Families in Yellowstone County, Montana are watching a massive data center get built near Broadview — and nobody asked if the county's water and electricity could handle it. Data centers use huge amounts of water for cooling and huge amounts of electricity to run around the clock, and both come from the same systems that supply homes and farms nearby.

Nearly 15,000 people signed a petition asking Yellowstone County Commissioners to pause data center development until residents got a real say. County officials rejected those signatures because of a submission deadline that had quietly changed — and most of the people who signed the petition never knew the rules had shifted underneath them.

This isn't about being for or against technology. It's about making sure the people who will pay higher water bills and electricity rates get a vote before a project this size moves forward, not after it's already built. Montana lawmakers have made it easier for these facilities to get tax breaks — the least residents deserve is a real chance to weigh in on what it costs them at home.

Yellowstone County Commissioners still have the power to put a countywide moratorium on the November ballot and give residents that vote. Sign the petition now to demand Yellowstone County Commissioners let voters decide before data centers reshape local water and power costs for good.