Geronimo Power pushes back against proposed Harmony Township moratorium with $140M incentive pitch
Geronimo Power is opposing a proposed 24-month Harmony Township moratorium that could halt its planned 540-megawatt data center west of Fargo. The company launched a petition drive and offered more than $140 million in projected local financial benefits as township supervisors prepare to vote on the moratorium.
Geronimo Power CEO Blake Nixon and development executive Nathan Franzen presented the company’s case for a proposed 540-megawatt data center on a 640-acre site near Wheatland and the Bison Substation. Geronimo said the project could generate more than $140 million in local benefits, including property taxes, resident payments, community funding and guarantees tied to neighboring home values. The company also said the facility would use closed-loop cooling, trucked-in water and sound controls designed to meet Harmony Township’s 45-decibel limit.
The company’s outreach comes as the Harmony Township Board of Supervisors considers a 24-month moratorium on data centers and utility-scale projects. Geronimo is urging residents to sign a petition against the freeze and to have its conditional-use permit evaluated on its merits. The township previously eased zoning standards by raising the noise limit, removing a one-mile setback and eliminating a power-purchase-agreement requirement. Questions have also arisen over whether former Chairman Tom Roden disclosed a land option agreement with Geronimo before voting on those changes. The North Dakota Public Service Commission separately scheduled a hearing on an associated battery-storage project in Casselton.