FAQs

Missoula County does not have the regulatory authority over utility rates or interconnection. The Montana Public Service Commission (PSC) determines what costs a utility can, or cannot, pass on to customers. This process is largely done through rate cases, though is also governed by broader rulesets known as 'tariffs,' as well as state law.

The PSC is expected to take up the question of data center regulation this year. NorthWestern Energy has announced its intent to file a "large load tariff" to determine the treatment of data centers. Separately, a group of nonprofits have filed a proposal with the PSC as well. Any PSC process around data center regulation will involve opportunity for public engagement.

Regarding electronic waste, the County's cryptocurrency and data center zoning requires all e-waste generated by a facility to be handled by a DEQ-licensed e-waste recycling firm.

Regarding traffic and noise, Missoula County's zoning regulations require proposed data centers within 500 feet of a residential property boundary (which includes the Bonner proposal), to be reviewed as a Special Exception to ensure that uses are consistent and compatible with overall community character and minimize impacts to the nearby residential uses. This includes traffic, parking, access, noise and vibration, landscaping/screening, signage and other criteria. The Special Exception determination is made at a public meeting by the Missoula County Consolidated Land Use Board.

County zoning has site design and operating standards for some areas of potential concern, including outdoor lighting and noise and vibration. Zoning enforcement actions are initiated via a complaint process, which any person may file to initiate. If the County is made aware of a suspected violation, it has a duty to investigate and act as needed.

There are no zoning requirements around considerations such as property tax.

Senate Bill 208 barred units of government from prohibiting or impeding the connection or reconnection of electric, gas, or propane service. The County’s cryptocurrency and data center zoning provisions do not impact connection or reconnection of utility service.

A separate provision of SB 208 barred the state from adopting any building code requirements prohibiting or limiting the use of electricity, gas, propane, etcetera. The County’s cryptocurrency and data center zoning are not a part of building code.

In Missoula County under our current framework, the only regulatory way to prohibit data centers is to change the zoning from industrial to a different zone.  That is because data centers are only allowed in industrial zoning districts. Rezoning property requires approval of the landowner, unless the county initiates zoning.

Zoning must be in substantial compliance with the county growth policy, and the land-use   designation for the Bonner Mill property Is industrial; therefore rezoning the property is not practical since the zoning matches the growth policy land use recommendation. Currently there are approximate 323 properties zoned industrial in Missoula County in nine pockets generally located along  and in close proximity to the Interstate 90 corridor.

The data center has not yet filed a permit application. They have filed an application for Special Exception Review, but that only contains certain information and does not address specifics on discharge or the closed-loop system.

At this time, the County cannot speak to items like what the make-up of the company's proposed coolant will be, beyond what Krambu announced at the March 20 meeting in Bonner. At that meeting, as well as in their preliminary application for a special exception to the County, Krambu filed that they will have a closed loop system, which will largely be water, though at the meeting, they mentioned use of glycol as well.

The County does not issue or regulate industrial water discharge permits (the County's legal ability to regulate water is largely limited to subdivision and sanitation review). The Montana Department of Environmental Quality regulates discharge through Montana Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (MPDES) permits. The Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation regulates water quantity use via the apportionment and adjudication of water rights.

The County has no more or different employment data than what Krambu said at the Bonner meeting, which we recall being presented as three jobs per two megawatts of facility size. Regarding facility size, Krambu has not provided the County with a definitive size. At the Bonner meeting, they mentioned a proposed initial size of 3 MW. They previously mentioned a proposed initial size of 9 to 10 megawatts in a meeting with the County, with the potential to seek to grow.

Any expansion past that point would require additional infrastructure.

Megawatts are not a measure of time, like a daily or monthly total. Rather, the term is a measure of power capacity. Megawatt size demonstrates how much electricity a data center or other power user can pull from the grid. Energy use is measured in megawatt-hours, which measures how much electricity is consumed over a period of time like a day, week or year. Think of it like the difference between a speedometer and odometer of a car, where MW would represent the speed (volumetric ability to pull from the grid), and MWh would represent the distance traveled (the amount of power used in a period of time).

County zoning does have noise and vibration standards for zoned areas, including heavy industrial, residential and others. Zoning establishes noise and vibration maximums both  within zoning districts (such as the maximum noise allowed in heavy industry) and within “receiving zones.” This means that even an allowable noise level in industrial zoning would be disallowed if it exceeded the residential maximum when it arrived in a residential area.

The maximum noise level in a heavy industrial district is 75 DBA, and in receiving residential districts ranges from 55-65 DBA (depending on time of day). Regarding vibration, County zoning prohibits vibration to “exceed the vibration perception threshold of an individual at the closest property line to the vibration source, such that a reasonable person of average sensitivity is aware of the vibration. The minimum perception threshold is presumed to be a motion velocity of .01 inch/second over the range of one to 100 Hz.”

Noise is one of the criteria that is reviewed in a Special Exception application, and for which the County can conduct enforcement actions if noise and vibration exceed levels established in zoning.

Below are the criteria for review of a special exception.  The board must find the application demonstrates all of the following:

1. The proposed use or development will be compatible with and will not substantially injure the value of adjoining property.
2. The proposed use preserves the character of the district, and the property is suitable for the use proposed (e.g., can meet the bulk and dimensional standards without requiring a variance).
3. The proposed use promotes the purpose and intent of the TIF Special District, where applicable.
4. Substitute or additional design standards will preserve and protect the area’s architectural and aesthetic qualities.
5. In reviewing a Special Exception application, the board shall give due consideration to all of the following factors:

1. Access, traffic and parking demand created by or impacted by the use, and pedestrian, bicycle and onsite vehicular circulation.
2. Dedication and development of streets, right-of-way and public use areas, such as sidewalks adjoining the property and the capacity to handle the use.
3. Impacts on or of public and private utilities or services.
4. Proposed siting of any new structures necessary to accommodate the use and their relationship to adjoining and surrounding properties.
5. Recreation opportunities and open lands available to serve the use.
6. Natural resource protections.
7. Landscaping and screening requirements.
8. Signage and sign lighting, as applicable.
9. Noise, vibration, outdoor lighting and other on and offsite impacts resulting from the use.
10. Frequency of use and hours of operation.
11. Area of land necessary and adequacy of the site to accommodate the use and meet the intent of the district and character of the neighborhood.
12. Where applicable, how the proposed use addresses the purpose of the TIF Special District intended to attract, retain, grow and develop secondary value-adding industries.
13. Any other unique or relevant circumstances related to the property.

The Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation regulates water rights and water quantity, not Missoula County. Questions regarding water rights should be directed to the Montana Department of Natural Resources, as that agency administers water rights in Montana.