Questions to a Data Center Proponent in Montana

 Prompt:

I asked these questions to a proponent of data centers in Montana.

How do the closed-loop cooling systems in Montana work?

How is the off-grid power generated?

His answers are as follows.  Are they correct and what exceptions/loopholes did he omit?

“Closed loop works like your car. They fill the system one time with water and anti freeze the water is pumped through radiators and fans blow air through the radiator to cool the system. Once filled no new water is needed. After some years the system will be drained the liquids will get treated and recycled. Their water for initial filling is coming from an aquifer 3000 feet deeper than what the farmers are using and is totally separate from the farmers aquifer. The power is generated on site by using wind, solar and battery storage plus a natural gas generating plant. If for some reason they need to draw power from the grid the data center will pay premium prices to protect consumers. Most of the new proposed data centers are using closed loop cooling and self generated power unlike the data centers built years ago.”

Gemini Responds:
The proponent’s explanation is partially accurate on the basic physics, but it relies on significant oversimplifications, technical omissions, and legal/regulatory loopholes regarding water, grid impacts, and off-grid power generation.

Below is a breakdown of what is accurate versus the exceptions, edge cases, and omissions that were left out.

Part 1: Closed-Loop Cooling Systems

What He Got Right

• Basic Mechanics: High-density closed-loop systems do operate similarly to a car radiator (closed-loop direct-to-chip or chilled water circuit) using closed piping, glycol/anti-freeze additives, and air-cooled radiators (dry coolers).
• Initial Fill: Once charged with a treated fluid, the internal loop recirculates the same liquid without continuous intentional evaporation inside the loop.

What He Omitted & Exceptions

1. The "Peak Heat / Adiabatic" Loophole (Huge Water Spike in Summer):

• Omission: Air-cooled radiators lose efficiency when ambient summer temperatures rise (e.g., Montana high-plains heatwaves over 90°F–100°F). To prevent high-density AI chips from throttling, almost all modern "closed-loop" data centers deploy adiabatic or hybrid booster units.
• The reality: When it gets hot, these systems spray mist/water onto the outdoor radiator coils to lower the air temperature via evaporation. While advertised as "closed loop," they can still consume thousands to tens of thousands of gallons of water per day during hot periods.

2. System Maintenance, Flushing, and Leaks:

• Omission: Closed systems require routine maintenance, mineral flushing, chemical biocides, and periodic blowdown/draining to prevent corrosion and fouling. They are not indefinitely maintenance-free "fill once and forget" systems.

3. Disposal of Industrial Fluids:

• Omission: Draining water mixed with glycol, scale inhibitors, and anti-corrosive chemicals requires hazardous wastewater treatment. Disposing of thousands of gallons of chemically treated industrial coolant in rural Montana—where municipal wastewater infrastructure is limited or non-existent—presents a major localized waste management challenge.

Part 2: The Deep Aquifer Claim (e.g., Madison Aquifer)

What He Got Right

• Developers in Montana (such as proposed facilities in Yellowstone County/Broadview) have planned to drill deep wells into deep bedrock layers like the Madison Group Aquifer (4,000–5,000 feet down) to avoid shallow domestic/agricultural wells (like the Eagle Aquifer).

What He Omitted & Exceptions

1. Hydrologic Interconnection & Long-Term Depletion:

• Omission: Deep aquifers are rarely 100% hydrologically isolated over long periods. Fractures, fault lines, or unsealed legacy oil/gas boreholes across Montana can create cross-contamination paths or inter-aquifer leakage when massive continuous pumping shifts pressure gradients.

2. Water Quality & Treatment Waste:

• Omission: Water pulled from 3,000 to 5,000 feet deep is often brackish, mineral-heavy, or high in total dissolved solids (TDS). To use it in sensitive data center chillers, it must undergo Reverse Osmosis (RO) filtration.
• The reality: RO filtration produces a heavy waste stream ("brine reject"). For every 10 gallons of deep aquifer water purified, 2 to 4 gallons are discarded as salty, mineralized wastewater that must be disposed of.

