North Dakota Data Center Intel

Recent North Dakota data center news

• Jan 5, 2026

  Beyond Energy Use: Strategies for Sustainable Data Center Operations

  The article argues that data center operators must prioritize sustainable operations as rapid US data center growth is straining regional grids and driving a large e-waste burden.

  • Main announcement/action: The piece calls on data center operators to adopt sustainable operations and circular lifecycle practices (modular/repairable systems, component-level upgrades, secure sanitization and certified reuse/resale) to reduce grid strain and e-waste; it cites 1,240 data centers built or approved in the US by end of 2024 and urges adoption of standards such as NIST 800-88 and ISO 27040, and use of R2v3 / e-Stewards certified ITAD partners.
  • Background and details: The article summarizes evidence and policy responses: Virginia data centers consumed about 26% of state electricity in 2023 (with North Dakota 15%, Nebraska 12%), Illinois bills H.B. 3758 / S.B. 2497 target 15 GW of state energy storage and establish a virtual power plant program, California enforces efficiency/carbon rules via Title 24; global e-waste was 62 million tons in 2022 and a study warns generative AI could add 1.2–5 million tons annually; used hardware may retain hundreds of thousands of dollars in residual value.
• Dec 31, 2025

  Power Generation in the Age of AI: Year-End 2025 Outlook

  PEI Global Partners (Adil Sener) warns that AI-driven data-center demand has transformed the U.S. power sector into a strategic national priority, shifting focus from cheapest MWh to deliverable, firm and timely power.

  • Main announcement/action: PEI highlights a new “speed to power” imperative driven by clustered AI/data center loads; key facts include data centers may reach up to 12% of U.S. electricity consumption by 2028 (from ~4.4% in 2023), forecasted 5.7% annual U.S. energy demand growth over the next five years, and explicit contracting examples such as Vistra’s 20-year PPA for up to 1,200 MW at Comanche Peak with implied pricing of ~$90–$100/MWh and an implied reliability/capacity value of ~ $24/kW-month (~$790/MW-day).
  • Background and implementation details: PEI argues the bottleneck is execution (interconnection, equipment, lead times) not capital: ~2 TW of solar+BESS in interconnection queues while build-throughput is ~2% annually; documented transformer lead times of ~143 weeks; 2024 U.S. builds were ~40 GW utility-scale solar and ~10 GW utility-scale BESS with EIA 2025 expectations ~33 GW solar and ~18 GW storage; federal and private support examples include DOE up to $800 million for SMR projects (TVA/Holtec) and private agreements (e.g., Amazon/X-energy). PEI is actively advising on M&A and financing processes that prioritize deliverability, speed-to-power and equipment-secured projects.
• Dec 19, 2025

  AI and Latency: Why Milliseconds Decide Winners and Losers in the Data Center Race

  The author argues that data center operators must prioritize low-latency infrastructure for AI inference.

  • Main announcement/action: The piece recommends deploying low-latency inference infrastructure (small, metro-proximate inference zones) and optimizing fiber route quality, redundancy, backplane architecture, heat, and power to serve real-time AI inference workloads; it cites a latency example of 20 milliseconds to 200 and notes NVIDIA’s prediction that inference will be 100x the size of training workloads in the near future.
  • Background and details: Training workloads can be placed in remote, power-rich locations (examples given: North Dakota, Idaho) because they tolerate latency, while inference must be near end-users; the article notes AWS charges a premium for latency-optimized inference SKUs, and cites Anthropic’s coding assistant overload as an example of capacity pressure causing degraded performance.
• Dec 17, 2025

  Our top 25 accomplishments of 2025

  Fresh Energy has summarized its 2025 achievements advancing clean energy and climate policy in Minnesota and outlined priority decarbonization actions for 2026.

