North Dakota
Public Service Commission holds conference to discuss data centers
BISMARCK, N.D. (KUMV) – The North Dakota Public Service Commission invited state and energy leaders to discuss data centers and their impact on the region.
The nearly five-hour-long meeting had data center managers, utility leaders and county representatives talking about the demand for these facilities and the amount of electricity they use.
Public Service Commission Chairman Randy Christmann said he wants everyone to come together to get a better understanding of these facilities and how they affect grid stability.
“A lot of this is new, and there may need to be new policies developed as well,” said Christmann.
The subject of data centers in North Dakota is controversial, especially in Northwestern North Dakota where the Atlas Power Data Center is located. Nearby residents continue to look to the courts to shut it down over excessive noise and a utility company has filed a federal complaint over congestion charges related to the facility.
Despite this, State Commerce Commissioner Josh Tiegen said there’s still demand for data centers, more so for AI processing versus cryptocurrency mining. A pair of projects discussed at this meeting could be worth $125 billion each.
“Want to talk about eliminating property taxes? Drop a $125 billion data center in the middle of your county. That’s a huge, huge revenue stream for the state, counties and local communities in a variety of ways,” said Teigen.
Teigen said when it comes to power generation, they are looking at converting natural gas from the oil fields into energy to support the grid.
Public Service Commissioner Julie Fedorchak said it’s beneficial to welcome data centers here instead of overseas.
“We want it in the U.S., we do not want our data being housed in other countries. We need to try our best to make this work here in America. For North Dakota, it’s a huge opportunity to make it work here where we have tons of power to sell to these kinds of entities,” said Fedorchak.
Fedorchak adds the cold North Dakota winters can also support data centers that generate lots of heat when processing.
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