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Data center campus · Next to Coal Creek Station, between Washburn and Underwood (N½ Sec. 13, T145N R83W; N½ and SW¼ Sec. 18, T145N R82W), McLean County, North Dakota

Rainbow Energy Park (Coal Creek data center park)

Site zoned or marketed as of April 21, 2026

An 800-acre commercial zone that Rainbow Energy Center created next to its Coal Creek lignite plant for AI, cloud and crypto data centers fed directly from the plant, with a large power deal for an unnamed developer under negotiation. Also known as: Coal Creek data center park.

Cite← North Dakota data centers
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Power300MW reported · stated
Site800acres

Who is behind it

ProjectRainbow Energy Park (Coal Creek data center park)Also: Coal Creek data center park
Developer and teamRainbow Energy Center (through Rainbow Energy Center, LLC)
End userNot found in the recordsNot yet named in any record or credited report we have found.

The record, newest first

  1. 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. 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)

  3. 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)

  4. 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)

  5. 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)

  6. 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)

Conflicts and open questions

  • Coordinates approximate, placed at Coal Creek Station; the rezoned sections adjoin the plant.
  • Separate from the operating crypto-mining load on the plant site, tracked as coal-creek-station-adakon.
  • In November 2025 the county also agreed to apply for a $5 million Bank of North Dakota infrastructure loan for a Rainbow Energy and Blue Flint Ethanol road project, and backed Rainbow's application to a federal coal plant program (nd-mclean-cc-min-20251125); neither item names a data center.
  • The 300 MW figure comes from trade press, not from Rainbow or the county; it is kept as the only stated data center size for the park.

The full record

Status note
About 800 acres were rezoned commercial for data centers in June 2025 and Rainbow markets the land as available; no data center tenant or building permit has been made public.
Power note
Data Center Dynamics (July 2025) reported the park could host up to 300 MW of data centers. Rainbow's November 2025 committee presentation instead described a 2.1 GW power purchase agreement under exclusive negotiation with an unnamed data center developer for the park.
Evidence
Primary public records
Size class
50 MW or more (tracker scope)
Map position approximate, from the reported address or area. Updated Oct. 17, 2026.