NorthWestern Energy this week signed a letter of intent to provide 1,000 megawatts of energy to the Texas-based AI tech company Quantica Infrastructure. It will be used to power a data center the company is developing in Montana. Once built, it would be the largest data center in the state.
Data centers are like warehouses that store massive amounts of digital information and processing. Developers are building more to meet growing demands to power artificial intelligence. According to the International Energy Agency, data centers consumption of electricity and water will double by 2030 due to AI.
A thousand megawatts is more than the entire amount of energy used by all residential NorthWestern Energy customers in Montana. In a press release, NorthWestern said it is studying its transmission to determine how to best meet Quantica’s needs, including new power sources.
Environmental groups have warned booming data center development will strain already tapped resources for power and water. This is especially true in the western US, where data center growth is highest, and much of the region is faced with megadrought.
This is the third agreement NorthWestern has entered into to power data centers.
