NorthWestern Energy showed up in the real estate records with unusual frequency this week. The utility recorded at least four new easements on Lewis and Clark County properties over a ten-day stretch in July — filings that appeared in multiple editions of this digest under slightly different framings but pointing to the same underlying activity. That cluster of right-of-way acquisitions suggests infrastructure work is either underway or being positioned for the near future, though NorthWestern has not publicly detailed what specific projects the easements support. The timing is notable. Separate coverage this week showed members of the public and advocacy groups pressing NorthWestern at a long-term power planning hearing to add more renewables and reckon seriously with the electricity demands that large data centers would place on Montana's grid. Economists from the University of Montana's Bureau of Business and Economic Research presented findings in Helena this week modeling exactly that data center impact. And in Cascade County, the Golden Triangle Resource Council showed up to a commission meeting with 250 signatures asking officials to slow-walk data center development. NorthWestern Energy appeared in the trending entities list with 86 mentions this week — the fifth-most of any entity tracked. For Helena-area residents, the easement pattern may be the most concrete on-the-ground sign yet that the utility is actively preparing for a larger infrastructure build, whatever form that ultimately takes.