Tioga data center open house invites discussion, debate
A public open house was held in Tioga, North Dakota, to gather community input and provide information on data centers. State and local officials, along with utility representatives, discussed environmental concerns, electricity demands, zoning regulations, and the economic impacts of data centers. Mountrail County also revealed it has an active moratorium on new data center projects to allow for ordinance development.
State Sen. Mark Enget hosted a data center open house at the Tioga Community Center in North Dakota, aiming to inform the public and gather feedback on potential data center developments. The event featured nine tables with hosts from various state and local government bodies and utility companies, including the North Dakota Department of Water Resources, North Dakota Transmission Authority, North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality, Mountrail-Williams Electric Cooperative, Basin Electric Power Cooperative, and Montana-Dakota Utilities Company.
Discussions focused on a range of topics, including the substantial electricity demands of data centers and how the state regulates these projects to avoid grid overload, with utility representatives explaining power sourcing and cost allocation. Environmental concerns such as noise pollution from air-cooled facilities, exemplified by a Williston resident's complaint about the Atlas Power Data Center, were addressed by environmental quality directors who emphasized the role of stricter planning and zoning guidelines in preventing nuisances. Water usage for cooling was also a point of discussion.
Ellendale Mayor Don Flaherty spoke about the economic benefits brought by the Applied Digital data center in his city, noting a significant increase in sales tax revenue and infrastructure funding, while clarifying his non-involvement in its planning and zoning due to its location outside city limits. Mountrail County Commissioner Wayne Olson disclosed that Mountrail County has an enacted moratorium on new data center projects, which has been in effect for approximately a year and is set to continue for another one to two years, specifically to allow time for the creation or amendment of data center ordinances.