, on July 17. Organizers were gathering signatures for measures that would require two-thirds voter approval for construction or expansion of a data center; Yellowstone County directed its county attorney on July 7 to seek a judicial declaration on the initiative’s legality, leaving the ballot and legal status unresolved at this cutoff. Montana Free Press, 2026-06-18; Yellowstone Public Radio, 2026-07-08
  • HB 877, the 2025 proposal to establish a Montana Data Center Development Act, failed and is not current law. The bill was tabled in the House Energy, Technology and Federal Relations Committee on March 31, 2025, a motion to take it from the table failed on April 4, 2025, and the bill died in process on May 20, 2025. LegiScan, 2025-05-20
  • SB 32, a broader 2025 property-tax bill that would have raised the tax rate for qualified data-center property from 0.9% to 1.5%, also failed. It died in process on May 23, 2025 after missing the revenue-bill transmittal deadline. Data Center Dynamics, 2025-01-09; LegiScan, 2025-05-23
  • A 2025 study resolution on data centers did not advance, leaving Montana without a completed legislative study or statewide data-center energy/water reporting regime. MEIC identifies HJ 46 as a failed 2025 study resolution and notes that Montana has no state regulations limiting data-center energy or water use. MEIC, accessed 2026-07-17

3) Local governance

  • Butte-Silver Bow’s Sabey site shifted from extended due diligence to a terminated land deal. In February 2026, Butte-Silver Bow extended Sabey’s closing deadline on roughly 606 acres in the Montana Connections Business Park to August 11, 2026; by June 1, Sabey had terminated the buy-sell agreement after REC Silicon exercised a right of first refusal, although Sabey was reported to remain interested in a southwest Montana site. Butte-Silver Bow County, accessed 2026-07-17; NBC Montana, 2026-06-01
  • Butte-Silver Bow’s ad hoc committee did meet and publish findings before the Sabey deal ended. Its May 19 materials modeled a 200 MW full-build campus, construction and operating jobs, local tax receipts, and about 16 million gallons of annual water use. Those are committee scenarios for the former Sabey proposal—not an active project approval or independent statewide impact audit. Butte-Silver Bow Ad Hoc Data Center Impact Committee, 2026-05-19
  • Krambu’s Bonner proposal is no longer pending. The landowner withdrew his signature on July 6, and Missoula County states that the proposed data center at the former Bonner mill will not move forward; the county had no active data-center applications when it considered interim zoning. Missoula County Voice, accessed 2026-07-17; Inside Climate News, 2026-07-09
  • Missoula County followed the Bonner withdrawal with countywide interim zoning. The July 9 moratorium applies to new and expanded data centers in county jurisdiction, including previously unzoned land, but not within the City of Missoula; it expires July 8, 2027 even if permanent regulations are not completed. Missoula County Voice, 2026-07-10
  • Within the City of Missoula, the new Unified Development Code creates a separate practical constraint. The city adopted Title 22 on February 2 and put it fully into effect March 4; city staff told the council in July that the new zoning map contains no district in which a data center is an allowed use. This is distinct from—and not covered by—the county moratorium. City of Missoula, 2026-02-02; Montana Free Press, 2026-07-09
  • Yellowstone County’s response to the Quantica-area ballot initiative moved into legal review rather than project approval. Commissioners asked for a declaratory judgment on whether the proposed two-thirds-vote requirement is lawful, while supporters continued signature collection; no court decision had been reported by July 17. Daily Montanan, 2026-07-10
  • The previously announced Great Falls/TAC campus remains withdrawn rather than pending. GFDA officials said in late 2025 that the developer withdrew because power timelines from NorthWestern and others did not fit the project timeline; no February-July 2026 source located a revival of that specific project. KRTV, 2025-11-19

4) Legislative and executive activity (2024-2026)

  • 2026: No regular Montana legislative session occurred. The 2027 draft-request list now includes several requests from Boldman, Fern, Smith, and Galt concerning data-center regulation, property taxation, and use of TIF districts. They remain drafting instructions without bill text or legal effect. Montana Legislature, 2026-04-07, accessed 2026-07-17
  • 2026: The Governor’s Energy Task Force released draft—not final—recommendations in July. Relevant proposals would clarify utility and independent-power-provider service to loads above 5 MW, protect utilities from stranded costs when customers switch suppliers, direct DEQ participation in NorthWestern’s large-load tariff case, coordinate with FERC on large-load interconnection, and review whether significant new loads should make Universal System Benefits payments. The task force’s final report is due later in 2026, so none of these recommendations is yet a statute or final rule. Montana Department of Environmental Quality, 2026-07-08
  • 2026: Montana Democrats adopted a party-platform call for a two-year data-center moratorium, but that political resolution is nonbinding and did not impose a statewide pause. Montana Free Press, 2026-06-25
  • 2025: HB 424 was enacted and remains the principal state incentive expansion for data centers and associated generation/storage property. Montana Legislature, 2025-05-13
  • 2025: HB 877 failed, SB 32 failed, and HJ 46 did not advance. Those measures therefore created no statewide moratorium, reporting mandate, water-use cap, or data-center-specific ratepayer-protection statute. LegiScan, 2025-05-20; LegiScan, 2025-05-23; MEIC, accessed 2026-07-17

5) Notable projects and operators

  • Atlas Power Group - Butte: Montana DEQ’s FAQ lists Atlas Power Group in Butte as an operating 75 MW data center supplied by Mercuria; NorthWestern’s 2026 Montana IRP also lists Atlas Power, LLC as a network transmission customer with a 69.5 MW 2024 peak. Montana DEQ Data Center FAQ, 2026-01; NorthWestern Energy 2026 Montana IRP, 2026-05
  • Big Horn / Beowulf - Hardin: Montana DEQ lists Big Horn/Beowulf in Hardin as an operating 100 MW data center supplied by Hardin Generating Station. Montana DEQ Data Center FAQ, 2026-01
  • Hyperscale Data / BNI Montana - eastern Montana: On June 24, Hyperscale Data announced that Lower Yellowstone Rural Electric Cooperative had issued a conditional “will serve” letter for up to 125 MW of additional power at one of BNI Montana’s two leased sites, each of which can currently operate at about 10 MW. The company did not identify the site and said expansion remains subject to engineering, upgrades, interconnection, regulatory approval, financing, and a utility agreement; one required transmission line was then projected for completion in 2031. Hyperscale Data release via Nasdaq, 2026-06-24
  • Quantica / Big Sky Digital Infrastructure - Yellowstone County: Quantica filed interconnection applications in May 2026 for a 1,100 MW Big Sky Campus on a 5,100-acre site about 30 miles north of Billings and says the first building is expected to operate in 2029. The project remained proposed at the cutoff and became the focus of the Yellowstone County ballot initiative and legal review. Quantica Infrastructure, 2026-05-20; Yellowstone Public Radio, 2026-07-08
  • Krambu - Bonner: The proposed 7 MW first phase and potential 29 MW expansion were withdrawn after the property owner revoked support; this is no longer an active county application. Missoula County Voice, accessed 2026-07-17
  • Sabey - Butte-Silver Bow: The 606-acre Butte site is no longer an active buy-sell agreement after Sabey terminated it, but reporting says Sabey could still pursue another southwest Montana site. NBC Montana, 2026-06-01

Notes / gaps