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.
Copyright 2024 KFYR. All rights reserved.
North Dakota
Hoeven, Armstrong, Traynor speak on OBBB Rural Health Transformation Fund updates in ND
BISMARCK, N.D. (KFYR) – On Friday, North Dakota U.S. Senator John Hoeven, Governor Kelly Armstrong and Health and Human Services Commissioner Pat Traynor explained how the state plans to use millions of dollars from the Big Beautiful Bill’s Rural Health Transformation Fund to transform healthcare across the state.
They spoke extensively about the special session to allocate the funds, and confirmed that it is still tentatively set for Jan. 21.
The Big Beautiful Bill allocated $25 billion for rural healthcare nationwide. North Dakota received $500 million for five years and $200 million for the first year. There is still another $25 billion left to be spent, and North Dakota is hoping to receive an extra $500 million.
“I truly believe that with the plan we’re putting in place and the things we built that line up with that, we’ll get a billion dollars over five years,” said Hoeven.
Federal rules require the state to lock in contracts for the money by October first— a deadline officials say is driving the need for a special session.
In the first year, North Dakota will focus on retention grants to keep existing staff, technical assistance and consultants for rural hospitals, as well as telehealth equipment and home patient monitoring.
Governor Armstrong says the special session will include policy bills tied to how much federal rural health funding the state can earn.
“We’re going to have a physical fitness test for physical education courses, nutrition education, continuing education requirement for physicians, physician assistant licensure compact—which North Dakota has been doing, dealing with that since the heart of the oil boom and moving forward—and then an expanded scope of practice for pharmacists,” said Armstrong.
Hundreds of millions of dollars could reshape healthcare in rural North Dakota, and state leaders say the next few weeks are key to receiving and spending that money wisely.
The governor says he only wants to focus on bills related to the Rural Health Transformation Program during the special session and doesn’t intend to deal with other state issues during that time.
Copyright 2026 KFYR. All rights reserved.
North Dakota
North Dakota officials celebrate being among big winners in federal rural health funding
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Tony Osburn scored 27 points as Omaha beat North Dakota 90-79 on Thursday.
Osburn shot 8 of 12 from the field, including 5 for 8 from 3-point range, and went 6 for 9 from the line for the Mavericks (8-10, 1-2 Summit League). Paul Djobet scored 18 points and added 12 rebounds. Ja’Sean Glover finished with 10 points.
The Fightin’ Hawks (8-11, 2-1) were led by Eli King, who posted 21 points and two steals. Greyson Uelmen added 19 points for North Dakota. Garrett Anderson had 15 points and two steals.
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
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