Governor’s energy task force to hold open houses • Daily Montanan

What if your power bill could start dropping?

What if data centers’ generators could help provide energy to the public grid in an emergency?

What about nuclear power in Montana?

Those are some issues members of the Governor’s Energy Task Force have come up as the group prepares to embark on a series of open houses to gather public comment.

In September 2025, Gov. Greg Gianforte launched an energy task force to provide recommendations for increasing the supply of affordable and reliable energy for Montana.

Rep. Gary Parry, R-Colstrip, one of the task force members, said dependable, reliable resources must be part of the plan.

“When it’s 50 below, I want to know that I’ve got heat and power,” Parry said.

Sen. Chris Pope, D-Bozeman, said the task force has had a strong business focus and a focus on affordability.

“We need to be extremely careful and vigilant to protect consumers,” Pope said. “Their monthly bills cannot go up. They need to be well-served by this process, for starters, first and foremost.”

Next week, the task force holds the first of three open houses. The first one will be 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 25, in the Copper Lounge at Montana Tech University in Butte.

The Montana Department of Environmental Quality is working with the task force, and DEQ spokesperson Jake Garcin said the hope is for robust participation from consumers and other stakeholders.

“The events are intended to create an opportunity for the task force to listen and learn,” Garcin said in an email. “Our hope is that people will share what they see as shortcomings in current regulations, for example, related to environmental oversight or utility regulation, and offer suggestions on how to address those.”

A news release from the DEQ said the events will offer participants a chance to talk directly with members of the task force, ask questions and give feedback on energy topics.

In Butte in particular, the event will have tables hosted by the local government, NorthWestern Energy, and Sabey Data Centers, looking to build a large data center in Butte, the news release said. The DEQ said those groups will “address questions about energy resources and data centers” in Butte and Silver Bow County.

Data centers are controversial partly due to their massive energy consumption, and some nonprofit groups focused on energy have raised concerns about them, such as unfair impacts on other customers. The DEQ said it did not invite other groups to host tables at the open house in Butte.

“The goal is not to promote advocacy for either side,” Garcin said. “It’s for the local government that’s involved in the data center conversation, the energy producer, (and) the data center to answer questions specific to the project that they’re all working on.”

The other open houses will take place in Miles City on March 25 and in Colstrip on April 15.

Colstrip is home to NorthWestern’s coal fired energy plant, but Parry said the conversation isn’t centered around coal, it’s focused on another factor.

“We’re about getting the transmission right,” Parry said.

He said Colstrip has power lines running through it, and Grid United, developing transmission projects, is working on a project through Colstrip as well.

On its website, the North Plains Connector is described as a 420-mile. high-voltage line connecting the eastern and western U.S. electric grids in North Dakota and Montana.

“North Plains Connector will transport electrical power of all generation sources and bidirectionally move power along the line in response to demand,” it says.

Parry said he’s not opposed to wind or solar with storage, but people can’t rule out coal and natural gas or nuclear in the future either, and Colstrip is a hub regardless.

“You can’t look at Colstrip as just being about coal,” Parry said.

He said Miles City is an open house location because of a big wind and solar presence in Custer County, Rosebud County, and part of Garfield County.

But people who can’t attend an open house in person can still submit comments to the task force online, Garcin said.

The task force has 20 members including energy executives, representatives from data centers, and transmission experts, all charged with making recommendations for the 2027 Montana Legislature to consider.

Pope said the task force is contemplating big questions, such as whether Montana sees itself as part of a larger regional network of electricity production and consumption, and if so, how it might cooperate with western states.

He said data centers are “the elephant in the room,” and there are areas of concern, but he said there are opportunities the task force is discussing as well.

For example, can data centers help back up the grid when Montana can’t get power from neighboring states and needs it?

“That’s a hypothetical. It needs to be penciled, and it needs to be debated,” Pope said. “Perhaps if we’re smart, maybe there’s an opportunity there.”

He said the governor wants ideas that will define what Montana is focused on the next 10 to 20 years when it comes to energy development, a wide open subject, but one that’s starting to narrow.

“I think we have some very exciting decisions, but also very challenging decisions in front of us,” Pope said.