The Montana-based Frontier Institute has joined with others in challenging the ordinance in the State’s fourth judicial district on behalf of a tech company. Cub Cloud A-I is described as a Missoula-based firm with 18 employees that provides AI and cloud infrastructure to local businesses. It operates an 850 square foot data center in an industrial area between Interstate 90 and Missoula International Airport.
The lawsuit comes weeks after the City of Missoula adopted a new ordinance that changed zoning for data centers.
The plaintiffs claim the measure violates Montana’s “Right to Compute Act,” which is designed to establish property owner rights and limit government infringement on developments such as data centers. Cub Cloud A-I says the ordinance and the zoning it includes make it impossible for the company to grow its operations or provide certain services in Missoula. Such plans include a future expansion of its site, including a new stand alone building to house additional computing resources. Cub Cloud A-I insists any new facilities would not generate noise, odors, physical intrusions or other adverse conditions that would constitute a nuisance under the “Right to Compute Act.”
In a statement, Missoula’s City Attorney Ryan Sudbury says the City is aware of the “Right to Compute Act,” and it is their position the law does not give data center companies the right to locate wherever they please. He goes on to say the city plans to “vigorously defend the City Council decision in this case.”
This is the latest move in a continuing fight over data centers in Montana. Efforts to place initiatives requiring voter approval for new data centers on ballots in Yellowstone and Butte Silver Bow Counties failed ahead of the fall elections. A similar effort for a spring election is underway in Yellowstone County.
The plaintiffs in this case, who are represented by the Arizona-based Goldwater Institute say they are hoping to set a precedent for other states to see.
