Montana
PSC can’t keep data center information secret, says group
A coalition of groups with concerns about data centers is challenging the Montana Public Service Commission’s decision to keep information about them under wraps at the request of NorthWestern Energy.
In a motion filed with the Public Service Commission this week, Earthjustice said NorthWestern hasn’t shown information in a series of letters qualifies as trade secrets, and keeping them hidden will hurt the public, especially those forced to buy electricity from the monopoly utility.
“Reflexively issuing a protective order based on unsubstantiated trade secret claims, as the Commission did here, creates barriers to participation, hides the costs of the deals with data centers, and allows decisions that will impact ratepayers to be made behind closed doors,” said the motion.
The motion argues the decision to “shield” the letters from public view is unlawful.
Earthjustice filed the motion on behalf of 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.
In an email, PSC spokesperson Jamey Petersen said the Commission may issue protective orders when necessary to preserve trade secrets or other information that needs to be guarded under the law.
“The Commission is not in the business of ‘shielding’ any utility from scrutiny; our role is to apply Montana’s strong right‑to‑know provisions in Article II, Section 9 of the Montana Constitution alongside laws that protect genuinely confidential information, such as trade secrets, and we do so consistently regardless of which company is before us,” Petersen said in an email.
Proposed data centers are controversial in Montana.
NorthWestern Energy, data center developers and some business leaders argue they represent economic opportunity, such as more jobs and an expanded tax base.
But opponents argue they are going to mean increased rates for existing customers, who already are seeing rising utility costs, and bring detrimental impacts to water for many sectors of the state, including agriculture.
Data centers use a significant amount of water to remain cool.
NorthWestern Energy has been working with data center developers in Montana. It’s in conversation with at least 11 data center developers, including about projects in Montana.
In December 2025, the PSC issued a protective order allowing NorthWestern to keep the information in the letters out of public view, but the groups argue it did so without sufficient evidence and in violation of its own rules.
The documents at issue are NorthWestern’s letters of intent to three data center developers in Montana, Atlas Power Group, Sabey Data Center Properties, and Quantica Infrastructure; Atlas and Sabey have announced projects in Butte, and Quantica is working on one outside of Billings.
NorthWestern argued the information needed to be private because it has “independent economic value” and affects the utility’s “competitive advantage,” but the groups argue it didn’t explain itself.
“NorthWestern did not identify — in any manner — the information that it sought to shield from the public,” the motion said. “NorthWestern did not describe the contents of the Letters of Intent, nor provide any other explanation of the information that it was asking the Commission to determine qualified as trade secret.”
The motion also said NorthWestern promised to make a public filing concerning future service to data centers before the end of the year, which it didn’t do, and argued the letters should be kept secret because they’re part of “ongoing negotiations” and “not uniform.”
A spokesperson for NorthWestern Energy could not be reached Friday.
In August 2025, the PSC had planned to set a hearing on data centers, but Petersen said a date has not been set.
The Public Service Commission granted the protective order, but it didn’t describe the protected information, and it allowed the contents to remain secret because NorthWestern argued it wanted them secret, the groups said.
“The Commission concluded that the information in NorthWestern’s Letters of Intent was ‘secret’ because NorthWestern had protective measures in place to maintain secrecy and had not provided the Letters of Intent to any third parties,” the motion said.
On behalf of the PSC, however, Petersen said the Commission found NorthWestern met its burden to show that certain information “qualifies for trade secret protection, so that material must be handled confidentially while redacted versions and all other non‑confidential information remain available to the public.”
The letters NorthWestern filed are heavily redacted, but the motion said the redactions are not uniform, and some of the protected information hurts the public’s ability to advocate against rising costs for existing ratepayers.
The groups say the commission exceeded its legal authority in classifying the confidential information as a trade secret, and it “unconstitutionally shifted the initial burden of proof to the public to challenge a public utility’s claims of confidentiality.”
It said the standard the Public Service Commission adopted violates the Right to Know in the Montana Constitution, it’s contrary to the agency’s own regulations, and the Montana Supreme Court already rejected a similar approach in an earlier case.
The groups are asking the PSC to find NorthWestern has not met its burden to prove the information qualifies as a trade secret; determine the information should not be protected from public disclosure; and order NorthWestern to file unredacted copies of the letters.
Petersen said typically, affected parties such as NorthWestern are given a chance to respond before the Commission takes action on a motion.
“Because the motion is pending in an open docket, the Commission will not comment on its merits outside of the formal proceeding, consistent with its quasi‑judicial role,” Petersen said.
For many Montanans living in rural communities, accessing specialized healthcare isn’t as simple as booking an appointment. It can mean hours on the road to cities like Great Falls. But a growing outreach effort from health care like Benefis Health System is changing that reality by bringing providers directly to patients.
