McLean County

Updates, newest first

1. April 21, 2026 Rainbow Energy Park (Coal Creek data center park) · The commission rezoned 60 more acres in Section 18 from agricultural to commercial after Rainbow said it had since acquired land that was not its own at the time of the first rezoning. (McLean County Planning & Zoning Commission, April 20, 2026; McLean County Board of Commissioners, April 21, 2026)
2. April 15, 2026 Coal Creek Station on-site crypto mining (Adakon Energy Solutions) · The Minot Daily News, reporting a Rainbow talk, described Adakon as a 225 MW crypto mining operation that can ride through power interruptions, which Rainbow said lets Coal Creek run at full output whatever the market demand. (Minot Daily News, April 15, 2026)
3. Nov. 6, 2025 Rainbow Energy Park (Coal Creek data center park) · Rainbow told a legislative interim committee meeting at Coal Creek that the park's 800 zoned acres are available, that a 2.1 GW power purchase agreement was being negotiated exclusively with an experienced data center developer, and that it plans more than 2 GW of new gas generation and a 136-mile gas pipeline. (Rainbow Energy Center (to ND Legislative Management, Energy Development and Transmission Committee), Nov. 6, 2025; North Dakota Legislative Management, Nov. 6, 2025)
4. Nov. 6, 2025 Coal Creek Station on-site crypto mining (Adakon Energy Solutions) · Rainbow listed Adakon Energy Solutions as an interruptible, behind-the-meter crypto mining customer of 225 MW and its own mining at 4 MW, and showed two planned data expansions of 285 MW and 130 MW to be served by Coal Creek through the Rainbow substation. (Rainbow Energy Center (to ND Legislative Management, Energy Development and Transmission Committee), Nov. 6, 2025)
5. Oct. 21, 2025 Rainbow Energy Park (Coal Creek data center park) · The commission rezoned another 50.35 acres in Section 18 for Rainbow, which said it would let the existing substation near Coal Creek add two bays and serve as a redundant source. The same day it approved a West River Telecommunications fiber permit serving Rainbow facilities and authorized a $10.2 million Bank of North Dakota loan application to build up and pave the road to what the minutes call the Rainbow Energy Data Center. (McLean County Planning & Zoning Commission, Oct. 20, 2025; McLean County Board of Commissioners, Oct. 21, 2025)
6. July 8, 2025 Rainbow Energy Park (Coal Creek data center park) · Data Center Dynamics reported the park could host up to 300 MW of data centers and that county officials said no project had been announced yet. (Data Center Dynamics, July 8, 2025)
7. July 8, 2025 Coal Creek Station on-site crypto mining (Adakon Energy Solutions) · Data Center Dynamics reported that a 200 MW data center already ran on the plant site, powered directly by Coal Creek. (Data Center Dynamics, July 8, 2025)
8. June 17, 2025 Rainbow Energy Park (Coal Creek data center park) · The county commission approved the 800-acre rezoning 3-0, for outlots for data centers or other commercial uses that still need county building permits; the county kept the right to refuse uses lacking fire protection and to bar on-site waste needing state permits. (McLean County Board of Commissioners, June 17, 2025; Power Engineering, July 11, 2025)
9. June 16, 2025 Rainbow Energy Park (Coal Creek data center park) · Rainbow Energy Center asked the McLean County Planning and Zoning Commission to rezone 800 acres from agricultural to commercial, saying the land would host AI/cloud computing and crypto loads drawing power straight from Coal Creek Station. (McLean County Planning & Zoning Commission, June 16, 2025)