  • Key 2025 actions included: defending Minnesota’s 100% clean electricity law from rollbacks, helping secure PUC approval for 6,080 MW of new wind, solar, and storage by 2030, driving a data center policy package into law with consumer and environmental protections, supporting multiple electrification, energy efficiency, EV charging, and bill-credit pilots, influencing residential energy code updates and industrial decarbonization funding (including $200 million in Climate Smart Food Systems grants), and advocating for MISO transmission expansions and against federal vehicle emissions rollbacks.
  • Looking ahead to 2026, Fresh Energy plans to: ensure progress toward 100% clean electricity by 2040, provide policy leadership on Sustainable Aviation Fuel, co-create a technical roadmap for industrial decarbonization, advocate for community-centered cumulative impacts rules, engage in ECO triennial planning and transportation electrification plans, and continue addressing hard-to-decarbonize sectors through grid, renewables, and clean technology investments in Minnesota.
• Dec 16, 2025

  Uptime Institute's Max Smolaks: Power, Racks, and the Economics of the AI Data Center Boom

  Uptime Institute research analyst Max Smolaks discusses infrastructure forces reshaping AI data centers in a Data Center Frontier podcast episode (published December 16, 2025).

  • Main announcement/action: Smolaks outlines that AI capacity is being built where power exists, not traditional data center markets — citing a crypto-to-AI pivot (former crypto-mining sites repurposed for AI), Applied Digital developing roughly half a gigawatt of AI data center capacity in North Dakota, and industry alignment around 800V DC power distribution and rack-level changes (racks moving toward 200–300 kilowatts per rack). The episode date is December 16, 2025; Smolaks spoke in context of OCP Global Summit 2025 (San Jose) and ongoing industry tracking by Uptime Intelligence.
  • Background and supporting details: The conversation covers growing liquid cooling complexity (need for CFD, digital twins, new commissioning/load banks), rack disaggregation into “compute/power/network” groupings, risk and operator resistance to liquid cooling (filtration, corrosion control), energy storage and UPS/rack smoothing approaches (including GPU PowerBurn), and concentration of GPU-driven economics with Nvidia influencing design. Concrete technical details include 200–300 kW per rack, 800V DC distribution, and mention of capacitors integrated into rack/power shelves to manage “spiky” AI loads.
• Dec 16, 2025

  Renewable energy is key to powering Texas data centers

  Google announced it plans to construct three new data centers in Texas at a cost of $40 billion.

  • Main announcement & implementation details: Google will build three new data centers in Texas at an estimated $40 billion and has committed a $30 million Energy Impact Fund to scale energy initiatives; the company reports more than 6,200 megawatts of new generation and capacity contracted via power purchase agreements. The OpenAI/Oracle Stargate campus near Abilene has its first two buildings operational and the remaining six buildings are expected to be completed by mid-2026.
  • Context, background and project metrics: Texas currently has 375 data centers operating and 70 under construction (Baxtel); ERCOT saw large-load interconnection requests rise from 56 GW (Sept 2024) to 205 GW one year later. Renewables growth includes nearly 877–900 solar projects under development in Texas, >200% increase in ERCOT solar capacity over four years, and 8 TWh of wind/solar curtailed in 2024 due to transmission limits. The SEIA warns federal permitting changes are slowing some solar and storage projects.
• Dec 15, 2025

  Environmental Activists Abandon Persuasion For Litigation

  Greenpeace International has filed an “anti-SLAPP” suit in the Netherlands against Energy Transfer after a North Dakota jury found Greenpeace liable and ordered roughly $660 million in damages; separately, California’s attorney general and environmental groups sued ExxonMobil over alleged contributions to plastic pollution in September 2024.

