Bonner Data Center
Update: Missoula County received the following message from Mike Heisey, who owns the building the proposed data center would be in:
"After hearing from the public and understanding what the concerns are, I have decided to withdraw my signature from the Krambu special exception application. Bonner Property will not be moving forward with the data center proposed by them. We appreciate the public's feedback and will continue to actively pursue clients for the mill site. Thank you. Mike Heisey"
This development means the project will not move forward.
Missoula County is reviewing a proposed data center at 9314 Bonner Miller Road as a Special Exception described in Section 11.6.D. of the Missoula County Zoning Regulations. The property is zoned for heavy industrial use.
The proposal involves reusing a portion of the former mill building — commonly referred to as the planer building — for a high-performance computing (HPC) data center. This means most of the development would occur inside the existing structure, with no major expansion of the building footprint. Interior improvements would include constructing specialized rooms to house computer servers and supporting equipment.
The proposed data center would operate continuously, 24 hours a day, seven days per week, with minimal on-site staffing and relatively limited vehicle traffic associated primarily with maintenance and service visits.
The initial phase of the facility is expected to use approximately 7 megawatts (MW) of electrical power, with the potential to expand over time to utilize up to 29 MW, which is the estimated capacity currently available at the site.
Project summary
Current step: Missoula County has requested more information
Application status: Fifth application submitted; Missoula County has requested more information.
Expected hearing: Postponed until further notice
- This project will be reviewed by the Missoula County Consolidated Land Use Board (MCCLUB). This land use board holds their public hearing meetings on the first Wednesday of the month at 6 p.m. in the Sophie Moiese room of the Missoula County Courthouse. There may occasionally be a second meeting in the month, which will usually be the third Wednesday. There will be prior notice. These meetings are always open to the public.
What is being reviewed in this project proposal?
The Special Exception review is required when the use, because of location, scale, required infrastructure or other potential impacts, requires a special degree of consideration and control to ensure such uses are consistent and compatible with the overall community character and whether potential impacts can be avoided or mitigated.
This page has been updated to reflect revised staff analysis of the scope of review. The Missoula County Consolidated Land Use Board (MCCLUB) must not approve a special exception unless and until they find the project application demonstrates all of the following:
The proposed use or development will be compatible with and will not substantially injure the value of adjoining property.
The proposed use preserves the character of the district, and the property is suitable for the proposed use (e.g. can meet the bulk and dimensional standards without requiring a variance).
The proposed use promotes the purpose and intent of the TIF Special District, where appropriate.
Substitute or additional design standards will preserve and protect the area’s architectural and aesthetic qualities.
In reviewing a Special Exception application MCCLUB shall give due consideration to the following:
a) Access, traffic, parking demand, non-motorized transportation and onsite vehicle circulation
b) Dedication and development of streets, rights of way, and public use areas, such as adjoining sidewalks
c) Impacts on or of public and private utilities or services
d) Proposed siting of any new structures necessary to accommodate the use and their relationship to adjoining and surrounding properties
e) Recreation opportunities and open lands available to serve the use
f) Natural resource protections
g) Landscaping and screening requirements
h) Signage and street lighting
i) Noise, vibration, outdoor lighting and other on and offsite impacts from the use
j) Frequency of use and hours of operation
k) 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
l) How the proposed use addresses the purpose of the TIF Special District intended to attract, retain, grow and develop secondary value-adding industries
m) Any other unique or relevant circumstances related to the property.
The burden to demonstrate compliance with these criteria falls to the applicant, not the County or MCCLUB.
Reasonable and appropriate conditions may be required to ensure that any potentially injurious effect of the Special Exception on adjoining properties, the character of the neighborhood, the purpose and intent of the TIF Special District, or the health, safety and general welfare of the community will be minimized. Conditions much be based on the criteria for review.
Zoning compliance permit
If a special exception is approved, the developers must apply for a zoning compliance permit. The permit application must demonstrate compliance with the County's data center zoning regulations, including requirements for new renewable energy and e-waste recycling. Zoning compliance permits are subject to administrative review and do not go through public hearing process.
Project review timeline
March 2026: Initial Contact
- Krambu and Missoula County Planning first discussed the proposed data center project.
March 25, 2026: First Special Exception Application - deemed incomplete
- The applicant submitted the first Special Exception application. County staff determined that more information was needed before public review could begin.
April 28, 2026: Second Special Exception Application - deemed incomplete
- The applicant submitted additional materials. County staff continued reviewing the application and identified remaining information needed for completeness.
May 11, 2026: Third Special Exception Application - deemed incomplete
- The applicant submitted a special exception application. Applicant has notified the county that a new application packet will be made available.
June 1, 2026: Fifth Special Exception Application - deemed incomplete
- The applicant submitted a special exception application. County staff determined that more information was needed before public review could begin.
