Quantica Big Sky: Montana’s Proposed AI Campus

Project stage Proposed / development

Published November 2, 2026 (Arizona) · Evidence reviewed November 3, 2026 (UTC)

1,100 MW planned campus/study endpoint; initial 25 MW studied service target. Neither is operating IT capacity.

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Investment takeaway

Big Sky’s Montana proposal has a named developer, a utility development agreement and early site-access work. The next test is whether those steps become authorized water supply, an executable power-service commitment and data halls accepted by customers. The published plans do not yet establish delivered AI capacity or project earnings.

A campus near Broadview

Big Sky Digital Infrastructure LLC, a Quantica Infrastructure company, proposes an AI and hyperscale campus near Broadview in Yellowstone County. The developer describes approximately 5,100 acres; Tetra Tech’s September engineering report describes 5,083 acres and identifies the applicant’s former name as Montana Property LLC. These source descriptions are not a verified parcel survey. No named AI customer or deployed workload is established in the reviewed record.

Power plans are not power delivered

Quantica’s May 20 announcement describes a 1,100 MW campus plan. NorthWestern’s September investor presentation lists a development agreement, an initial 25 MW study load rising toward 1,100 MW, and an early-2029 target. A development agreement and a study endpoint are not an executed electricity-service agreement or energized IT load.

Generation has a different scope

The developer separately announced applications for a maximum 7,235 MW of additional capacity, describing renewable and firming generation, plus battery storage. Those applications begin a review process. Their stated capacity cannot be added to the campus target or treated as continuous, contracted supply to data halls. A later local report attributed more than 1,700 MW to Quantica, but no primary revision reconciling that figure was found. This profile retains the dated 1,100 MW company and utility scope rather than treating the larger report as delivered capacity.

What the site activity establishes

KTVQ’s local reporting describes access-road work and preparation for well pads off Buffalo Trail Road. That is evidence of enabling activity, not completed well testing, vertical construction of data halls, energization or operation. Quantica’s May release targets the first building for 2029; the utility’s early-2029 initial-service target remains a separate milestone.

The current review concerns a well

Montana DEQ’s September 28 draft addresses drilling, developing and testing one proposed public-water well. The current notice extends comments to November 6, 2026 at 11:59 p.m., without specifying a timezone. The draft is not an issued well approval or authorization for the entire campus. A separate sage-grouse consultation covers two well pads and access roads and expressly precedes review of the wider development.

Closed-loop cooling still has a water allowance

Tetra Tech’s September 2 application estimates an operating planning allowance of 20,000 gallons per day: 4,250 for personnel and building services, 7,750 for seasonal irrigation, 7,500 for periodic cooling-system recharge and maintenance, and 500 for fire-water top-off and testing. These are applicant design estimates, not measured consumption or approved water rights. Closed-loop cooling is proposed; installed equipment, actual coolant flow and commissioned heat rejection remain unverified.

Capital and company exposure

EnCap’s disclosures identify its sponsorship of Quantica, but the reviewed sources do not establish ownership percentages, a closed Big Sky financing, paid project capital or site revenue. NorthWestern’s role is the utility development/study counterparty. Tetra Tech’s supported role is the well consultant, not a verified campus-wide construction contract. Their consolidated financial statements provide corporate context only.

What to watch next

The next useful evidence is a final well decision and actual yield and water-quality tests, followed by the separate water-right and full-system approvals. For power, track an executed service agreement and phase-specific delivery. For the campus, track named customer commitments, data-hall construction, equipment installation and acceptance. Until those milestones are documented, operating IT capacity, utilization and project earnings remain unavailable.

FJI source-qualified: four-document gate met, including project-specific government evidence. Qualification evidence and decisions →

Sources and claim boundaries

Government records, developer disclosures, utility documents and original local reporting establish different facts. Multiple documents from one issuer are not independent confirmations. Source dates are not delivery dates.

1. Quantica: campus and generation applications, May 20, 2026

   Planned campus and separate applications; not delivered power.

2. Montana DEQ: draft well review, September 28, 2026

   One proposed well, not whole-campus approval.

3. NorthWestern: September 2026 investor presentation, slides 24–25

   Development agreement, study load and target dates.

4. KTVQ: road work and well-pad preparation near Broadview

   Original local observation; no operating data halls established. Exact publication date unverified.

5. Montana DEQ: current public-comment notice

   November 6 deadline; no final decision asserted.

6. Montana sage-grouse consultation, September 2, 2026

   Two well pads and access roads; broader campus review remains separate.

7. Tetra Tech: September 2 well design report

   Applicant design estimates and limited request, especially printed pages 1 and 5–7.

8. KTVQ: later reported campus power figure

   More than 1,700 MW remains unreconciled with the reviewed primary documents.

9. EnCap: Quantica launch announcement

   Sponsorship, not a quantified Big Sky financing.

10. EnCap: current Quantica portfolio record

    Corporate affiliation, not a complete project cap table.

AI-assisted public-source research by Fjord Journal. No site visit or independent metering. Scoped source review does not certify whole-project delivery; planned power remains excluded from operating-IT totals.