3. Montana Water Rights Exemptions:

• Omission: Industrial projects frequently leverage exempt well statutes or water transfer loopholes to bypass Montana’s closed-basin rules and DNRC (Department of Natural Resources and Conservation) public review processes designed to protect local watersheds.

Part 3: Off-Grid Power & Grid Reliance

What He Got Right

• Hybrid Designs: Many proposed rural data centers incorporate on-site solar, wind, battery energy storage systems (BESS), and natural gas turbines to secure high power capacities.

What He Omitted & Exceptions

1. "On-Site Natural Gas" is the Dominant Baseload:

• Omission: Wind and solar are non-dispatchable (variable) intermittent sources. High-density AI workloads require 99.999% uptime at a flat, massive load (e.g., 50 MW to 500+ MW continuously).
• The reality: The "natural gas plant" is not just a backup; it becomes the primary baseload engine running 24/7. This introduces continuous localized carbon emissions, air quality permitting issues, and pipeline infrastructure demands.

2. The "Premium Price" Grid Drawing Myth:

• Omission: Paying a premium price on the spot market does not automatically protect local rate-payers or grid stability.
• The reality:

• Transmission Bottlenecks: When a data center draws massive power during localized heatwaves or cold snaps, it strains physical transmission lines and transformers regardless of what rate it pays.
• Resource Adequacy & Capacity Cost: If power utilities (like NorthWestern Energy) have to procure extra generation capacity or build new transmission lines to support grid connections for data centers, those long-term capital costs are often spread across all rate-payers over time through utility rate base increases.

Key Summary of Omissions

Topic	What Was Claimed	What Was Omitted
Cooling	Zero new water needed after initial fill.	Hot summer days trigger adiabatic evaporative cooling, causing temporary spikes in water usage.
Water Source	Deep aquifers are 100% separate and safe.	Deep water requires heavy Reverse Osmosis purification, generating large toxic brine reject waste streams.
Chemical Disposal	Fluids are just recycled after years.	Requires specialized industrial disposal for glycol/additive waste in rural areas with limited wastewater infrastructure.
Power	Powered by renewables + gas backup.	Wind/solar cannot support 24/7 continuous baseloads; the natural gas plant acts as the primary power source.
Grid Impact	Paying premium prices protects consumers.	Physical line congestion and long-term utility infrastructure upgrades can drive up rates for everyday consumers.

Energy Self-Sufficiency by State in the USA

 Energy Self-Sufficiency by State

Energy self-sufficiency is measured using data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) by comparing a state's total primary energy production to its total primary energy consumption across all sectors (electricity, heating, industrial, and transportation).

States with a production-to-consumption ratio above 100% generate an energy surplus (net exporters), while those below 100% experience an energy deficit and rely on interstate transmission, pipelines, or imports (net importers).

Net Exporters (Self-Sufficient States)

These states produce significantly more primary energy (coal, natural gas, crude oil, nuclear, and renewables) than they consume.

1. Wyoming: Exceeds 1,000% self-sufficiency; the nation's leading coal producer, alongside large natural gas and wind output.
2. West Virginia: Produces ~400–500% of its needs, largely driven by coal mining and Marcellus shale natural gas.
3. North Dakota: Produces ~400–500% of its needs, propelled by Bakken formation oil and natural gas production.
4. New Mexico: Produces ~350–400% of its consumption due to high crude oil production in the Permian Basin.
5. Pennsylvania: Produces ~250–300% of its needs, driven by heavy natural gas extraction and nuclear power exports.
6. Texas: Produces ~200–250% of its needs; the country's single largest total energy producer (oil, gas, and renewables) despite heavy industrial consumption.
7. Alaska: Produces ~200% of its needs, supported by North Slope crude oil extraction.
8. Oklahoma: Produces ~180–200% of its needs through natural gas, crude oil, and wind generation.
9. Iowa: Produces ~150–170% of its needs, largely via biofuels (ethanol/biodiesel) and extensive wind capacity.
10. Colorado: Produces ~140–160% of its needs from natural gas, crude oil, and growing renewable capacity.
11. Louisiana: Produces ~130–150% of its needs through natural gas and refining, though offset by massive industrial demand.
12. Utah: Produces ~120–140% of its needs via natural gas, coal, and solar energy.
13. Montana: Produces ~120–130% of its needs through coal, hydro, and wind generation.
14. Nebraska: Produces ~110–120% of its needs, supported by corn ethanol biofuel production and wind generation.
15. Alabama: Produces ~105–115% of its needs through nuclear, natural gas, hydro, and biomass.
16. Kansas: Produces ~100–115% of its needs, driven by heavy wind energy expansion and oil/gas production.
    

