North Dakota: data centers & your electric bill
As of October 1, 2026, AI GridWatch tracks 4 data center moratoriums or pushback actions in North Dakota: 1 in force, 3 expired, rejected or rescinded. The state has 18 tracked data center facilities using an estimated 0.3 TWh of electricity a year.
Everything GridWatch tracks in North Dakota on one page — proposed projects, moratoriums, permits, officials, and the 2026 ballot.
Subscribe by RSS — moratorium changes and community headlines for North Dakota.
As of July 2026 (3m ago) · changes over months · Source: U.S. Data Center Power Map by State — ElectricChoice.com compilation (updated July 2026; CC-BY 4.0). Underlying load research: LBNL 2024 US Data Center Energy Usage Report; rates: EIA
Facility counts vary by directory because each one draws the boundary differently — DataCenterMap lists 44 in Alabama where this table says 35, since it counts small network rooms alongside hyperscale campuses. Cite the TWh figure rather than the facility count when you can; it is the number that speaks to grid impact. Underlying load research is LBNL-2001637 (Dec 2024).
1Proposed data centers in North Dakota (2)
0 still live · 2 decided or withdrawn. Each name links to the full dossier — ownership, intelligence log, and where to read the paper trail.
| Project | Where | Size | Behind it | Stage | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Applied Digital Harwood ND | Harwood | 280 MW | Applied Digital | Under construction | Source |
| CoreWeave Ellendale ND | Ellendale | 68 MW | CoreWeave | Source read 2026-08-14 |
2Pushback already happening in North Dakota
| Where | Level | Status | Note | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Morton County | County | Rescindedterm not documented | Moratorium adopted September 2024. County Commission approved replacement data center ordinance 4-1 on Sep 10, 2026 — covers noise, setbacks, water/power use, closed-loop cooling, road and emergency planning, reclamation bonding, and lighting standards. Moratorium superseded by permanent regulations. | SourceNews read 2026-09-12 |
| Oliver County | County | Rescindedterm not documented | Commissioners unanimously approved 180-day moratorium on data center construction Mar 13, 2026. Repealed just 48 days later at a special meeting Apr 30, 2026. Applied Digital submitted a rezoning application days after repeal; county signed road-use agreement with Applied Digital Jul 10, 2026. | SourceNews read 2026-09-12 |
| Mercer County | County | Rescindedterm not documented | Commission approved one-year moratorium on data center applications 3-2. Followed public complaints about NextEra Energy/Basin Electric proposed hyperscale campus. Commission lifted moratorium Jul 15, 2026 (4-0, one absent) after adopting revised industrial ordinances including new data center regulations. | SourceNews read 2026-09-12 |
| Barnes County | County | Enactedexpires soon — 2026-11-19 | Commissioners approved 6-month moratorium to set zoning, infrastructure, and public-notice guidelines. No data center project currently proposed. Residents raised concerns about NDA-shielded land acquisition by developers. | SourceNews read 2026-09-12 |
As of August 2026 (2m ago) · changes weekly — re-check before citing
Illustrative rather than exhaustive — dozens of localities churn weekly, and this tracks the ones we have read a source for. **Each row carries its own provenance.** Rows showing a verification date link to the ordinance, the enacting body's own page, or a datable report of the vote, and were read on that date. Rows marked *unverified* came from bulk compilation and have not been checked against a primary source — the locality, the year, and the status may all be off. Verify one of those with the town clerk before citing it as precedent. **Expiry is derived, not asserted.** A row with a documented end date flips to *Expired* on its own once that date passes. A time-limited moratorium whose start date was never documented keeps showing as enacted — that is a known gap, not a claim that it is still in force. Moratoriums are also routinely extended, so an expiry date is the earliest it could have ended, not proof that it did.
3Every data center already built in North Dakota
GridWatch does not yet track a named hyperscale campus in North Dakota, but that does not mean the state has none. DataCenterMap keeps a public directory of existing facilities — street addresses included — for North Dakota.
