Data center profile · Eastern edge of Great Falls, Cascade County, Montana (outside city limits, north of Malmstrom Air Force Base)

TAC Project Cardinal

A cancelled 600 MW (developer says) hyperscale campus on 569 acres at Great Falls, Montana, dropped at the entitlement stage in fall 2025 after the developer could not secure power

Cancelled. TAC Data Centers released its land option in Oct. and Nov. 2025, before any zoning application, permit or construction. It signed no NorthWestern Energy power agreement and named no tenant; Great Falls officials say none is proposed (July 2026).
600 MW
power requested (developer says)
500 to 600 MW of critical load asked of NorthWestern Energy
569 acres
site under option
Roehm family land; never purchased
$1-1.5B
stated investment at full buildout
up to 20 buildings, about 2 million sq ft
Oct. 2025
TAC pulled out of the land agreement
reported mid-Nov. 2025 (press)
OperatorTAC Data Centers (platform of The Ardent Companies, Atlanta)
CustomerNone ever announced
Planned IT capacity480 MW at full build-out (our estimate from the company's 0.6 GW campus power figure)
Next stepNone scheduled: the project has ended and no replacement is proposed
Permits

Permits checklist

1 withdrawn · 3 checked, nothing on file

Approvals a campus like this normally needs, and what we found.

Risks

Why it stopped, what could revive it

Power

Power and the grid

Not used, not on record, or dropped

Getting on the grid

Who supplies what, what it costs, and what is still not public.

  1. June 2025
    In the transmission study queue
    TAC said progress was slow, timelines unclear and that it could not proceed without NorthWestern's cooperation. Company · June 2025
  2. As of Nov. 2025
    No service agreement ever filed
    No electric service agreement for TAC was ever filed with the Montana Public Service Commission; NorthWestern's data-center letters of intent went to three other developers. see Permits
  3. March 2026
    Utility proposes large-load rules
    After the cancellation, NorthWestern proposed a tariff requiring a development agreement and commission approval for loads of 50 MW or more. News report · March 2026

What is next door

campus10.55 km · gas pipelinecampus10.55 km · gas pipeline

Distances from mapped lines and plants. OpenStreetMap · Oct. 2026

Money

Money on record

$1-1.5B stated capital investment at full buildout (never funded). Local government · June 2025

Not on record: power agreement or tenant commitment: no letter of intent or service agreement with any power company News report · Nov. 2025

Timeline

What happened, and what is due

SitePaper trailConstructionPowerPermitsMoneyLegalUpcoming
  1. June 2025
    Power TAC says it is in NorthWestern's transmission study queue, progress is slow and it cannot proceed without the utility. Company · June 2025
  2. June 17, 2025
    Site Great Falls Development Authority announces the Project Cardinal data center, up to 600 MW on 569 acres. News report · June 2025
  3. Oct. 1, 2025
    Site TAC pulls out of its land agreement and the project ends (press). News report · Oct. 2025
  4. Nov. 2025
    Site Development authority board discusses TAC's release of the land option; TAC gave no reason (press). News report · Nov. 2025
  5. Nov. 17, 2025
    Power A complaint over NorthWestern's data-center letters of intent names three other developers, not TAC. Utility regulator · Nov. 2025
  6. March 2026
    Power NorthWestern files a proposed large-load tariff with the Montana Public Service Commission. News report · March 2026
  7. July 6, 2026
    Site Local task force is told no data centers are proposed for Great Falls. Local government · July 2026
  8. Aug. 3, 2026
    Permits Residents present a petition seeking safeguards or a moratorium on hyperscale data centers in Cascade County (press). News report · Aug. 2026
The buildings

Specs

Up to 20 buildings
single-story, about 2 million sq ft; first buildings 135,000 to 200,000 sq ft
Local government · June 2025
2 substations
one utility-owned and one owner-owned planned on site
News report · June 2025
Late 2027
original target for first buildings; full build by 2030 (press)
News report · June 2025
Who is involved

Owners, partners and builders

Owners
  • TAC Data Centers and The Ardent Companies: developer
  • Roehm family: landowner, kept the land
Decision-makers
  • Cascade County: zoning (no application)
  • Montana Public Service Commission: utility contracts
  • NorthWestern Energy: power and transmission
Counterparties
  • Great Falls Development Authority: recruited the project and later formed a task force
Not related
  • Vision Net: small existing Great Falls data center, separate from this project
Still unknown

Open questions

Where this comes from

86 records from 23 documents

Drawn from news reports, local government records, public and commercial datasets, company statements, utility regulator dockets, securities filings and state agency records, each kept with its date and source. The bar shows documents by type.