Balanced / Near Self-Sufficiency (80% – 99%)

These states produce a substantial portion of their energy locally but rely on periodic imports depending on seasonal demand and fuel type.

17. Arkansas: ~90–98% (Natural gas, nuclear, biomass)
18. South Dakota: ~85–95% (Biofuels, wind, hydro)
19. Washington: ~85–95% (Leading hydro producer, though imports oil for transport)
20. Illinois: ~80–90% (Largest nuclear generator nationwide, plus coal)
21. Kentucky: ~80–90% (Coal and natural gas)
    

Moderate Net Importers (40% – 79%)

These states maintain moderate local production—such as nuclear, solar, wind, or natural gas—but rely heavily on interstate pipelines or grids for petroleum and electricity.

22. Ohio: ~70–79% (Natural gas production offsets industrial demand)
23. Mississippi: ~65–75% (Natural gas generation and refining)
24. Indiana: ~60–70% (Coal production and renewables)
25. Minnesota: ~55–65% (Biofuels, wind, and nuclear)
26. Idaho: ~50–60% (Hydro and wind energy)
27. Oregon: ~50–60% (Hydro and wind power)
28. South Carolina: ~50–60% (Nuclear-heavy power generation)
29. Georgia: ~45–55% (Nuclear, natural gas, and biomass)
30. North Carolina: ~45–55% (Nuclear and growing solar fleet)
31. California: ~40–50% (Produces substantial solar/geothermal, but imports ~22% of electricity and most crude oil)
32. Arizona: ~40–50% (Palo Verde nuclear and solar generation)
33. Nevada: ~40–50% (Utility-scale solar and geothermal)
34. Missouri: ~40–50% (Nuclear and renewables offset high coal consumption)
    

High Energy Deficit States (Under 40%)

These states lack major fossil extraction capabilities or lack sufficient land for utility-scale generation relative to their population and industrial consumption. They depend heavily on out-of-state transmission networks and pipelines.

35. Michigan: ~30–39%
36. Tennessee: ~30–39%
37. Virginia: ~30–39%
38. Maine: ~25–35%
39. Florida: ~20–30% (Generates significant electricity locally via natural gas, but imports virtually all primary fuel sources)
40. Wisconsin: ~20–30%
41. New York: ~20–30%
42. Vermont: ~15–25%
43. New Hampshire: ~15–25%
44. Maryland: ~15–25%
45. New Jersey: ~15–25%
46. Connecticut: ~15–20%
47. Hawaiʻi: ~10–15% (Highest reliance on imported petroleum for grid power)
48. Massachusetts: ~10–15%
49. Delaware: ~5–10%
50. Rhode Island: ~5–10%

Life in a Liminal Zone

I moved back to San Francisco a year ago, drawing litanies of doom loop alerts from others. To which, I'd reply, “Sounds like no better time to be there”.

By chance, I landed where I'd hoped, at the edge of San Francisco’s Barbary Coast-Jackson Square Historic District. Over the past year, walking through it every day, I've seen it become the preeminent center of global AI (Artificial Intelligence) Venture Capital funding. The rapid development has been astounding.  

Yet even more astounding is that AI was hardly mentioned in the 2024 election cycle, especially at the presidential level, because that office is destined to preside over decisions around the most profound technological transformation in human history. 

