Pennington County

Moratoriums and bans

1. Sept. 21, 2026 Rapid City: Zoning ordinance (proposed). Ordinance 6746 amends the zoning code with data center regulations; it went through the planning commission on Sept. 10 and was set for council readings Sept. 21 and Oct. 5, 2026. Final adoption and its specific terms were not confirmed. (City of Rapid City, Sept. 10, 2026)

Updates, newest first

1. Sept. 21, 2026 Rapid City: Zoning ordinance (proposed) · Ordinance 6746 amends the zoning code with data center regulations; it went through the planning commission on Sept. 10 and was set for council readings Sept. 21 and Oct. 5, 2026. Final adoption and its specific terms were not confirmed. (City of Rapid City, Sept. 10, 2026)
2. Feb. 19, 2026 Sequitor Edge Rapid City · Company outlined a 2 MW first phase that could grow to 10 MW and roughly 240 cabinets in the first hall. (Rapid City Post, Feb. 19, 2026)
3. Feb. 12, 2026 Sequitor Edge Rapid City · Sequitor Edge, working with Elevate Rapid City, announced a 10-acre edge data center with three full-time jobs. (Rapid City Post, Feb. 12, 2026; KELOLAND, Feb. 13, 2026; Data Center Dynamics, Feb. 12, 2026)

Statewide

SB 135 (2026), the 'Data Center Bill of Rights for Citizens': signed by Gov. Rhoden in March 2026 and effective July 1; for data centers with peak demand of 10 MW or more it requires utilities to set separate service terms so costs are not shifted to other customers, adds water-use notice and reporting rules, and bars the state from preempting local data center regulation (codified at SDCL 49-50). A ban on state tax incentives was stripped before passage. (KELOLAND News, March 24, 2026; LegiScan, March 30, 2026; South Dakota Legislative Research Council, June 2026) HB 1038 (2026): signed; lets the PUC bill the actual cost of reviewing an electric service contract for a data center of 10 MW or more (SDCL 49-34A-56.1). (KELOLAND News, March 24, 2026; South Dakota Legislative Research Council, June 2026) South Dakota has no data center sales tax exemption: 2025 SB 177 (sales tax refund on data center equipment) failed 17-18 in the Senate, and 2026 HB 1005 (50-year sales and use tax exemption) died 9-3 in House State Affairs on Feb. 4, 2026. (South Dakota Legislature, 2025; South Dakota Searchlight, June 16, 2025; SDPB, Feb. 4, 2026) SB 239 (2026), which would have opened a separate reinvestment payment (tax rebate) track for large projects such as data centers, died when a Senate motion to reconsider failed 16-17 on Feb. 24, 2026. (LegiScan, Feb. 24, 2026; South Dakota Searchlight, Feb. 18, 2026) HB 1301 (2026), a statewide moratorium on new data center construction through June 2027, was killed 10-2 in House State Affairs (Feb. 19, 2026). (SDPB, Feb. 19, 2026) HB 1198 (2026), requiring facilities using 20 MW or more within a mile of another city or county to get that jurisdiction's conditional use permit, failed 21-41 on the House floor (Feb. 12, 2026). (KELOLAND News, Feb. 13, 2026) HB 1246 (2026), barring confidentiality agreements between governments and data center developers, failed 30-37 on the House floor (Feb. 20, 2026). (FastDemocracy (legislative journal summary), Feb. 20, 2026; South Dakota Searchlight, Feb. 18, 2026) PUC docket EL24-027: Leola Data Center's request for Montana-Dakota Utilities service in FEM Electric territory under SDCL 49-34A-56; settlement approved in September 2026. (South Dakota Public Utilities Commission, Sept. 1, 2026; SDPB, Sept. 9, 2026) PUC docket EL26-008: Black Hills Energy's request (filed March 19, 2026) for approval of a blockchain interruptible electric service agreement with an unnamed customer; pending, amended contract filed Aug. 19, 2026. (South Dakota Public Utilities Commission, March 19, 2026) PUC docket EL26-021: Otter Tail Power petition (filed July 27, 2026) for a new rate class and schedule for very large customers. (South Dakota Public Utilities Commission, Oct. 27, 2026) South Dakota data centers →