  • Main action: Greenpeace International filed an anti-SLAPP case in the Netherlands against Energy Transfer after a North Dakota jury found Greenpeace liable for defamation, property damage, and civil conspiracy and ordered roughly $660 million in damages; the author frames this as an attempt to escape responsibility following the domestic verdict.
  • Background and additional details: In September 2024California’s attorney general and environmental groups sued ExxonMobil over single-use plastics despite ExxonMobil’s claims it does not manufacture single-use plastics and has processed more than 60 million pounds of plastic waste into raw materials; the piece also references a 2024 YouGov poll showing 73% of voters rank price and availability of energy as top concerns and warns that litigation could hinder energy supply needed for AI-driven data centers.
• Dec 11, 2025

  United States Cloud Computing Provider Using Nvidia AI Chips $44 Billion CoreWeave Issues $2.25 Billion Convertible Bonds (1.75% Convertible Senior Notes Due 2031) at $215.60 Per Share Representing +150% Premium to Last Reported Sale Price (8/12/25: $86.24)

  CoreWeave announced issuance of $2.25 billion convertible senior notes due 2031 and earlier announced a $9 billion all-share acquisition of Core Scientific.

  • Main announcement: CoreWeave will issue $2.25 billion of convertible bonds (1.75% convertible senior notes due 2031) convertible at $215.60 per share, stated to represent a +150% premium to the last reported sale price (8/12/25: $86.24). The issuance date reported 11th December and the note maturity is 2031.
  • Background and related actions: In 10 July 2025 filings/announcements CoreWeave agreed to buy Core Scientific for $9 billion in an all-share transaction (reported +66% premium to unaffected close 25/6/25: $12.30). Other verifiable details: CoreWeave IPO on Nasdaq in April 2025, raised $1.5 billion in the IPO; previous financing and investor activity includes reported talks at $16 billion valuation (Mar 2024), reported Cisco investment at $23 billion valuation (Oct 2024), reported Blackstone $7.6 billion loan default issues (2024–2025), and planned/reported IPO raises of $2.5–4 billion in 2025 in press reports.
• Dec 2, 2025 · RMI

  The Five Types of Electro-Industrial States

  Rocky Mountain Institute presents a typology classifying US states into five electro-industrial archetypes.

  • Main announcement/action: RMI authors classify states into five archetypes — Momentum Hubs (Arizona, California), Fast‑Track Builders (Texas, Georgia, South Carolina, Florida, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Ohio, Idaho), Policy Champions (New York, Michigan, Virginia, Oregon, Washington, North Carolina, Wisconsin, Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania), Open‑Door Starters (Vermont, Wyoming, Nebraska, Kansas, North Dakota, South Dakota, Mississippi, Iowa), and Early‑Stage Starters (Missouri, New Hampshire, Kentucky, Maine, Alabama, Louisiana, Indiana, West Virginia, Montana, Arkansas). The typology is based on policy reliability, regulatory ease, economic capacity, physical infrastructure (power and interconnection), and market momentum.
  • Background and details: The analysis highlights that market momentum and policy reliability should operate in tandem; low regulatory burdens accelerate short-term investment but may strain local housing and infrastructure without accompanying policy ambition. The authors reference the report GREASE Lightning as a policy playbook for designing investment-led, state-driven electro-industrial strategies.
• Dec 1, 2025

  Hurricanes in 2024 led to the most hours without power in the United States in 10 years

  U.S. Energy Information Administration reports that U.S. electricity customers experienced an average of 11 hours of electricity interruptions in 2024, nearly twice the annual average of the previous decade.

  • Main finding: The EIA’s Electric Power Annual 2024 shows U.S. customers averaged 11 hours of interruptions in 2024; Hurricanes Beryl, Helene, and Milton accounted for 80% of hours without electricity, and interruptions attributed to major events averaged nearly 9 hours in 2024 versus nearly 4 hours (2014–2023). The report uses industry metrics SAIDI and SAIFI to characterize outages.
  • Details & state impacts: The report cites South Carolina averaged nearly 53 hours without power in 2024; Hurricane Beryl left 2.6 million Texas customers without power (July), Hurricane Helene left 5.9 million customers across 10 states (with at least 1.2 million in South Carolina), and Hurricane Milton left 3.4 million Florida customers without power; Hawaii averaged 4.4 interruptions, while several states (Arizona, South Dakota, North Dakota, Massachusetts) averaged less than 2 hours of interruptions.