Most egregious of all was the Democrat's total silence around Peter Thiel even after the revelation that he promoted Vance, his protege, as Trump's successor in waiting.  If you can get through Bloomberg's paywall, read this 2018 article, Palantir Knows Everything About You.  Believe the headline. 

Palantir is Peter Thiel's data surveillance platform that got client startup funding in 2004 from the CIA. Since then it has secured US government contracts within at least twelve departments including Medicare and Medicaid which then VP Biden praised in 2010 for its success in uncovering Medicare fraud.  Wikipedia's Palantir reference (as long as it survives) has linked details: Palantir Technologies

And now at the dawn of the unknown Age of AI, Trump is the frictionless enabler for those who are actually in charge of creating a world that no one can accurately predict.

So to those gearing up to fight for their endangered issues, take heed of the wisdom about choosing battles wisely. Here's one small example of why social initiatives such as DEI (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion) become irrelevant in the Age of AI.  

Though I’m not inside the VC firms just blocks from my apartment, I do catch worthwhile bits of street level conversation. Walking behind two Venture Capitalists funding an AI tool to screen new-hire applicants, I heard them describe how it can determine the best "fit" using only a candidate's voice response patterns.

To the vast majority of us who know little to nothing about what AI is already capable of detecting, this can be touted as an audio only “color-blind” solution.

Yet, speech patterns, vocabulary, tone, metaphor, accent, etc., can accurately define cultural, economic, psychological identities with no human accountability for AI's decision. Meanwhile, in our day-to-day lives, we all contribute terabytes of training data 24/7 to refining its "fit" finding skills.

Facing a time that may be best summarized by the title of Peter Pomerantsev's book, Nothing is True and Everything is Possible, take stock of your own bottom lines. What is a "virtuous" life, a "meaningful" life, a "convenient" life?  At least these might be answers you can trust. 

Marketing is Propaganda - The Master of Freudian Persuasion

Marketing is Propaganda

Propaganda is a Latin word meaning 'to spread' - essentially - 'to propagate'. In 1622, it was originally used to describe the mission of a new administrative body in the Catholic Church called the Congregatio de Propaganda Fide (Congregation for Propagating the Faith). Its activity was aimed at "propagating" the Catholic faith in non-Catholic countries.

Until the 20th Century, its meaning was largely apolitical and amoral. But thanks to Edward Bernays, the power of persuasion became an essential tool in promoting acceptance of WWI.  As Sigmund Freud’s nephew, Bernays had the benefit of insider insights about exploiting human proclivities. WWI was not a popular cause in the US so a government agency called the Committee on Public Information hired Bernays to sway public opinion to support it. 

Referring to his work as “psychological warfare”, Bernays’s WWI propaganda campaign was successful beyond expectation. So, after the war he turned that success into a new field of marketing called Public Relations, focused on producing a pivotal psychological impact. He outlined the methods behind propaganda in his aptly named book, "Propaganda", which is still the foundational textbook of Public Relations.

Though Bernays was a professed Democrat and described his wife as a “feminist”,  he represented clients with any political and/or economic objective. His most cited persuasion campaign is the American Tobacco Company’s effort to increase its customer base by getting women to smoke. 

Its first series of ads used doctors to promote the idea that smoking could replace eating in an effort to stay thin.  Then Bernays succeeded in making lasting cultural change with “Torches of Freedom”, a staged event where a large group of influential Feminist debutantes in the NYC 1929 Easter parade smoked cigarettes along the route. 

Introduced in the 1970's as a "support statement" for Women's Lib, Virginia Slims cigarettes are an obvious example of "propaganda's" enduring power to both shape and capitalize upon social trends. 

So, with that background in mind, here are the opening and defining paragraphs of Propaganda.

---

ORGANIZING CHAOS

The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country.

We are governed, our minds molded, our tastes formed, our ideas suggested, largely by men we have never heard of. This is a logical result of the way in which our democratic society is organized. Vast numbers of human beings must cooperate in this manner if they are to live together as a smoothly functioning society.

Our invisible governors are, in many cases, unaware of the identity of their fellow members in the inner cabinet.