Date to be determined based on application completeness: Public Notice Period
- The County will mail notices to property owners within 500 feet, publish a legal notice, and post notices near the property.
Date to be determined based on application completeness: Consolidated Land Use Board Hearing
- The Consolidated Land Use Board is expected to consider the Special Exception request.
Date to be determined based on application completeness: Possible Permit Review
- If approved, Krambu may then apply for a Zoning Compliance Permit and other required permits.
How can I participate?
Community members are encouraged to stay informed and provide public comment. Comments are most helpful when they address the topics the Land Use Board may consider during Special Exception review, especially potential impacts to nearby residential properties.
Follow this project page if you want be emailed when there are updates with this project.
Let us know what you think by logging in or creating an account and submitting your comment below.
Update: Missoula County received the following message from Mike Heisey, who owns the building the proposed data center would be in:
"After hearing from the public and understanding what the concerns are, I have decided to withdraw my signature from the Krambu special exception application. Bonner Property will not be moving forward with the data center proposed by them. We appreciate the public's feedback and will continue to actively pursue clients for the mill site. Thank you. Mike Heisey"
This development means the project will not move forward.
Who's Listening
-
Phone 406-258-4946 -
Climate Action Program Manager
Missoula County Planning, Development and Sustainability
Phone (406) 258-3442
Documents
-
June 1 - Fifth Special Exception Application - deemed incomplete
-
May 11 – Third Special Exception Application – deemed incomplete
-
complete_special-exception-application 032526 (1).pdf (9.04 MB) (pdf)
-
Supplemental Narrative 5-26.pdf (27.3 KB) (pdf)
-
Supplemental Information-4-27-26.pdf (10.5 MB) (pdf)
-
Supplemental information 5_26.pdf (1.14 MB) (pdf)
-
Bonner Site Plan COMPLETE.pdf (411 KB) (pdf)
-
heat study site plan_Washinton example.pdf (553 KB) (pdf)
-
-
April 28 – Second Special Exception Application – deemed incomplete
-
March 25 – First Special Exception Application - deemed incomplete
-
Correspondence
Removed by moderator.
As detailed by the multitude of submissions on this public comment section, the public is overwhelmingly against this data center. Fully legitimate and undeniable arguments against the data center, including but not limited to, unprecedented environmental harm and massively increased local energy costs have all been voiced. No one with a sound mind and care for the people and land here would possibly think this is a good idea.
Further, it would be purely inconceivable how anyone from anywhere could think this horrible proposal for a data center in Bonner, Montana can even come close to meeting the vital criteria of MCCLUB's Special Exceptions. Given the local water and energy usage such a plant would need, a massive data center could never be compatible with the surrounding neighborhood and is an absolute assault on the surrounding environment when weighed against MCCLUB's considerations listed in the County's project description as items 5a through 5m. Finally, the very idea of using TIF funds as part of the proposed special exception is a fundamental insult to all who live within the Bonner and Missoula area. This is because Tax Increment Funding, or TIF, never directly goes back to the community and ends up being a glorified subsidy for the developer. News articles published across the nation have detailed how TIF funding for massive industrial projects have eventually backlashed against local communities. TIF funding seriously has the potential to literally make local residents pay in various ways for the very entity that ends up contributing to their destruction and degradation.
This data center proposal is unacceptable, and literally, an abomination. Say NO to the data center and protect the people who live here and the priceless environment we live in.
As a Missoula County resident, I am against a data center in Bonner or anywhere else in the county. This does not serve the community or the land. We have an obligation to protect Missoula and the Blackfoot River from this type of development.
As a long time Missoula resident I am against the Bonner data center. We do not want this in our community. It will not benefit our residents in any way and once again brings only profit to the richest and problems to the rest of us. Until there is a safe, responsible plan for AI I think there should be a halt on all future data centers.
Montana does not need another environmentally harmful industry to enter this building, or to enter our state. We are still cleaning up superfund sites all over the state due to harmful mining and manufacturing practices. I live down river from one of those super fund sites, and I would hate to see another one be built before our very eyes. The developer is either willfully ignorant or intentionally misleading with their information about water and energy usage of a data center. According to reporting by NPR and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in 2022, mid-sized data centers use about 300,000 gallons of water per day. This will quickly drain the fire suppression well, impact the wells of Bonner residents in a heartbeat, and add stress to a river system already damaged, and still recovering from, the old mill. 80% of this water will become wastewater, overwhelming Missoula's wastewater treatment facility. In an area where we face extreme wildfire seasons, where we have fragile ecosystems, and where residents rely on wells for clean drinking water, a data center would be absolutely catastrophic. I urge the Land Use Board to deny the request for this irresponsible use of our resources.
