Krambu Data Center, Bonner, Montana

Krambu, an Idaho company, applied to build a data center in the former UFP Edge building at the Bonner Mill Industrial Park in Bonner, Missoula County, Montana, where a cryptocurrency mine ran from 2017 to 2020. Because the site sits within 500 feet of a residential property boundary, the county's Consolidated Land Use Board had to review the project before any permit could be issued, with a hearing set for July 1, 2026. On July 6, 2026, Mike Heisey, general manager of the industrial park, withdrew his signature from Krambu's application, leaving the project withdrawn: "Bonner Property will not be moving forward with the data center proposed by them."

Krambu's application said the facility would start at about 7 megawatts of power and could grow to as much as 100 megawatts, and county zoning required the power to come from a new renewable source. The data center would run around the clock with no regular staff, using a closed loop cooling system with evaporative and dry towers; the evaporative towers would need about 500 gallons of water to fill and be recharged three or four times a year.

More than 100 people came to a University of Montana panel on May 19, 2026 to raise concerns about the project. "If we aren't diligent and firm and seeking strong sideboards around data centers, we could end up paying the financial and environmental cost, with the economic benefits largely accruing to out-of-state tech billionaires," said Derek Goldman of the North West Energy Coalition, who helped organize the panel.

Anne Hedges of the Montana Environmental Information Center said three data centers seeking to connect to NorthWestern Energy were together asking for 1,400 megawatts of power by 2030: "It's mind-numbing to think that we would have to provide that much power to these companies. We simply cannot supply this amount of energy."

County planner Jennie Dixon said she had encouraged Krambu to stay the course, asking, "wouldn't it be fantastic if Missoula could be the poster child for how to do a data center the right way?" County officials said the issues found while reviewing Krambu's application partly prompted a proposed interim zoning pause on new or expanding data centers; commissioners were set to vote on it July 9, 2026, and no result has been published in the sources reviewed.