Kassi Solberg Challenges 5,000-Acre Montana A.I. Data Center as Mayor Threatens Sheriff Call
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · May 26
Kassi Solberg Challenges 5,000-Acre Montana A.I. Data Center as Mayor Threatens Sheriff Call
1 articles · Updated · The New York Times · May 26
43-year-old Kassi Solberg pressed Broadview officials for details on a planned 5,000-acre A.I. data center near her rural property, turning a sparsely attended town council meeting into a confrontation.
The clash escalated when she asked whether any council members had signed nondisclosure agreements with the Houston developer and sought a public forum on the project; the mayor refused and threatened to call the sheriff.
Solberg argues the campus—about 3,800 football fields—could upend the area's long-standing farming and ranching way of life, even though the site lies outside Broadview's town limits.
The dispute reflects a broader national buildout of data centers to support artificial intelligence, with rural communities increasingly facing fights over land use, transparency and local control.
In the AI 'gold rush,' are secret corporate deals silencing the voices of rural American communities?
When a data center consumes a state's worth of power, who ultimately bears the environmental and financial cost?