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Data center campus · Mercer County, Stanton area (site not published), Mercer County, North Dakota

River Run Energy Center data center campus

Proposed as of July 15, 2026

A proposed multi-gigawatt data center campus in Mercer County to be built around a new 1,450 MW gas plant that Basin Electric and NextEra are developing under Basin's large-load program; it prompted a county moratorium in 2026. Also known as: River Run.

Cite← North Dakota data centers
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PowerNot statedNot reported in the records found

Who is behind it

ProjectRiver Run Energy Center data center campusAlso: River Run
Developer and teamNextEra Energy Resources (through NextEra Energy Resources, LLC)
Basin Electric Power Cooperative
End userNot found in the recordsNot yet named in any record or credited report we have found.

The record, newest first

  1. With one commissioner absent, the commission passed the second reading of its data center ordinance 3-1, keeping a half-mile noise setback measured to the nearest occupied building, and voted unanimously to lift the moratorium once the ordinance is finally adopted and published. (Central Nordak Publishing, July 23, 2026)

  2. Basin and NextEra held a public open house in Stanton; Basin said the project could bring more than $18 billion in investment, about 230 permanent jobs and about $15 million a year in county property tax. (Basin Electric Power Cooperative, March 20, 2026; Basin Electric Power Cooperative, April 9, 2026)

  3. After residents raised concerns about the NextEra-Basin project, the Mercer County Commission voted 3-2 for a one-year moratorium on permitting data centers. (Mercer County Commission, March 3, 2026; KFYR, March 4, 2026)

  4. NextEra and Basin Electric announced a memorandum of understanding to jointly develop a roughly 1,450 MW combined-cycle gas plant as the base for a multi-gigawatt data center campus, after applying in October to SPP's Expedited Resource Adequacy Study. (NextEra Energy Resources and Basin Electric Power Cooperative (PR Newswire), Dec. 8, 2025)

Conflicts and open questions

  • Coordinates approximate, placed at Stanton, where the open house was held; no site has been published.
  • No county permit application was found in a record opened.
  • Basin's March 20, 2026 release put local jobs at more than 200; its April 9 release gave about 230 permanent jobs.

The full record

Status note
Basin Electric and NextEra are exploring a 1,450 MW gas plant to anchor a multi-gigawatt data center campus; Mercer County's one-year moratorium was lifted July 15, 2026, effective on final adoption and publication of its new data center ordinance.
Power note
Generation is stated at about 1,450 MW; the data center campus is described only as 'multi-gigawatt'.
Evidence
Primary public records
Size class
Under 50 MW (outside main scope; kept for completeness)
Map position approximate, from the reported address or area. Updated Oct. 17, 2026.