BUTTE - A group of county officials from Butte-Silver Bow is on its way to Washington state to tour a data center from a company that is proposing to build a similar data center here on 600 acres of property just south of Butte.
“It actually gets, you know, our legislative branch out there to look and see and ask the questions that are really important to the community,” Butte Chief Executive J.P. Gallagher said.
Six Butte commissioners, three members of a data center ad hoc committee, and two county employees will tour the Sabey Data Center and meet with representatives from the community of Quincy.
“They're going to get to see the community, not just Sabey Data Center, so they’re going to see what impact the data centers have on the community of Quincy, Washington, as well,” Gallagher said.
WATCH: Butte officials tour Washington data center to assess local impact
Many residents in the Butte area have expressed concerns about the proposed data center and how it will affect power bills and the local environment. Butte Commissioner Trudy Healy didn’t go on this tour but visited the Quincy area in December.
“I wanted to do my due diligence, I didn’t want to have parameters set on where I can go and what I can see,” Healy said.
Healy said there needs to be more scrutiny of the data center coming to Butte.
“It’s very important that we research and not just try to find the good and sell the good: You know, more jobs, more money. That’s the big sell, but to me that’s also a deflection,” she said.
Gallagher also went on a tour of the facility and community and believes the data center could bring up to 200 jobs to the community and won’t be a burden on the natural resources.
“I’m not fearful of what’s going to be out there, I think misinformation that’s been sent out, that’s the fear,” Gallagher said.
Sabey has until August on its land sale agreement with Butte to decide if it will build at the Montana Connections Industrial Park.