News report 11Local government 4Dataset 4Company 1Utility regulator 1SEC filing 1State agency 1
Evidence

Every quote behind this page

Grade key: A = the primary record itself (permit, filing, exhibit) · B = a dated official statement · C = news reporting. Map distances are our own measurements on OpenStreetMap and carry no grade. Allegations in lawsuits are marked as such in the quotes.

Power (21)
  • Utility service: not stated
    “We are in the queue with Northwestern Energy for a transmission study but progress has been slow and timelines are still unclear”
    Company · Oct. 2026 · grade A
  • IT capacity: not stated
    “Project Cardinal 500-600 megawatts critical load requested from Northwestern and other power generation sources”
    Company · Oct. 2026 · grade A
  • On-site generation: not stated
    “Project Cardinal 500-600 megawatts critical load requested from Northwestern and other power generation sources”
    Company · Oct. 2026 · grade A
  • Electric service agreement approval (Mont. Code Ann. 69-8-201): never filed
    “NorthWestern intends to provide 1,400 megawatts of electricity supply service to three data center developers in Montana”
    Utility regulator · Nov. 2025 · grade A
  • Stated campus size: 600 MW
    “Total power capacity requested for Project Cardinal: 600 MW”
    Local government · June 2025 · grade A
  • Site description: Eastern edge of Great Falls, across from AgriTech Business Park, north of Malmstrom AFB, near the Great Falls Rainbow Power Substation at the southern end of the Montana-Alberta Tie Line
    “Project Cardinal Approximately 569 acres, requires zoning, Northwestern studying transmission grid”
    Company · June 2025 · grade A
  • Power plan: grid - NorthWestern Energy transmission service (study queue only; never contracted)
    “we cannot proceed further without Northwestern's cooperation”
    Company · June 2025 · grade A
  • Utility: NorthWestern Energy
    “Project Cardinal 500-600 megawatts critical load requested from Northwestern and other power generation sources”
    Company · June 2025 · grade A
  • Transmission interconnection study request: study requested; stalled
    “We are in the queue with Northwestern Energy for a transmission study but progress has been slow and timelines are still unclear”
    Company · June 2025 · grade A
  • Nearest gas pipeline: 10.55 km
    Measured on OpenStreetMap map data.
    OpenStreetMap · Oct. 2026
  • Registry status: No MT DEQ air quality permit or application and no EPA ECHO facility record for TAC Data Centers / Project Cardinal as of Oct. 18, 2026; entitlement-stage project only (569-acre site adjacent to AgriTech Pa
    “ECHO air pull at the Great Falls point 47.5053,-111.28 returned 11 facilities (city and industrial sources)”
    State agency · Oct. 2026 · grade B
  • Jurisdiction: Cascade County (site outside Great Falls city limits)
    “Atlanta-based TAC Data Centers is proposing a 569-acre development adjacent to the AgriTech Park, north of Malmstrom Air Force Base”
    News report · Oct. 2026 · grade C
  • Utility merger docket (context): NorthWestern-Black Hills merger pending; data-center load featured in investor rationale
    “NorthWestern earlier said it was in talks with at least 11 entities about data center development”
    News report · May 2026 · grade C
  • NorthWestern's three Montana data-center LOIs total about 1,400 MW - roughly double its approximately 750-760 MW average Montana load - and cover Atlas Power, Sabey and Quantica only. TAC's requested 600 MW was never in
    “NorthWestern has entered into letters of intent to provide as much as 1,400 megawatts of electricity supply to three data center developers in Montana”
    News report · Nov. 2025 · grade C
  • Developer: TAC Data Centers (The Ardent Companies)
    “Atlanta-based TAC Data Centers is proposing a 569-acre development adjacent to the AgriTech Park, north of Malmstrom Air Force Base”
    News report · June 2025 · grade C
  • Substations planned: 2 on-site substations planned (1 utility-owned, 1 owner-owned)
    “Site plans suggest TAC is aiming to develop up to 20 single-story buildings totaling 500-600MW, as well as two on-site substations”
    News report · June 2025 · grade C
  • Stated campus size: 600 MW
    “Site plans suggest TAC is aiming to develop up to 20 single-story buildings totaling 500-600MW”
    News report · June 2025 · grade C
  • Utility: NorthWestern Energy (transmission study queue; progress slow per the developer)
    “The company noted Project Cardinal is in the queue with Northwestern Energy for a transmission study”
    News report · June 2025 · grade C
  • Stated campus size: 600 MW
    “Site plans suggest TAC is aiming to develop up to 20 single-story buildings totaling 500-600MW”
    News report · June 2025 · grade C
  • Interconnection status: Cancelled before any utility filing took effect: at announcement (Jun 2025) TAC said Project Cardinal was in NorthWestern Energy's queue for a transmission study, with slow progress and unclear ti
    “The company noted Project Cardinal is in the queue with Northwestern Energy for a transmission study”
    News report · June 2025 · grade C
