A commentary published this week argues that Montana is on the verge of two consequential blunders — approving a wave of data center development and moving forward with the NorthWestern Energy merger — without fully accounting for the long-term costs to ratepayers and the state's energy grid.
The piece, which runs alongside a photo of lawyer Matthew Monforton conferring with Public Service Commissioner Brad Molnar outside a Missoula federal courthouse in June, frames both issues as part of a recurring pattern: Montana making large, potentially irreversible decisions under pressure from outside interests, then living with the consequences long after the decision-makers have moved on. The author invokes the state's history of resource extraction and outside control as context for why scrutiny of these deals matters now.
The NorthWestern Energy merger and data center permitting have both drawn significant attention at the Montana Public Service Commission this year. Data centers, which consume enormous amounts of electricity, have emerged as a national infrastructure priority — and Montana's relatively cheap land and power have attracted developer interest. Critics worry that approving large new industrial electricity loads without adequate rate protections could shift costs onto residential customers. The merger question, separately, involves who controls Montana's dominant electric utility and under what regulatory framework.
The commentary does not represent the position of any government body and was published as opinion. But with PSC proceedings ongoing and the legislature's interim committees keeping watch, the debate over both issues is far from settled.