North Dakota Data Center Development Critiqued in Opinion Piece
The letter to the editor criticizes a column by Rob Port for overlooking critical issues related to data center development in North Dakota, arguing that large projects like those by NextEra and Applied Digital consume excessive resources and are poorly located. Author Signe Snortland advocates for stricter zoning to place data centers in industrial areas and urges the North Dakota Legislature to enact strong ordinances and rescind tax exemptions for these facilities.
Signe Snortland, in a letter to the editor published in InForum, challenged Rob Port's column, which she claimed used property rights as a distraction from the significant issues surrounding data center development in North Dakota. Snortland contended that her recommendation for data centers to be located in industrial zones was mischaracterized as government overreach.
She highlighted specific projects, citing a proposed NextEra hyperscale data center in Mercer County that would consume 1,700 MW of electricity, powered by a new natural gas plant and grid draw. Additionally, she noted Applied Digital's land terraforming for a data center in Oliver County without a building permit. Both projects, she emphasized, are on prime farmland adjacent to homes, raising concerns about noise, water, and electricity consumption.
Snortland advocated for siting these facilities next to existing power infrastructure, like the Rainbow Energy Center's Coal Creek plant in McLean County, which already serves a 200 MW data center and plans for another. She urged county governments to enact strong ordinances to secure property tax benefits and jobs, along with third-party environmental reviews. Furthermore, she called on the North Dakota Legislature to rescind data center sales and use tax exemptions to manage the rapid expansion.