  • MEIC's contemporaneous roundup counted the June TAC announcement (a data center on about 600 acres near Great Falls requiring up to 600 MW) among at least 2,100 MW of Montana data-center proposals announced within six mo
    “Collectively, these proposals total at least 2100 MWs (before factoring in the electricity needs of the proposed Sabey data center)”
    News report · 2025 · grade C
Money and contracts (17)
  • Name: TAC Project Cardinal
    “Size of site under contract for Project Cardinal hyperscale data center campus: 569 acres”
    Local government · Oct. 2026 · grade A
  • Site acres: 569 acres
    “Size of site under contract for Project Cardinal hyperscale data center campus: 569 acres”
    Local government · June 2025 · grade A
  • Land control: Option/contract on Roehm family land; land never purchased
    “Size of site under contract for Project Cardinal hyperscale data center campus: 569 acres”
    Local government · June 2025 · grade A
  • Stated capital cost: $1-1.5 billion estimated capital investment at full buildout
    “Estimated capital investment at full buildout: $1-1.5 billion”
    Local government · June 2025 · grade A
  • Land option / contract: existence and scope - 569 acres under contract at announcement
    “Size of site under contract for Project Cardinal hyperscale data center campus: 569 acres”
    Local government · June 2025 · grade A
  • Transmission study queue position: status - queue position for a transmission study only; not a capacity reservation and not an agreement to serve
    “We are in the queue with Northwestern Energy for a transmission study but progress has been slow and timelines are still unclear”
    Company · June 2025 · grade A
  • Developer statement of gating condition: condition precedent (power availability) - unmet at cancellation
    “we cannot proceed further without Northwestern's cooperation”
    Company · June 2025 · grade A
  • Tenant status: no tenant announced at cancellation
    “It's unclear if an end-user has been secured for the site”
    News report · Oct. 2026 · grade C
  • Land option / contract: termination - TAC released its option/lease on the Roehm property; no reason communicated to GFDA or the landowner
    “We're always disappointed when a project doesn't go ahead, but we have other potentials in the works”
    News report · Nov. 2025 · grade C
  • Power supply LOI / ESA: finding - no LOI or ESA was ever executed with any power company
    “had not yet signed any agreements or Letters of Intent with any power companies”
    News report · Nov. 2025 · grade C
  • Project Cardinal ended in October 2025 when TAC pulled out of the Great Falls land-lease agreement (month as reported; no company filing or release records the withdrawal). Queue verdict "cancelled" is consistent with th
    “Yet, the project ended in October when TAC pulled out of the agreement”
    News report · Oct. 2025 · grade C
  • Project Cardinal ended in October 2025 when TAC pulled out of the Great Falls land-lease agreement (month as reported; no company filing or release records the withdrawal). Queue verdict "cancelled" is consistent with th
    “Yet, the project ended in October when TAC pulled out of the agreement”
    News report · Oct. 2025 · grade C
  • Construction stage: none - entitlement-stage only; TAC pulled out of the land agreement in October 2025 and the project ended; no construction at any point
    “the project ended in October when TAC pulled out of the agreement”
    News report · Oct. 2025 · grade C
  • Aliases: Project Cardinal
    “The company reportedly aims to invest $1-1.5 billion in the 2 million sq ft development, known as Project Cardinal”
    News report · June 2025 · grade C
  • Tenants: None identified; no end-user was ever announced
    “It's unclear if an end-user has been secured for the site”
    News report · June 2025 · grade C
  • Development recruitment relationship: scope - GFDA worked with Ardent for five months before the June 2025 announcement
    “GFDA said it has been working with Ardent for the past five months to develop the project”
    News report · June 2025 · grade C
  • Tenant status: none found - no end user was secured for the site
    “It's unclear if an end-user has been secured for the site”
    News report · June 2025 · grade C
Permits and government (10)
  • Zoning / land-use application: none filed (negative finding)
    “Zoning, permitting, and securing power are expected to take 12-18 months”
    Company · Oct. 2026 · grade A
  • GFDA Data Center Task Force (Fourth Meeting): Cheyenne LEADS presentation; community Q and A confirms no proposed data centers in Great Falls
    “There are no proposed data centers for Great Falls at this time”
    Local government · July 2026 · grade A
  • GFDA Data Center Task Force (Meeting Two): Vision Net presentation on Montana data center types and its existing Great Falls facility
    “There are currently no new Vision Net locations planned in Cascade County”
    Local government · March 2026 · grade A
  • Data center zoning framework (context, not this campus): agenda item - CCZR amendment
