Data center restrictions tracker · North Dakota

Data center moratoriums and restrictions in North Dakota (2026)

Data snapshot 2026-08-15 · part of Pricing the Fear of Data Centers

As of August 15, 2026, this tracker documents 8 local government actions on data centers in North Dakota, across 6 jurisdictions in 6 counties: 8 moratoria. By status: 4 in force, 3 expired, and 1 replaced.

There is no statewide restriction, incentive rollback, or large-load tariff on record for North Dakota in this snapshot.

Data centers in North Dakota used about 1.9 TWh of electricity in 2024; EPRI, Powering Intelligence 2026 (state-level dashboard) projects 5.1 TWh in its 2030, EPRI medium scenario.

Local actions in North Dakota

Every documented local action in North Dakota in the August 15, 2026 snapshot. Documented actions, not a census.
JurisdictionCountyActionStatusDate
Barnes CountyBarnes CountyMoratoriumin forceMay 19, 2026
Dunn CountyDunn CountyMoratoriumin forceMarch 18, 2026
Oliver CountyOliver CountyMoratoriumexpiredMarch 13, 2026
Mercer CountyMercer CountyMoratoriumin forceMarch 3, 2026
Oliver CountyOliver CountyMoratoriumexpiredMay 6, 2025
Oliver CountyOliver CountyMoratoriumexpiredDecember 12, 2024
Morton CountyMorton CountyMoratoriumin forceSeptember 12, 2024
Williams CountyWilliams CountyMoratoriumreplacedJune 20, 2023

What one campus pays a local government

The parent piece's calculator puts a single large campus at $2M to $90M a year in local revenue, depending on the tax regime and abatements. The reference campus (Project Blue scale: $3.6B of capital, 286 MW) pays about $157M to local governments over 10 years. Permanent jobs run around 50 per facility.

Tax regimeReference caseAnnual local revenue, lowAnnual local revenue, high
Aggressive abatementMorrow County OR (enterprise zone)$2M$3M
Partial abatementGeorgia audit representative campus / El Paso Meta$27.8M$56M
Unabated equipment taxVirginia-style rates (Loudoun is the ceiling)$50M$90M

Run your own numbers in the calculator on the parent piece. Jurisdictions in North Dakota that say no give up this revenue, not the jobs.

Sources

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