Browse the North Dakota directory →
Two caveats before you cite it at a hearing: it lists facilities that already exist, so a newly proposed campus will not appear; and it counts a small network room the same as a hyperscale campus, so the facility count is not a measure of power draw or community impact.
4Your regulator
North Dakota Public Service Commission — website · file a complaint
Official state energy data: EIA North Dakota electricity profile — generation, prices, and consumption from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
5Where the North Dakota paper trail lives
Air & environmental permits: North Dakota DEQ — Division of Air Quality
No searchable register. North Dakota does not publish a permit database you can query. A public-records request to the agency is the only route to the file.
Grid interconnection queue: MISO (Midwest & Gulf) · Southwest Power Pool (Plains)
A routing hint only — several states are split between markets, and the serving utility is the only authority on which queue a given site is in.
These are places to look, not evidence that anything has been filed. Links were checked on 2026-08-21; search links are queries, not records.
6Your federal delegation and governor
Grades cross party — this is an issue axis, not a partisan one. A blank grade means no documented action was located, never that the official is neutral.
| Grade | Official | Documented action (sourced) | Reach them |
|---|---|---|---|
| — | Kelly Armstrong Republican · Governor | No documented action on data centers located | site · contact |
| — | John Hoeven Republican · Senator · next on the ballot 2028 | No documented action on data centers located Accelerate Has promoted data centers as North Dakota's third wave of economic growth after agriculture and energy, with no located position on ratepayer cost allocation. sources | site · contact |
| — | Kevin Cramer Republican · Senator · next on the ballot 2030 | No documented action on data centers located Accelerate Has welcomed Applied Digital's North Dakota data-center buildout as having a bright future given the state's abundant energy, with no located position on ratepayer cost allocation. sources | site · contact |
| — | Julie Fedorchak Republican · Representative At-Large | No documented action on data centers located | site · contact |
Roster: regenerated by scripts/refresh_officials.py (Senate XML + congress-legislators + current governors).
Write to your senators → Your senators in detail → Full officials scorecard → Find your state legislators →
72026 U.S. Senate
Neither North Dakota Senate seat is on the 2026 ballot. Your senators are still the people who vote on federal siting and tax policy — their records are in the delegation table above.
82026 U.S. House races in North Dakota (1)
A documented data-center record exists in 1 of 1 districts. A candidate with no badge colour has said nothing we could locate — that is a gap in the record, not a neutral position. ★ marks an incumbent.
| District | PVI | Incumbent | Candidates |
|---|---|---|---|
| ND-AL | R+18 | Julie Fedorchak | Julie Fedorchak ★ Trygve Hammer |
The documented records (1 district)
ND-AL
Julie Fedorchak (Republican) · incumbent Mixed
Pro-AI/DC buildout framing (national security vs China) but insists data centers pay their own infrastructure costs
- Launched AI and Energy Working Group; issued RFI on AI energy demands (100+ stakeholder responses). Framed as competitiveness vs China: 'we need everything we've got' for energy supply (2025-03-01 — source)
- At Energy Subcommittee hearing 'AI and the Grid,' pressed for fair cost allocation — 'those who drive the need for new energy infrastructure should pay for it.' Promoted FAIR Act (H.R. 6336) and High-Capacity Grid Act (H.R. 6633) (2026-04-29 — source)
- Voted yes on H.R. 9340, the Ratepayer Protection Act, which passed 417-3 (roll call 312). It directs state utility commissions to consider rate designs making data centers with 100 MW or more of peak demand at one site pay the full incremental cost of the generation and grid upgrades they require. A near-unanimous vote: shown on the record, not scored on its own. (2026-09-16 — source)
Record read 2026-09-12.
9Latest North Dakota data center news
No North Dakota data-center headlines in this week's national scan — local coverage often runs ahead of it.
Search live North Dakota data center news → GridWatch news feed →
A data center was proposed near you?
The free toolkit walks you through it in five steps: who's really behind the LLC, what it costs your community, what to do this week, and a downloadable action pack — speech, letters, flyer, and CBA targets included.
State municipal league: North Dakota League of Cities