Quantica’s CFO Charlie Baker, right, talks about the company’s data center project near Broadview with Jess Peterson who is in charge of stakeholder engagement for the company.
Quantica Infrastructure plans to build a data center and renewable energy project on more than 5,000 acres of land for a project they call Big Sky Campus.
A map showing the approximate project area for the Buffalo Trail Wind and Solar project near Broadview.
The MTSun solar project north of Billings came on line in November 2022. This photo shows the project as it neared completion in August 2022.
When a little-known company called Montana Property LLC purchased 5,000 acres — around eight square miles — just south of Broadview in 2024, the acquisition didn’t necessarily make waves.
But roughly one year later, the purchaser’s parent company Quantica Infrastructure announced development plans for a sprawling data center that would be part of a larger campus there.
While some may consider the 2024 purchase a simple real estate transaction, the reality behind how the land came to be earmarked for a data center is complex. Long before the parcel was slated to house a warehouse to fuel the booming artificial intelligence arms race and its skyrocketing demand for data storage and processing, there existed plans to build an expansive renewable energy project.
What follows is a detailed summary of the about-face in proposed projects — a transition that showcases how far the developer’s Montana connections and roots go.
Chicago-based developer Invernergy initially acquired most of the data center’s land and associated renewable leases more than a decade ago for a planned wind energy project. They requested a connection to NorthWestern Energy’s Broadview substation in 2015, with turbines set to spin by 2018. But that effort never materialized.
A map showing the approximate project area for the Buffalo Trail Wind and Solar project near Broadview.
Broad Reach Power, founded by Houston-based EnCap Investments, announced its purchase of the project from Invernergy for the project known as Buffalo Trail Wind and Solar in 2020, with a plan to have power put onto the grid by the end of 2022, which was then delayed. Developers described the nearby Broadview substation as a significant asset to the project. They also purchased some land surrounding the substation in 2020 for an impending connection. But that effort again never materialized.
Quantica Infrastructure plans to build a data center and renewable energy project on more than 5,000 acres of land for a project they call Big Sky Campus.
Broad Reach’s local developer was Billings Republican legislator Daniel Zolkinov, according to a press release. He resigned from the Legislature to take the position in 2020, with his wife Katie taking his spot.
Prior to his resignation, Daniel chaired the House’s energy committee — a position that was later occupied by Katie in 2023 and 2024.
In 2025, Katie Zolkinov sponsored a bill placing guardrails on wind farms including 1,500-feet setbacks from occupied residences. It garnered support from the wind energy industry amid a slew of more hostile Republican bills. She told the Gazette in October the bill’s intent was to offer a more stable regulatory environment in Montana for developers.
French multinational utility company ENGIE acquired Broad Reach in August 2023. Daniel Zolkinov’s time at Broad Reach came to an end that year, according to his LinkedIn. But when the company issued a news release announcing the acquisition, the portfolio of renewable assets across the Mountain West were omitted. It was then left to Broad Reach’s parent company EnCap, a private equity firm historically steeped in oil and gas investments, to decide what to do with the remaining, mostly undeveloped, portfolio.
John Chesser reached out to EnCap about assets remaining dormant thereafter. Previously, Chesser was the chief financial officer for Houston-based Talen Energy — the company operating the Colstrip coal fired power plant. He also spearheaded the development of a data center campus acquired by Amazon and a Bitcoin mining facility, both in Pennsylvania. He also led the company’s Montana unit and worked on mergers and acquisitions.
Chesser left in July 2023 “to pursue other opportunities,” according to a Talen Energy news release.
In July 2025, EnCap announced the creation of Quantica Infrastructure to build data centers across America with customers benefitting from “seamless integration of renewable energy,” according to a news release.
The data center was announced days later as Big Sky Campus, a noticeable change from the renewables projects that were intended to provide power to Western states a decade ago. Chesser is CEO of the company building the project.
Using renewables is a rare approach for data centers that have brought their own power. It’s often used as a way to bypass the time it takes to be plugged into the grid to meet the voracious demand from tech companies. Most have used gas generators — sometimes brought by semitrucks.
One past Broad Reach project that did get developed is MTSUN. Located north of Billings, it’s the largest solar facility in the state, online since November 2022. The plant is now owned by New York-based Greenback Renewable Energy. Still, it has a 25-year power purchase agreement with NorthWestern Energy.
The MTSun solar project north of Billings came on line in November 2022. This photo shows the project as it neared completion in August 2022.
Broadview Solar, a proposed solar and battery project also north of Billings, has been fought in court by NorthWestern since 2022 over concerns of its classification that would force the utility to contract for the power. The utility lost for a second time in federal court this September.
NorthWestern already appealed to the Supreme Court once in the case, before being directed back to the lower courts. NorthWestern could have appealed again, however, the utility decided not to. One possible explanation is a new contract it had signed.
Two months before the lawsuit’s ruling, NorthWestern signed a letter of agreement with Quantica Infrastructure to provide up to 1,000 megawatts of electricity.
In the end, Broadview Solar, the developer with which Northwestern fought for years in court, ended up being the company with which the utility is now doing business — Quantica Infrastructure. Both were founded by EnCap.
In 2025, Broadview Solar’s mailing address was changed to Damon Obie, a stated cofounder of Quantica. It’s the same mailing address as Montana Property LLC, where the data center and its associated campus are slated to go after years of mostly unmaterialized projects north of Billings.
In a statement to the Gazette, Jo Dee Black denied any correlation between the nonaction on the lawsuit and its business operations.
“NorthWestern Energy’s approach in all power purchase and regulatory matters is guided by one core responsibility: protecting our customers by securing reliable electricity at the best possible value,” Black said. “Decisions about whether to continue litigation or pursue additional appeals are made based on a comprehensive assessment of customer impacts, regulatory considerations, and the likelihood that further legal action would deliver meaningful benefits for customers.”
Quantica’s CFO Charlie Baker, right, talks about the company’s data center project near Broadview with Jess Peterson who is in charge of stakeholder engagement for the company.
Quantica began talks with NorthWestern in late 2024, according to Chief Financial Officer Charlie Baker in an interview with the Gazette.
In February 2025, NorthWestern announced a new transmission line from the Shorey Road substation, less than 4 miles east of the MTSUN solar farm, to the Broadview substation that past renewable projects saw as a boon. The $25 to $30-million project includes upgrades to both substations alongside the 21-mile transmission line. The project is expected to be completed by 2028.
“This work will provide critical additional electric transmission capacity to serve Billings area customers and the region, ensuring continued safe reliable electric service is provided to support growing electric load and Billings area economy,” a February 2025 fact sheet on the project stated.
Similarly, the data center is expected to start drawing power by 2028, right around when the transmission project will conclude.
Originally published on billingsgazette.com, part of the BLOX Digital Content Exchange.
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