South Dakota Data Center Intel

Recent South Dakota data center news

• 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 4, 2025

  With new locations in Brandon, Beresford, company finds growing market in modular data center industry

  Thermo Bond Buildings announced expansion to Beresford and a new location in Brandon, South Dakota, and expects to add more than 50 jobs in 2026.

  • Expansion and hiring: Thermo Bond is expanding operations into Beresford and moved into Encore Park in Brandon (repurposed former Hegg Modular building); the company expects to add more than 50 jobs in 2026 and has grown to more than 600 employees, including 200+ new jobs in the Sioux Metro area in the past year.
  • Background and operations details: Founded in 1987 in Elk Point to serve wireless and telecom, Thermo Bond builds precast concrete modular data center shelters (typical unit 12-by-36-feet, hurricane-resistant) and a lightweight non-concrete shelter; plants operate in Elk Point, SD and Elkhart, IN.
    • Event: Sioux Metro Growth Summit — Dec. 9, 8:00 a.m.–4:30 p.m., Sanford Event Barn, Sioux Falls; subject/agenda: “Energizing Tomorrow” (deep dive into energy/data infrastructure opportunities).
• 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.
• Oct 6, 2025

  Xcel, Sparkfund Propose Battery Storage Network Across Minnesota

  Xcel Energy has proposed under its CapacityConnect plan to install up to 200 MW of distributed battery storage across Minnesota by 2028, in partnership with Sparkfund.

  • Deployment details: The proposal targets up to 200 MW by 2028, with individual host sites sized 1 MW to 3 MW (approx. shipping-container scale) located at local businesses, commercial or industrial sites, or nonprofit organizations; hosts receive direct payments and Xcel will operate each battery to charge when energy is inexpensive and dispatch during peak demand.
  • Context and implementation: The procurement supports Xcel’s Upper Midwest Energy Plan (which calls for 600 MW of storage by 2030); Xcel will file the proposal with the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission, scale deployments in collaboration with Sparkfund, prioritize local workers, comply with Xcel’s labor standards, and review performance, costs, and customer experience as the program grows.
• Apr 14, 2025

  Minnesota lawmakers squabble over data centers, possible environmental impacts

  Minnesota lawmakers have debated a bipartisan bill to change the permitting processes for data centers in the state, pushed by Sen. Andrew Mathews. The bill aims to loosen restrictions on generator permits, currently limited to emergency use. This has raised concerns among Democrats about potential environmental impacts and the influence of large corporations like Amazon, Microsoft, and Meta. Some lawmakers propose legislation to regulate water use and enforce a 65% carbon-free energy supply for data centers, emphasizing the growing energy demands and water usage they entail.

• Feb 5, 2025 · Telborg

  Black Hills Corp. Reports 2024 Fourth-Quarter and Full-Year Results and Initiates 2025 Earnings Guidance | Black Hills Service Company, LLC

  US-based Black Hills Corp. reported its 2024 financial results, highlighting a 4.3% growth in EPS to $3.91. The company increased its five-year capital forecast by 10% to $4.7 billion for 2025-2029, with $1.0 billion allocated for 2025. Significant investments include $350 million for the Ready Wyoming electric transmission expansion project and $118 million for system investments in Kansas Gas. The company also announced new annual revenues from rate reviews: $15 million for Iowa Gas, $25 million for Arkansas Gas, $20 million for Colorado Gas, and $14 million for Wyoming Gas. Black Hills Corp. continues to focus on regulatory and growth initiatives, with a strong commitment to infrastructure investment.

• Jan 30, 2025

  National Grid Renewables Announces Start of Operations at Two Solar Projects in Southern Minnesota

  US-based National Grid Renewables has announced the start of operations at its Fillmore County Solar (45 MW) and Louise Solar (50 MW) projects, which are located in Southern Minnesota. Together, these projects will deliver a combined 95 megawatts of clean, homegrown solar power. Xcel Energy has executed power purchase agreements for both projects, contributing to Xcel’s commitment to deliver 100% carbon-free electricity by 2050. The projects are anticipated to avoid more than 2 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions over their first 20 years of operation.