They govern us by their qualities of natural leadership, their ability to supply needed ideas and by their key position in the social structure. Whatever attitude one chooses toward this condition, it remains a fact that in almost every act of our daily lives, whether in the sphere of politics or business, in our social conduct or our ethical thinking, we are dominated by the relatively small number of persons  - a trifling fraction of our hundred and twenty - who understand the mental processes and social patterns of the masses. It is they who pull the wires which control the public mind, who harness old social forces and contrive new ways to bind and guide the world.

It is not usually realized how necessary these invisible governors are to the orderly functioning of our group life. In theory, every citizen may vote for whom he pleases. Our Constitution does not envisage political parties as part of the mechanism of government, and its framers seem not to have pictured to themselves the existence in our national politics of anything like the modern political machine. But the American voters soon found that without organization and direction their individual votes, cast, perhaps, for dozens of hundreds of candidates, would produce nothing but confusion. Invisible government, in the shape of rudimentary political parties, arose almost overnight. Ever since then we have agreed, for the sake of simplicity and practicality, that party machines should narrow down the field of choice to two candidates, or at most three or four.

In theory, every citizen makes up his mind on public questions and matters of private conduct. In practice, if all men had to study for themselves the abstruse economic, political, and ethical data involved in every question, they would find it impossible to come to a conclusion without anything. We have voluntarily agreed to let an invisible government sift the data and high-spot the outstanding issue so that our field of choice shall be narrowed to practical proportions. From our leaders and the media they use to reach the public, we accept the evidence and the demarcation of issues bearing upon public question; from some ethical teacher, be it a minister, a favorite essayist, or merely prevailing opinion, we accept a standardized code of social conduct to which we conform most of the time. 

In theory, everybody buys the best and cheapest commodities offered him on the market. In practice, if everyone went around pricing, and chemically tasting before purchasing, the dozens of soaps or fabrics or brands of bread which are for sale, economic life would be hopelessly jammed. To avoid such confusion, society consents to have its choice narrowed to ideas and objects brought to its attention through propaganda of all kinds. There is consequently a vast and continuous effort going on to capture our minds in the interest of some policy or commodity or idea.

It might be better to have, instead of propaganda and special pleading, committees of wise men who would choose our rulers, dictate our conduct, private and public, and decide upon the best types of clothes for us to wear and the best kinds of food for us to eat. But we have chosen the opposite method, that of open competition. We must find a way to make free competition function with reasonable smoothness. To achieve this society has consented to permit free competition to be organized by leadership and propaganda.

Some of the phenomena of this process are criticized- the manipulation of news, the inflation of personality, and the general ballyhoo by which politicians and commercial products and social ideas are brought to the consciousness of the masses. The instruments by which public opinion is organized and focused may be misused. But such organization and focusing are necessary to orderly life. 

As civilization has become more complex, and as the need for invisible government has been increasingly demonstrated, the technical means have been invented and developed by which opinion may be regimented.

With the printing press and the newspaper, the railroad, the telephone, telegraph, radio and airplanes, ideas can be spread rapidly and even instantaneously all over the whole of America.

H.G. Wells senses the vast potentialities of these inventions when he writes in the New York Times:

"Modern means of communication - the power afforded by print, telephone, wireless and so forth, of rapidly putting through directive strategic or technical conceptions to a great number of cooperating centers, of getting quick replies and effective discussion - have opened up a new world of political processes. Ideas and phrases can now be given an effectiveness greater than the effectiveness of any personality and stronger than any sectional interest. The common design can be documented and sustained against perversion and betrayal. It can be elaborated and developed steadily and widely without personal, local and sectional misunderstanding."

What Mr. Wells says of political processes is equally true of commercial and social processes and all manifestations of mass activity. The groupings and affiliations of society today are no longer subject to "local and sectional" limitations. When the Constitution was adopted, the unit of organization was the village community, which produced the greater part of its own necessary commodities and generated its group ideas and opinions by personal contact and discussion among its citizens. But today, because ideas can be instantaneously transmitted to any distance and to any number of people, this geographical integration has been supplemented by many other kinds of grouping, so that persons having the same ideas and interests may be associated and regimented for common action even though they live thousands of miles apart.

