About Us:
Not My Bill is a Montana-based nonprofit (501(c) 3 status pending).
Our Mission is to establish common-sense protections, close regulatory gaps, ensure transparency, and require that data center corporations bear the full costs of their operations to protect Montana ratepayers, water resources, and our future.
The threat is real and imminent. Montana is approaching a defining crossroads that will shape its economy, environment, and communities for generations. Fueled by the rapid global expansion of artificial intelligence, industrial-scale data centers are targeting the Big Sky State at an unprecedented pace.
The utility price risks are immediate and compounding. Montana’s relatively low industrial utility rates make it an attractive destination for data centers that can require anywhere from hundreds to thousands of megawatts of continuous power. Meeting that demand necessitates massive investments in generation, transmission lines, and substations. Under current regulatory structures, there is a significant danger that these infrastructure costs will be spread across all ratepayers, effectively forcing Montanans to subsidize private corporate expansion through higher monthly power bills.
Water resources face a parallel threat. Data centers rely on millions of gallons of water each day for cooling, and discharged water is polluted with thermal loads and forever chemicals. In a state where water is finite, already over-allocated and unadjudicated in many basins, and essential to agriculture, fisheries, and wildlife, unchecked industrial withdrawals risk drying up private property water rights and permanently depleting aquifers. Additionally, 35% of assessed river miles and 22% of assessed lakes are already classified as impaired due to pollution in Montana, with many facing water temperatures that are near or exceed thresholds to sustain aquatic life, such as wild trout. These impacts are often invisible until it is too late to reverse them.
The pace of development is outstripping state and local governance. Through the use of non-disclosure agreements, pre-annexation deals, and fragmented regulatory oversight, projects can advance with minimal public awareness or meaningful community input. By the time residents learn what is being built, decisions are often effectively final. The result is the erosion of local sovereignty and the proliferation of large, windowless industrial complexes that impose noise, infrastructure strain, and visual blight without delivering commensurate public benefit. Worse yet, when markets shift or technology advances, Montana will be stuck with stranded assets, and Montanans could be stuck paying for power upgrades for no benefit.
The urgency to act is real and narrowing. National data center power demand is projected to double by the end of the decade, and Montana is still early in the development cycle. This creates a rare opportunity to set clear rules and establish common-sense protections before major transmission corridors are approved and steel is in the ground.
Montana must establish common-sense protections to shape outcomes before they are locked in—to protect Montanans’ wallets, water, and way of life now and into the future. The question is not whether data centers will come to Montana. The question is whether Montanans will be left paying the bill—or whether we act now to write the rules.