    “amend the zoning text to include a definition of Data Center to Cascade County Zoning Regulations (CCZR) § 2, and add the Data Center to CCZR § 18.1”
    Local government · Oct. 2020 · grade A
  • Cascade County residents presented a petition seeking safeguards or a moratorium on hyperscale data centers - a post-cancellation regulatory aftershock with no live project attached
    “Residents present petition seeking safeguards or moratorium on hyperscale data centers in Cascade County”
    News report · Aug. 2026 · grade C
  • Cascade County (public meeting): Residents presented a petition seeking safeguards or a moratorium on hyperscale data centers
    “Residents present petition seeking safeguards or moratorium on hyperscale data centers in Cascade County”
    News report · Aug. 2026 · grade C
  • NorthWestern's 2026 Integrated Resource Plan (filed Apr 30, 2026) modeled data-center scenarios of 150, 650 and 1,160 MW and identified severe transmission constraints south of Great Falls - the corridor relevant to any
    “The IRP also identifies severe transmission constraints in Billings, Butte and South of Great Falls, making siting location a material feasibility factor”
    News report · April 2026 · grade C
  • Large New Load Tariff Rule No. 24 (context): tariff rule proposed by NorthWestern (after Cardinal's cancellation)
    “Execution of the Development Agreement establishes queue position but does not obligate NorthWestern to provide service and does not constitute a capacity reservation”
    News report · March 2026 · grade C
  • Great Falls Development Authority Board of Directors: TAC Data Centers withdrawal - board discussed TAC's release of the Roehm land option at its Thursday meeting (reported mid-Nov 2025)
    “They have not communicated a reason, but it's not a surprise to us”
    News report · Nov. 2025 · grade C
  • Montana Public Service Commission: Data-center information meeting / work session announced by PSC President Brad Molnar
    “We're also alarmed by the avalanche of announcements of data centers coming to Montana”
    News report · Aug. 2025 · grade C
Site and other (12)
  • GFDA convened a Data Center Task Force of about 68-80 community members after the withdrawal; at the Jul 6, 2026 meeting GFDA confirmed there are no proposed data centers for Great Falls, and Vision Net is only upgrading
    “There are no proposed data centers for Great Falls at this time”
    Local government · July 2026 · grade A
  • Buildings planned: Up to 20 single-story buildings; about 2,000,000 sq ft total; initial buildings 135,000-200,000 sq ft
    “Total building square footage of proposed Project Cardinal campus: 2 million”
    Local government · June 2025 · grade A
  • Filing record: No SEC filing names TAC Data Centers, Project Cardinal (Great Falls, MT), or any sponsor entity for this campus; the sponsor is private and has no EDGAR footprint
    “Full-text search of EDGAR for "TAC Data Centers" returned 0 documents”
    SEC filing · Oct. 2026 · grade B
  • Construction stage: none - entitlement-stage only; no construction ever began
    “They have not communicated a reason, but it's not a surprise to us”
    News report · Oct. 2026 · grade C
  • GFDA's Jolene Schalper attributed the withdrawal to energy availability: a major hyperscaler withdrew due to energy availability and the community then formed a data center task force. TAC itself never stated a reason; t
    “Following the interest from a major hyperscaler that ultimately withdrew due to energy availability, the community initiated a data center task force”
    News report · Sept. 2026 · grade C
  • Stage: cancelled
    “We're always disappointed when a project doesn't go ahead, but we have other potentials in the works”
    News report · Nov. 2025 · grade C
  • Current target date: cancelled - no COD; project withdrawn fall 2025
    “We're always disappointed when a project doesn't go ahead, but we have other potentials in the works”
    News report · Nov. 2025 · grade C
  • Upper Missouri Waterkeeper publicly celebrated the project's demise in Missoulian coverage, citing prospective water use (millions of gallons per day claimed by opponents)
    “We're always disappointed when a project doesn't go ahead, but we have other potentials in the works”
    News report · Nov. 2025 · grade C
  • County: Cascade County
    “the Great Falls Development Alliance (GFDA) this week announced that a data center was coming to the Cascade County city of Great Falls”
    News report · June 2025 · grade C
  • First announced: June 17, 2025
    “the Great Falls Development Alliance (GFDA) this week announced that a data center was coming to the Cascade County city of Great Falls”
    News report · June 2025 · grade C
  • Original target date: Construction to begin 2026; initial buildings online late 2027 / early 2028; full build-out by 2030
    “Construction is set to begin next year, with the initial 135,000-200,000 sq ft buildings coming online in late 2027/early 2028. Full campus build-out would be expected by 2030”
    News report · June 2025 · grade C
  • Site acres: 569 acres
    “Atlanta-based TAC Data Centers is proposing a 569-acre development adjacent to the AgriTech Park”
    News report · June 2025 · grade C