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Data-center developers pitch closed-loop cooling to minimize potable-water use; watchdogs press for binding rules
Summary
Developers told the committee closed-loop, air-first cooling with covered thermal storage can avoid routine potable withdrawals; environmental groups and residents urged pre-approval transparency, reporting, and enforceable limits amid concerns over potential large water or pollutant loads if open-loop systems were used.
Data-center developers and environmental groups debated water use and cooling design for large compute facilities during the committee's afternoon panel.
Developers from several companies described designs that prioritize air-first heat rejection, closed-loop heat exchangers, covered thermal-storage tanks and nonpotable industrial makeup sources. Rob Corbin of Sabey said the company aims to avoid routine use of community potable supplies and to rely on covered thermal storage to smooth peak cooling demand. A Beowulf-affiliated representative described a sealed closed-loop system that uses a food-grade propylene-glycol mixture for freeze protection and said the system requires only a one-time startup fill plus periodic makeup for maintenance and evaporation.
Developers' estimates and transparency: Sabey supplied a design-range estimate for a proposed facility of roughly 16'20 million gallons per year for makeup and occasional maintenance flows (the company said it is sharing design data with Montana Tech for independent verification). Corbin described typical industry PUE (power usage effectiveness) ranges and emphasized the efficiency advantage in Montana's cool, dry climate.
Concerns from public-interest groups: Environmental commenters and local residents urged the committee to require upfront, binding limits, metering and public reporting. The Upper Missouri Waterkeeper and the Montana Environmental Information Center asked the committee to define data centers as a distinct water-use class for regulatory clarity and to watch for potential pollution pathways from cooling blowdown or equipment cleaning that local wastewater-treatment systems might not be equipped to treat.
Committee follow-up: Members discussed statutory metering and reporting options and asked DNRC and DEQ whether rulemaking alone could require metering for certain large industrial users. DNRC staff said new statutory language would likely be required for metering and reporting tied specifically to exception categories; the committee asked staff to prepare options for statutory changes and standards for the March meeting.
No formal votes were taken; the discussion ended with committee direction to compile technical designs, verified water-use calculations and possible statutory language for metering/reporting.
