Oliver County

Moratoriums and bans

1. March 2026 Oliver County: Moratorium (180 days; repealed April 30, 2026). In February 2026 the county planning and zoning board recommended a three-year moratorium on data centers and cryptocurrency mining. In March, the day after Applied Digital held an informational meeting in Center, the county commission adopted a 180-day moratorium on data centers. It repealed the pause 3-0 at a special meeting on April 30, 2026, without public comment, which is not required at special meetings. Applied Digital applied the next day to rezone land from agricultural to industrial for a data center. (KX News, Feb. 27, 2026; North Dakota Monitor, March 23, 2026; KFYR, May 1, 2026; KX News, May 1, 2026; Central Nordak Publishing (Center Republican), May 7, 2026)

Updates, newest first

1. Oct. 7, 2026 Applied Digital Polaris Forge 3 campus, Oliver County · Applied Digital reported the campus under construction and named it as being in Center, Oliver County. (Applied Digital Corporation (SEC Form 8-K, Exhibit 99.1), Oct. 7, 2026; Applied Digital Corporation (SEC Form 10-Q), Oct. 7, 2026)
2. Oct. 4, 2026 Applied Digital Polaris Forge 3 campus, Oliver County · Applied Digital signed a 15-year power purchase agreement with Base Electron for a planned 1,200 MW gas plant in Center to supply Polaris Forge 3; Base Electron can end it if financing is not closed by March 31, 2027. (Applied Digital Corporation (SEC Form 10-Q), Oct. 7, 2026)
3. July 10, 2026 Applied Digital Polaris Forge 3 campus, Oliver County · County commissioners signed a road use and operations agreement with APLD BIS-01 barring wastewater discharge to the aquifer and requiring trucked-in cooling fill water. (KFYR-TV / Valley News Live, July 13, 2026)
4. July 7, 2026 Applied Digital Polaris Forge 3 campus, Oliver County · The Oliver County Commission approved a building permit 2-1, with conditions covering generator testing hours, construction hours near churches, weeds, reimbursement of county legal costs and the cost of a deputy; the Center Republican reported the land was rezoned from agricultural to industrial with the permit. (Center Republican (Central Nordak Publishing), July 16, 2026)
5. June 22, 2026 Applied Digital Polaris Forge 3 campus, Oliver County · Montana-Dakota Utilities announced an electric service agreement to serve Polaris Forge 3 near Center at up to 430 MW, pending ND PSC approval. (MDU Resources Group / Montana-Dakota Utilities, June 22, 2026)
6. May 20, 2026 Applied Digital Polaris Forge 3 campus, Oliver County · Applied Digital announced a roughly 15-year, $7.5 billion lease for 300 MW of IT load at Polaris Forge 3, a campus of more than 600 acres with about 430 MW of grid power. (Applied Digital Corporation, May 20, 2026)
7. May 5, 2026 Applied Digital Polaris Forge 3 campus, Oliver County · An Applied Digital executive spoke to the Minot chamber's energy committee as the company sought rezoning near Center; the company said it hoped to break ground that summer and finish in 18 to 24 months, with about 200 permanent jobs. (KFYR-TV, May 5, 2026; KFYR-TV, May 4, 2026)
8. April 30, 2026 Applied Digital Polaris Forge 3 campus, Oliver County · At a special meeting without public comment, the Oliver County Commission repealed the 180-day data center moratorium adopted the month before; Applied Digital filed a rezoning request the next day. (KX News, May 1, 2026; KFYR, May 1, 2026; KFYR-TV, May 4, 2026)
9. March 2026 Oliver County: Moratorium (180 days; repealed April 30, 2026) · In February 2026 the county planning and zoning board recommended a three-year moratorium on data centers and cryptocurrency mining. In March, the day after Applied Digital held an informational meeting in Center, the county commission adopted a 180-day moratorium on data centers. It repealed the pause 3-0 at a special meeting on April 30, 2026, without public comment, which is not required at special meetings. Applied Digital applied the next day to rezone land from agricultural to industrial for a data center. (KX News, Feb. 27, 2026; North Dakota Monitor, March 23, 2026; KFYR, May 1, 2026; KX News, May 1, 2026; Central Nordak Publishing (Center Republican), May 7, 2026)
10. Feb. 27, 2026 Applied Digital Polaris Forge 3 campus, Oliver County · More than 200 people attended a meeting in Center where the county zoning board recommended a moratorium on data centers and crypto mining. (KX News, Feb. 27, 2026)

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 →