Statewide

North Dakota exempts enterprise IT equipment and software bought for a Tax Commissioner-certified qualified data center from sales and use tax: servers, cooling, power infrastructure, business-owned substations, backup generation and batteries, racking and cabling all count. The center must be built or substantially refurbished after Dec. 31, 2020, have at least 15,000 square feet with half or more used for data processing, sit on one parcel or contiguous parcels, and have fire suppression and enhanced security. Owners report each year the exemption claimed, jobs and local incentives (N.D.C.C. 57-39.2-04.17, from SB 2137 of 2021). It replaced a 2015 exemption (HB 1089) that was limited to the first four certified centers and expired at the end of 2020. The North Dakota Monitor reported claims of $15.3 million in 2024 and more than $65 million in 2025, and the Legislature's interim Tax Reform and Relief Advisory Committee is reviewing the incentive in 2025-26. No data-center-specific property tax break or PILOT statute was found. (North Dakota Legislative Assembly, 2021; North Dakota Legislative Assembly, 2015; North Dakota Legislative Council, Sept. 2025; North Dakota Monitor, Aug. 26, 2026) Montana-Dakota Utilities serves data centers under Rate 45, a high-density contracted demand-response rate for new data center loads of at least 10 MW and an 85% load factor. Each customer signs an electric service agreement that the PSC must approve, covering term, pricing, deposits, interruption and demand response, and line extensions are paid by the customer through contributions in aid of construction. Applied Digital's Ellendale agreements were reviewed in PSC Cases PU-22-371 and PU-23-320, -321 and -322. Basin Electric told lawmakers in 2025 that its Large Load Program makes developers prepay for new infrastructure, though no project had yet been completed under it. (Montana-Dakota Utilities Co. (filed with N.D. Public Service Commission), Feb. 21, 2024; Montana-Dakota Utilities Co. (filed with N.D. Public Service Commission), Nov. 9, 2023; Montana-Dakota Utilities Co. (presentation to N.D. Energy Development and Transmission Committee), Aug. 27, 2025; North Dakota Legislative Council, Aug. 27, 2025) Otter Tail Power asked the PSC on June 18, 2026 to create a High Power Compute rate for data centers with at least 75 MW of firm load (Case PU-26-215). Each such customer would need a dedicated plan for new generation to cover its energy and capacity, a contract of at least 15 years with collateral, and exit fees and liquidated damages; part of the data center margins would be shared with other customers through a system benefit credit. Otter Tail asked for a Jan. 1, 2027 effective date and filed a similar plan in Minnesota in May 2026. (Otter Tail Power Company (filed with N.D. Public Service Commission), June 18, 2026) HB 1539 (2025), signed by Gov. Kelly Armstrong on March 19, 2025, removes on-site backup generation over 50 MW that is not connected to the grid from the PSC's siting process under the Energy Conversion and Transmission Facility Siting Act (N.D.C.C. 49-22-03). Before, such a backup plant could need a state siting permit. These generators are now sited locally and must still meet any applicable state air permit rules. Applied Digital backed the bill. (Office of the Governor of North Dakota, March 19, 2025; North Dakota Legislative Assembly, 2025) North Dakota has no state siting law for data centers, and a PSC commissioner wrote in 2026 that the agency has no direct authority over them. HB 1579 (2025) began as a bill to put large power users, including data centers over 50 MW, through a PSC siting process. Utilities and Applied Digital opposed it, and it was changed into a Legislative Management study of large energy consumers' effects on the grid, regulation and economic development, signed in April 2025; the interim Energy Development and Transmission Committee is carrying out that study. A separate 2025 bill, HB 1239, would have limited local governments' power to restrict digital-asset mining through zoning; the House Industry, Business and Labor Committee recommended it not pass. (InForum (Bismarck Tribune reporting), Jan. 2025; Plural Policy (Open States), April 30, 2025; North Dakota Legislative Council, Aug. 2025; Minot Daily News, May 7, 2026; North Dakota Legislative Assembly, Feb. 12, 2025) 2026: lawmakers turned down a statewide pause on local data center permits through June 30, 2027 (bill draft 25.1452.01000). Legislative Management did not advance it on Aug. 17, and the House refused to introduce it 68-25 on Sept. 2. In the same special session, the Senate rejected SB 2406, which would have banned nondisclosure agreements between government agencies and data center or industrial developers, 32-15 on Sept. 3. Legislative leaders set up a new interim Artificial Intelligence and Data Center Committee in June 2026. (North Dakota Legislative Council, 2026; North Dakota Monitor, Aug. 17, 2026; North Dakota Monitor, Sept. 2, 2026; North Dakota Legislative Assembly, Sept. 2, 2026; North Dakota Monitor, Sept. 3, 2026; Valley News Live (KVLY), June 25, 2026) North Dakota data centers →