PROTECTING RATEPAYERS WHILE KEEPING UTILITIES STRONG AND RELIABLE – MONTANA
A Public Service Commission Platform on Data Centers, Water, and Utility Fairness
Across America, massive data centers powered by artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and digital infrastructure are transforming local economies. In Montana, even one large facility would represent an industrial load unlike anything our utility system has historically served.
These facilities place unprecedented pressure on our electric grid, our water resources, and the monthly utility bills of working families.
As a Montana Public Service Commissioner, my responsibility is not one-sided. The law requires a careful balance:
Protecting ratepayers from unjust and unreasonable charges while ensuring that our utilities remain financially healthy, capable of maintaining infrastructure, modernizing the grid, and providing reliable service in all conditions.
This platform explains how I will protect customers, safeguard water and reliability, and ensure utilities can continue to invest responsibly in the systems we all depend on.
THE CHALLENGE WE FACE IN MONTANA
Modern data centers require enormous amounts of electricity and water—often equivalent to entire Montana towns operating 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
A single large AI-focused data center commonly requires between 100 and 500 megawatts of continuous electricity. To put that in Montana terms:
• At the low end, 100 megawatts is roughly equivalent to powering a town the size of Bozeman or Helena.
• At the high end, 300–500 megawatts can rival or exceed the electric demand of Billings, the largest city in Montana.
• One facility could represent the electric load of a significant share of the entire state’s population.
That level of demand is not incremental growth for Montana—it is a transformational shift in how our grid must operate.
Water demand is just as striking. Large data centers typically use between 1 million and 5 million gallons of water per day for cooling. In Montana terms:
• The average household uses about 300 gallons of water per day.
• One million gallons per day equals the daily water use of about 3,300 people—roughly a town the size of Whitefish, Sidney, or Dillon.
• Five million gallons per day equals the daily water use of more than 16,000 people—larger than many Montana county seats.
• That same volume of water could irrigate hundreds to thousands of acres of farmland depending on season and crop.
In a state defined by agriculture, rivers, and drought-sensitive watersheds, that level of daily industrial water demand must be taken seriously.
This rapid, concentrated demand drives the construction of new power plants, transmission lines, substations, pipelines, and water treatment systems.
Utilities must build this infrastructure to maintain reliable service. But without strong oversight, the financial burden of this expansion can be shifted onto:
Families
Farmers
Small businesses
Responsible regulation ensures utilities recover prudent investments—while preventing unjust cost shifting onto Montana ratepayers.
MY COMMITMENT TO A FAIR AND STABLE UTILITY SYSTEM
As your Montana Public Service Commissioner, I will work to ensure our utility system is:
Financially strong
Operationally reliable
Affordable for working families
Fair to all customer classes
Prepared for long-term growth
That means protecting consumers from unnecessary rate increases while also ensuring utilities can earn a reasonable return to maintain service, modernize infrastructure, harden the grid, and keep power flowing during extreme winter cold, summer heat, wildfire conditions, and storms.
MY POLICY PRINCIPLES
FULL COST RESPONSIBILITY
Large data centers must pay the full cost of the infrastructure they require, including transmission lines, substations, generation upgrades, grid hardening, and system protection. This protects existing customers while ensuring utilities are fully compensated for prudent investments.
FAIR AND TRANSPARENT RATE STRUCTURES
Data centers must be placed in separate, transparent rate classes that reflect their true demand on Montana’s grid, while keeping residential and small business customers protected from industrial cost pressures.
WATER PROTECTION AND LONG-TERM SUPPLY SECURITY
Large water users must contribute fairly to water system upgrades, conservation programs, reuse infrastructure, and long-term supply protection—especially in drought-prone basins and agricultural regions.
GRID RELIABILITY AND SYSTEM RESILIENCE
New large loads must meet curtailment and emergency reliability requirements so utilities can maintain safe, stable service for all Montanans during peak demand, deep winter cold, extreme heat, and wildfire smoke events.
LONG-TERM RATEPAYER AND UTILITY PROTECTION
Corporations must provide financial security to protect both customers and utilities from stranded infrastructure if facilities close, relocate, or significantly reduce usage.
WHY THIS BALANCE MATTERS IN MONTANA
Without firm, balanced oversight, unchecked industrial expansion can result in:
Higher monthly household utility bills
Direct strain on Montana’s limited water supplies
Increased blackout and brownout risk during peak demand
Long-term infrastructure debt carried by Montana customers
Financial stress on Montana utilities if major investments become stranded or underutilized
Sound regulation protects customers and strengthens utilities at the same time.
THE BOTTOM LINE
In Montana, a single data center can demand as much power as one of our largest cities and as much water as an entire small town—every single day.
If a corporation requires city-sized power and town-sized water, it must pay city-sized and town-sized costs—so Montana utilities can remain strong, resilient, and modern, and Montana ratepayers can remain protected.
My mission as a Montana Public Service Commissioner is simple and balanced:
Protect ratepayers from unjust costs. Protect water and long-term supplies. Protect grid reliability. And ensure Montana utilities remain financially sound, responsibly profitable, and fully capable of serving our communities for generations to come.