Source: https://www.npr.org/2022/08/30/1119938708/data-centers-backbone-of-the-digital-economy-face-water-scarcity-and-climate-ris
I am very much opposed to the data center in Bonner. Bonner is a small, lower income community in a beautiful
setting along the Blackfoot River. The dada center will use large quantities of resources - electric, water that has not been explained and analyzed and transparent. NW Energy has not been transparent. The data center will not provide a significant number of jobs for the community, so I wonder what it will bring when it will TAKE much from our community. Further, AI has not been fully articulated and planning a data center at this time anywhere is premature. DO NOT APPROVE this data center
A large part of the tourism industry in the area relies on our rivers for guided fishing tours, river activities, etc. With the amount of water these take, this would absolutely destroy the environment, culture and industry so many rely on for absolutely no benefit. Not only that but aesthetically, no one wants this. Please, do not approve permitting for this.
We have vacationed in Missoula every year for the past 10 years, and we stayed in Bonner last year. There is no way we would book a vacation to stay near a data center! We come to Missoula for the beauty and peace. A data center would bring noise and pollution and be a total deterrent for us.
This data center does nothing to help our community and has many negative and will cause irreparable harm to our beautiful lands, water and community. I do not support this data center, the request and permit should be rejected.
I am against a data center, along with the Missoula community. We don’t need nor want one. Montana is a land of nature preservation. Data centers are a plague on the United States right now and the only people profiting off them are the rich pricks who build them. Stop building data centers. Stop harming our land.
I moved to Missoula in 2004. When Missoula was a community that valued community. The kindness and consideration shown to strangers on the street was new to me. People cared about their neighbors and the community- the same values the Land Use Board is based on.
Now, in 2026, you’d have to live under a rock to not be aware of what’s happening across the US with data centers popping up in rural America, destroying aquifers, disrupting the power grid, and upsetting daily living.
There is clear opposition from the community for this data center. There is clear opposition from other communities when data centers were proposed for them. The only people who want data centers are the people who build them.
This is not what Missoula wants or needs.
Missoula County does not need a data center. This project, if allowed to proceed, will have major negative impacts on the irreplaceable Blackfoot River corridor. This data center is unnecessary and the harm it will do exponentially outweighs any potential good. Ban construction on all new data centers!
I am apposed to this project for the following reasons: the noise disruption that will be a constant, the traffic congestion that will be caused during the long construction process, the harm to the river and community water supply and the eventual increase to our electric costs. There is not a single community that has a data center currently that is not experiencing negative outcome. Lastly, the data centers do not bring long term employment growth.
This would be an absolutely horrendous addition to the Missoula area and does not at all align with the values of Missoula/Missoulians. We value outdoor spaces, the environment, art and creativity, humanity - all things that are at complete odds with AI and Data Centers. Please do not allow this project to move forward.
This is an irresponsible project proposed along the Blackfoot river. This watershed has generated beneficial economic, recreational, and environmental resources for generations of Montanans. A short sighted construction of a data center that fuels a brand new and also short sighted tech industry is a project this area cannot tolerate. I oppose the construction of this project and any that are similar in this area and the rest of Montana.
Why am I feeling the real Montana is disappearing.
Big Money is swallowing the Montana i know.
All our decisions
Are beyond
Are reach.
Even though we see what is happening that is wrong for our beautiful state big money is taking it all away and our voice means nothing.
State after state people try to stop but the decisions are all made. Based on there promises that mean nothing.
What every America should know about Data centers.
https://youtu.be/MHJtIkfA-s8?si=1sg4iay0f9oBPa7u
There is absolutely no positive to having this giant eyesore in a beautiful part of the state. How is it beneficial to Missoula or Montana in general? Ai costs more than it can produce. There’s already overwhelming evidence that data centers destroy the land, water, and well being of everything around them. This should not be built.
Dear MCCLUB,
I am writing to express my concern and say ‘NO’ to putting in this data center in the old Bonner Mill.
It is heartbreaking that the project has gotten this far and that this is an actual consideration for the area. I am not sure I can offer anything new from the 16+ pages of people’s comments and the thousands of people who have signed the petition to not have the project move forward. All I can do is to urge you to listen to the people and do what is best for the community. We DO NOT want this here and you need to shut this down, now.
This is a terrible, stupid, and SELFISHLY EVIL project that is UNWANTED IN MISSOULA! We do NOT want this awful, vile, atrocious data center in our community. The people don’t want it the animals don’t want it the rivers don’t want it. We do not need it prioritize your people and environment over profit! It is utterly disgusting that this is even on Missoula‘s radar as a proposed plan and project. Every single person who is involved in creating this should be utterly ashamed of themselves. How evil and selfish can someone be to think this would be prosperous and good for the community? I have never been more disgusted by something. I am proud to live where I do and be a part of the Missoula community Montana is to be protected, not pillaged. William Clark did enough damage here we do not need to replicate his selfishness and greed. We only have one home, do better.
Please no! This city is too small to handle this kind of energy demand. It will comprise each and every resident in Missoula. Not fair to us.