BILLINGS — A Montana businessman with a sordid past is suing Texas-based developer Quantica Infrastructure, claiming the company stole a billion-dollar AI data center deal from him after he sold land in Broadview based on promises that were never fulfilled.
Rick Tabish, owner and operator of Montana company FX Solutions, filed the lawsuit in Yellowstone County District Court Jan. 9. According to the suit, Broad Reach Power — a subsidiary of Quantica— promised to supply up to 300 megawatts of electricity if Tabish sold the land.
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Tabish said his company relied on that promise, sold the property for $5.5 million and dropped its own application for power. He claims that power never came, and that Quantica's developers are now using the land to build their own data center.
Tabish made headlines across the state and the country for his involvement in the high-profile murder of casino magnate Ted Binion in the 1990s. Tabish served time in prison related to the murder but was later paroled.
Quantica Infrastructure is proposing to build a massive 5,000-acre data center a couple miles south of the small agricultural community of Broadview.
When reached by MTN News, a Quantica official provided a short statement and noted the lawsuit will not delay their efforts to build the data center:
"We were surprised by this lawsuit, have had no contact with FX Solutions or Mr. Tabish since Quantica was formed in late 2024, and strongly disagree with the allegations," the statement said.
The lawsuit comes as opposition to data centers in Montana continues to grow. Broadview area resident Cari Olson is traveling the state, including a stop in Helena, rallying support to fight the proposed data center in her hometown and others in the state.
"We're going to educate you about data centers and why they're bad and the companies behind them," Olson said Wednesday.
Olson said the lawsuit could be a turning point for her cause.
"I hope this lawsuit tanks it," Olson said.
She said the fight is about more than one community.
"We're going to talk to everyone in Montana that will come to our meetings. And we're going to talk about data centers, because this will affect all of our bills," Olson said.
Olson said her group is the only statewide organization publicly opposing data centers in Montana.
"We're the only statewide group that are coming out to say, we are against data centers. We do not want data centers. That is why Just 1 Montanan is so important for this," Olson said.
She said she plans to continue her campaign across the state.
"I'll go around to the whole state. Because here's the thing. One data center here in the state affects us all," Olson said. "Our government, our state government in particular, has just paved the way for these data centers to come in and use up our water, use up our energy, and use up our land, and then just discard us like we're nothing. We're not waste to your tech," Olson said.
Disclosure: Cari Olson's husband, Erik Olson, is a digital content producer at Q2 News.