It is extremely difficult to realize how many and diverse are these cleavages in our society. They may be social, political, economical, racial, religious or ethical, with hundreds of subdivisions of each.

Influence of Landscape on Identity

In essence, the landscape is not just a physical backdrop, but an integral part of how people understand themselves and their place in the world. The lifelong influence of one's formative landscape is a key part of personal identity.

-"Perplexity"

Changing landscape identity—practice, plurality, and power

Landscape has always been in constant flux; yet, historically landscape change was local, gradual, and nested within existing landscape structures. By contrast, contemporary landscape changes are often seen as threatening, characterized as abrupt, unpredictable, and highly dynamic transformations with little relation to locality. Such transformations are driven by interrelated factors including globalization, urbanization, level of accessibility, calamitous events, economic factors, technological development, as well as changing cultural values.

Historically, the environment in which identities form was downplayed in academic studies. However, relationships and connections to others are always geographically located, as in ‘To be human is to have and know your place’. The relations we develop with our surroundings create and establish belonging, meaning, and security.

A significant step in the landscape identity concept is the unique psycho-sociological perception of a place as a spatial-cultural space as both a physical entity and a vessel for existential meaning. Alterations to the landscape affect how people see themselves. If changes are negative or non-democratic, they undermine the relationships individuals and communities have to their surroundings.

Changes to the landscape’s physicality may result in continued connection becoming untenable or only possible to maintain through increased effort, as the practice no longer fits the landscape and results in a ‘tipping point’ to landscape identity where through change new identity forms. Such change has the potential to create ‘landscape induced alienation’ or Solastalgia, homesickness without leaving home. Recognizing the psychological impact can help explain why landscape change arouses resistance. Identities become important when they are perceived to be under threat. As individuals, if we perceive a threat to the landscape, we find the need to defend it as an identifiable space; consequently, new relations to the landscape develop.

Such connections and understanding impact spatial behavior, the extent of which becomes clear when we are faced by people or practices that appear ‘out of place’, bringing into question who is recognized as a worthy or responsible community member. Yet, identity can also be constructed through change with such change having a positive effect if it provides increased self-esteem.

Contemporary landscape identities are situated in a world characterized by mobility where identities undergo a perpetual process of “rewriting”. Disembodied global processes are manifested in local landscapes restructuring localities from outside. The awareness of being part of global flows and systems undermines local place identity.

The uncertainty generated through global flows and resulting landscape change creates a search for identities of resistance, creating tension between globalization and the local. Landscape identity as a local construct is anchored in a specific place while global identities are abstract, generalized, subsuming the specific and the unique. In spite of and also as a response to global drivers, local identities and landscape distinctiveness become more significant as they provide a sense of security.

As such, location-based identities have to be seen as solid and fixed in order to provide anchors where collective practices, traditions, and shared material can form. The identity individuals draw on depends on the issue being addressed as individuals and groups draw on identity from various sources; place of residency, social standing, ethnicity, practices. Consequently, as individuals, we position ourselves on many axes at the same time depending on the issue at hand.

Multiple identities entail power structures, with different value holders vying for recognition, with global community values taking priority over local agendas and informing landscape identity. This raises a need to question the drivers in order to understand what instigates change in identity. Although landscape identity is generally perceived as having positive connotations, joining people together and developing shared values, it also constructs exclusion through the distinction of ‘I’, ‘we’ and ‘the other’.

Identity, including landscape identity, becomes utilized as a means for classification, an objectifying scientific tool, masking the conflicts and ignoring the question of who belongs, who has a right to engage in landscape activities, legitimizing their identity in their surroundings. This discussion reframes landscape identity as a political entity, underwritten with power struggles, as all attempt to make their view and position significant. Landscape identity defines who can inhabit the place, who is included and who is excluded, and how people relate to each other.