Energy watchdogs: Data-center protective order is unconstitutional
Laura Lundquist
(Missoula Current) Montanans object to the state's utility regulator allowing NorthWestern Energy to hide data-center energy demands from ratepayers with little justification.
Climate Smart Missoula this week joined six other nonprofit organizations in challenging the Montana Public Service Commission over its December decision to grant NorthWestern Energy a protective order to keep secret the details of three proposed large data centers.
“When a single data center can consume as much electricity as an entire city, Montana utility customers have good reason to be concerned about what that means for energy affordability and grid reliability,” said Derek Goldman, NW Energy Coalition Montana policy associate. “It’s doubly concerning that NorthWestern is hiding the details of its data center dealings from the public.”
In their administrative motion filed Thursday with PSC, the plaintiffs not only questioned the PSC’s decision and its lack of rationale, but they took it one step further, saying the PSC’s rule that allowed the commissioners to issue a protective order violated the state constitution’s Right to Know. Under Montana law, plaintiffs have to pursue administrative review before they can turn to the courts.
“NorthWestern is not just another private company, it is an investor-owned, monopoly, public utility that most Montanans have no choice but to buy electricity from. It should be harder, not easier, for such a company to hide information from the public,” the plaintiffs said in their motion.
In late 2024, NorthWestern Energy started signing Letters of Intent to provide power to three data center developers: Atlas Power Group, Sabey Data Center Properties and Quantica Infrastructure. On Sept. 3, 2025, the PSC asked NorthWestern for information and certain documents on how it planned to serve the data centers, according to the motion.
In its response two weeks later, NorthWestern asked the PSC for a protective order, saying the Letters of Intent contained trade secrets and the utility had signed nondisclosure agreements with each developer in order to gain a competitive advantage. As part of the nondisclosure agreements, NorthWestern said it had been keeping all data center information confidential.
Three of the plaintiffs - Montana Environmental Information Center, Honor the Earth and NW Energy Coalition - objected to the protective order, saying NorthWestern Energy had provided little to no information to back its claim that a protective order was justified.
However, on Dec. 2, the PSC issued the protective order, even though NorthWestern had provided no additional information. So the plaintiffs filed the motion on Thursday.
Other than an affidavit from one of NorthWestern Energy’s vice presidents, the only information NorthWestern provided was heavily redacted versions of the Letters of Intent, which were submitted to the PSC on Dec. 30. In the letters, NorthWestern had obscured the start date and expected power demand for each data center, indicating it was confidential information. However, NorthWestern had regularly spoken of these details in quarterly reports to investors, so the plaintiffs say NorthWestern’s claims of having to keep things confidential were exaggerated.
According to NorthWestern quarterly reports, Atlas Power’s 75-megawatt load in Butte began in January, with expected growth to 150 megawatts. Also in Butte, Sabey’s expected 50-megawatt initial load would begin in mid-2027, with expected growth to 250 megawatts. Finally, near Broadview, Quantica’s 175-megawatt load would begin in 2028, with phased growth to 500 megawatts by 2030.
Household demand is probably somewhat greater in Montana due to harsher winters, but in the Pacific Northwest, a megawatt is enough to power 796 homes for a year, according to the Northwest Power and Conservation Council. Based on that, the 75 megawatts required by Altas Power would power almost 60,000 homes, which is more than twice the existing demand in Butte.
This information is important to know because residential and small business customers, which comprise 98% of NorthWestern’s customer base, will likely end up paying for a significant portion of the energy infrastructure needed to supply these huge power loads unless Montana puts rules in place to protect residents and make data centers financially responsible.
So far, the PSC isn’t protecting residential ratepayers, according to the plaintiffs. Even though Montana law clearly defines what qualifies as a “trade secret,” the plaintiffs said the PSC illegally created its own definition, basing it on the fact that NorthWestern signed some nondisclosure agreements. But neither NorthWestern nor the PSC explained how any of the information in the letters was “proprietary,” which would qualify it as trade secrets.
In addition, as part of the Right to Know, a governmental body - the PSC in this case - must balance a request for protection against the needs of the public. But the PSC didn’t conduct such an analysis, partly because the protective order rule doesn’t require it, so the plaintiffs say the protective order rule is unconstitutional.
“The Commission had no factual or legal basis to shield NorthWestern’s Letters of Intent from public view and exceeded its statutory authority in classifying the confidential information as a trade secret. Further, the circumstances here demonstrate that the Commission has “unconstitutionally shifted the initial burden of proof to the public to challenge a public utility’s claims of confidentiality,” the plaintiffs said in their motion.
The motion asks the PSC to determine that NorthWestern didn’t justify the need for a protective order so the unredacted Letters of Intent should be made publicly available.
“The public has a right to know about NorthWestern’s data center plans and how they will impact our utility bills, health, and environment. This is the bare minimum,” said Lars Phillips, senior attorney with Earthjustice’s Northern Rockies Office. “Across the country, communities are being left in the dark while utilities make backroom deals with data centers. Montana’s Constitution does not allow that to happen here.”
The plaintiffs include Butte Watchdogs for Social and Environmental Justice, Climate Smart Missoula, Helena Interfaith Climate Advocates, Honor the Earth, Montana Environmental Information Center, Montana Public Interest Research Group, and NW Energy Coalition.
Contact reporter Laura Lundquist at lundquist@missoulacurrent.com.