The 109-year-old powerhouse at Rainbow Dam may find new life as a high-tech hub.

On Monday morning at the Black Eagle Community Center, a subcommittee of the Great Falls-Cascade County Historic Preservation Advisory Commission announced a proposal for the reuse of NorthWestern Energy's Old Rainbow Powerhouse by Susteen, Inc.

Susteen is an international design solution provider and proposes installing a blockchain model data center in the powerhouse to NorthWestern, according to press conference leaders Cascade County Commissioner Jane Weber, Historic Preservation Vice-Chair Peter Jennings and Mayor Bob Kelly.

Susteen specializes in the area of mobile data communications and computing. The company submitted the proposal to NorthWestern on May 31. The Old Rainbow Powerhouse Repurposing Subcommittee said NorthWestern plans to make a decision on the proposal this week.

The Historic Preservation Advisory Commission is a group dedicated to the preservation of historic buildings in the city and the county. The subcommittee has been involved in the project for about 10 years.

The Old Rainbow Powerhouse was constructed in 1910 to house power generation and transmission equipment. The subcommittee wanted to find a way to avoid the demolition of the building and to avoid removing a part of the city and county's story.

'The only historic powerhouse in the world repurposed for a data center'

"We're very excited about the potential of new industry coming to Cascade County, and Great Falls is a part of Cascade County, so it will benefit the city as well as the county," Weber said. "Something that we would've loved to have seen engaged in Cascade County and Great Falls for many years, but we don't seem to be able to draw that attraction here very often, and now we have."

The subcommittee believes the proposal will be a great economic driver for the county by helping increase the tax base, providing jobs for a potential younger generation and a way to keep a historic building on the landscape.

Jennings said the Old Rainbow Powerhouse is the reason the town is here. He said the group has identified the opportunity that the powerhouse presents with the availability of power and transmission the area holds.

"By my research, when this project is done, it will be the only historic powerhouse in the world repurposed for a data center," Jennings said. "Google has a massive data center right next to The Dalles Dam on the Columbia River, but it is a purpose-built facility. There's also a data center in Strasbourg, France, occupying a Historic Warehouse."

"The rainbow data center, when completed, will be one of a kind. Something only achievable with a unique opportunity."

Historic Preservation has been working with NorthWestern to explore the powerhouse's reuse since 2011. NorthWestern provided the funding for the $50,000 feasibility study in 2018. Over the years, the group has gone through various options for the building, including education, tourism, agriculture and technology. The subcommittee said Susteen fulfills the three broad requirements of NorthWestern — safety, security and sustainability.

Jennings said Susteen Chief Technology Officer Tom Sanders has made three trips to Great Falls.

"He reflects a responsive and efficient company with a clear strategy and system to achieve their goals," Jennings said.

"They have demonstrated the willingness and ability to adapt to the challenges presented by the project from the location of the building to the needs of the landlord and the dynamic nature of the commerce," she said. "This company possesses a rare combination of broad knowledge and experience in the development in the economics of tech-heavy products and services."

No decision regarding the proposal has been made.

Representatives from the Rainbow Powerhouse Redevelopment Group, NorthWestern and Susteen met on July 1 about the proposal and future of the project. Jennings said the meeting was productive, however, the outcome was not what they were expecting.

"Susteen presented their plans on a level of detail consistent with the requests for information made by the subcommittee and NWE," Jennings said. "Based on the fulfillment of these requests, we had anticipated acceptance by NWE of the proposal and a readiness to move forward with the continuing stages of due diligence and planning."

"To our surprise, NWE showed little inclination to move in that direction and expressed the possible preference for demolition. They did specify that the decision had not yet been made."

Jennings said they want to avoid jumping to conclusions regarding the conclusion. He said NorthWestern has been an "engaging and responsive" partner in the process. The subcommittee's goal of the press conference was to inform the public of the project and provide the partners encouragement and community support in the process.

"We want to encourage our community to express your support for this project and others that bring clean, sustainable development to our area," Jennings said. "Continue to expand our commercial resume into high-tech opportunities and recognize the real economic value inhering in our history."

Weber said the space is a "perfect place" for Susteen.

She said they provided an extensive proposal including investors that have already placed commitment on the capital for the project and have identified the remodeling they would need to do.

The powerhouse provides the security they would need for a data center. The company is also committed to do additional fencing to separate the security operations of the powerhouse, installing secured gates and providing 24/7 security in the facility. They anticipate fewer than a dozen people coming in and out of the facility on a daily basis.

"From a county commissioner's perspective, this brings new industry to the county. High-tech industry. Something we would love to see here," Weber said. "We are best known as an agriculture community and that is what we do very well in Cascade County and northcentral Montana, but there are linkages between the needs for computer and high-tech industry to our ag business in northcentral Montana, and this a foot in the door."

Mayor Bob Kelly addressed the audience by saying "when the county succeeds, the city succeeds and vice-versa."

Kelly called the deal an opportunity to make a full circle of what city founder Paris Gibson saw over 100 years ago as the greatest asset, besides the community itself — the river. Kelly said the business is serious, they're excited about coming to the county, and they like the idea of being in the community.

"To see something that was originally put in place to create power, create jobs, create expansion in this part of the country kind of go through its lifetime and then with new technology and new needs for that power to go there, how fitting it is to repurpose that very building to create a new 21st century situation which can lead to so many other things for the community," Kelly said.

Kelly and the subcommittee believes it's a great opportunity to diversify the economy and show the community, state and nation the resources Cascade County has that are currently "untapped."

NorthWestern Energy public relations specialist Jo Dee Black said NorthWestern is looking at all options for the original Rainbow Dam Powerhouse.

Black said the deadline for NorthWestern to present a plan to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) is July 30.

Reach Enya Spicer at espicer@greatfallstribune.com. To support her work, subscribe today and get a special offer.