Brianna Juneau reports – watch the video here:
Providers travel to bring specialty care to Montana communities
Instead of requiring long-distance travel, Benefis doctors and advanced practice providers are hitting the road, delivering care in towns across North Central Montana. The goal: reduce barriers to access and ensure patients receive timely treatment closer to home.
“In this geographic area, sometimes some of the more medically complex children are seen by pediatricians,” said pediatrician Rachel Amthor. “It can be an opportunity to try to reach some children with medical complexity who do live in a rural area.”
That access can be especially impactful for young patients. In some communities, clinics are located near schools, allowing children to attend appointments without missing an entire day of class.
“There’s very much a community atmosphere with the clinic,” Amthor said. “I’ll have some patients walk from school during the day to come to their checkup and then walk back. They don’t have to miss a lot of school because everything is so close.”
But for many adults, particularly those working in agriculture, traveling for care can be a major obstacle.
“They either have to arrange transportation or they don’t drive at all—it’s an ordeal,” said Elizabeth O’Connor, a cardiothoracic nurse practitioner. “Some of our patients travel for a whole day to get here and back, or they have to spend the night. A lot of farmers and ranchers just can’t leave their property for that long.”
By bringing services into rural towns, providers can catch health issues earlier and make critical adjustments before conditions worsen.
“We’re able to make some simple adjustments in their medications that may prevent heart attacks, strokes, heart failure, admissions,” O’Connor said. “Providing access can certainly improve—if not longevity—the quality of their life.”
Benefis’ outreach clinics now serve a wide range of communities, offering specialty care that would otherwise require travel:
Choteau: Cardiology, OBGYN, Podiatry, Pediatrics
Fort Benton: Pediatrics, Cardiology, Podiatry, Dietician/Nutrition services, Diabetes Education, Functional Medicine and Hormone Replacement Therapy
Conrad: Cardiology
Cut Bank: Women’s Health
Havre: Nephrology and Neurology
Rocky Boy: Women’s Health and Nephrology
Shelby: Orthopedics
White Sulphur Springs: Women’s health
Lewistown: Orthopedics and Dermatology
Browning: Nephrology
Many of these services are critical for managing chronic conditions, ranging from heart disease to kidney disorders, where consistent follow-up care can significantly impact outcomes.
For providers like Amthor, the outreach effort is deeply personal.
“I became a pediatrician because I wanted to treat kids in underserved areas,” she said. “I was not expecting to be working in rural Montana, but that has been different and very good.”
As the program continues to grow, Benefis leaders say they hope to expand services even further, reaching more communities and reducing healthcare disparities across the state.
In places where distance has long defined access, these traveling clinics are helping ensure that quality care is no longer out of reach, but right down the road.
Oil pipelines, it turns out, are one of the few things that can still get Montanans riled up. And now, here we go again.
Donald Trump has finalized the approval of one of the largest cross-state pipelines in U.S. history, a nearly three-foot wide pipeline that will carry oil from Canada through Montana to Wyoming when built out. It means if this thing goes ahead, you are looking at around 550,000 barrels a day moving through the region. That is no small enterprise either, and it has already placed Montana squarely in the middle of a well-worn debate.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
A Debate Montana Knows All Too Well
If all of this is ringing any bells for you, you are not wrong. Montana has been here before when it comes to pipeline debates, and just like last time, people are already divided. On one side, you have folks looking at this and thinking jobs, energy independence, and perhaps, bringing some much-needed relief to the gas pump. Because in all honesty, fuel has been rough lately. Every single fill-up makes you feel like you are buying concert tickets, not gas. For a lot of people, it sounds like progress.
Shawn Thew-Pool/Getty Images
Not Everyone Is Celebrating
Then there is the other camp, and they are hardly celebrating. Once again, environmental concerns are front and center. Spills, land impact, long-term risk. Everything that tends to get brushed aside until something actually breaks. Montana is not exactly short on people who care about the land. That part is not political. That is just reality out here. So when a pipeline cuts across the state, it quickly feels like poking a hornet’s nest.
Joe Raedle/Newsmakers
So Where Does This Go From Here
So where does that leave things? That is the question right now. Is this a move toward cheaper energy and greater stability, or is it another gamble with long-term consequences? The truth is, it is probably both. That said, construction crews are not rolling in tomorrow. The project still has hurdles to clear and could run into legal challenges. But the conversation is already here, and it is not going anywhere. And if history is any guide, Montana is going to have plenty to say about it.
Counties with the highest cancer rates in Montana
Gallery Credit: Stacker
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