Last updated: August 25, 2026
Data Center Land in North Dakota (ND)
North Dakota's data center story so far is really one project: Applied Digital's roughly $3 billion, 280 MW Polaris Forge II campus near Fargo, backed by a developer-funded substation and transmission line that a rural electric cooperative will own and operate. It's a small but instructive market — and one where who actually delivers your power (investor-owned utility vs. cooperative) matters more than in most states.
⚡ TL;DR — North Dakota Data Center Overview
- • Market stage: newly active, anchored by one major project — Applied Digital's ~$3B, ~280 MW Polaris Forge II campus near Harwood/Fargo
- • Utility landscape: mixed — investor-owned utilities (Xcel Energy, Montana-Dakota Utilities, Otter Tail Power) regulated by the ND PSC, plus member-owned rural electric cooperatives serving other territory
- • Power delivery example: the Applied Digital site is served by Cass County Electric, part of the Minnkota Power Cooperative family — not one of the investor-owned utilities
- • Infrastructure funding: Applied Digital is covering roughly $75M of a $110M substation-and-powerline project itself, with the co-op owning the completed infrastructure
- • Watch for: local jurisdictional questions — a separate ND data center land dispute near Mandan turned into a public dispute over which county actually had authority
Active North Dakota Activity
- Applied Digital — Polaris Forge II, Harwood/Fargo (primary)
- Applied Digital — stated interest in expanding west
- Ongoing ND PSC review of related transmission siting
Utility & Infrastructure Notes
- Cooperative and investor-owned utility territory both exist in the state
- ND PSC regulates Xcel, MDU, and Otter Tail Power siting and rates
- Developer-funded substation/transmission is a live precedent (Applied Digital)
Site Intake
Have land in North Dakota near transmission or a co-op substation?
Submit it for a confidential data center site review. No obligation.
Your information is reviewed privately. We only use submissions to evaluate potential fit and relevant opportunities.
Grid & Utilities in North Dakota
North Dakota's utility landscape splits between investor-owned utilities — Xcel Energy, Montana-Dakota Utilities, and Otter Tail Power, all regulated by the North Dakota Public Service Commission for siting and rates — and member-owned rural electric cooperatives that serve much of the state's rural territory. The Applied Digital project is the clearest illustration of why that distinction matters: the site is served by Cass County Electric, part of the Minnkota Power Cooperative family, not one of the state's investor-owned utilities. Cooperatives generally operate under different governance and rate-setting processes than investor-owned utilities, which can change how a large-load negotiation actually unfolds. See our interconnection queue guide for how the underlying study process generally works, and confirm which type of utility actually serves your specific parcel before assuming a standard process.
Key Development Considerations
- Applied Digital's approach — funding roughly $75M of a $110M substation-and-transmission project itself, with the local cooperative owning the finished infrastructure — is a real precedent for how a well-capitalized developer can compress timelines on a site that otherwise lacks nearby capacity
- Whether a parcel sits in investor-owned or cooperative utility territory changes who you'd actually be negotiating power terms with, and the two operate under meaningfully different regulatory processes
- A separate North Dakota dispute over land purchase deals near Mandan — where the county said it had no jurisdiction over the transactions — is a reminder to confirm which local government actually has zoning and permitting authority before assuming a standard county process applies
- North Dakota's market is still effectively defined by a single large project; comparable-sale and process data is thin outside the Fargo-Harwood area, so expect more direct negotiation and less standardized process than in established markets
Land Values in North Dakota
With the market effectively anchored by one large project, there isn't a meaningful base of comparable data center land sales across North Dakota yet — a local commercial or agricultural broker comp, or a direct site submission, will tell you far more than any statewide figure. Much of the land that would draw developer interest in North Dakota is farmland or ranchland; if that describes your parcel, our guide to selling farmland to data center developers covers rollback property taxes, water rights, and existing crop lease issues that a generic land-sale guide skips. See also how much power a data center needs and why land near substations matters to value.
General information, not financial or legal advice.
Fiber and Land Fundamentals Beyond the Fargo Metro
One thing that sets North Dakota apart from many other emerging markets: decades of rural telephone cooperative investment have made the state one of the more fiber-rich rural landscapes in the country, which can meaningfully de-risk the connectivity side of a site evaluation outside the immediate Fargo metro. That doesn't substitute for power — see our fiber connectivity requirements guide for why deliverable power still comes first — but it's a genuine advantage relative to states where rural fiber is thin.
Land itself is not the constraint in North Dakota any more than it is in Montana: the state has abundant flat, contiguous acreage, much of it in active agricultural or ranch use, and existing high-voltage infrastructure tied to the state's oil and gas industry in the western part of the state adds another category of potentially useful existing transmission beyond what serves the Fargo-Harwood corridor. As with any early-stage market, a specific parcel's prospects depend far more on confirmed proximity to deliverable capacity than on the state's overall land supply.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is North Dakota an active data center market?
It's newly active, anchored by one large, well-documented project: Applied Digital's Polaris Forge II campus, a roughly $3 billion facility under development near Interstate 29 between Harwood and Fargo, with a power need of about 280 megawatts. Applied Digital has said it's now looking to expand into western North Dakota as well, which suggests the state's pipeline isn't limited to the Fargo area alone. That's a single dominant example rather than a broad multi-developer market like Ohio or Georgia — worth keeping in mind when sizing expectations.
What utility serves North Dakota data center sites?
It depends heavily on location, and this is one of the more distinctive things about the state. North Dakota's investor-owned utilities — Xcel Energy, Montana-Dakota Utilities, and Otter Tail Power — are regulated by the North Dakota Public Service Commission and serve large parts of the state. But the Applied Digital site near Harwood is actually served by Cass County Electric, part of the Minnkota Power Cooperative family — a member-owned rural electric cooperative, not one of the investor-owned utilities. Confirm which type of utility actually serves a specific parcel before assuming standard investor-owned-utility processes apply; cooperative territory can work quite differently.
Who pays for new transmission infrastructure to serve a North Dakota data center?
In the Applied Digital case, the developer is covering the cost directly. Applied Digital is investing roughly $75 million in power system upgrades as part of a $110 million total project, which includes a new substation and a 345kV powerline about 1.74 miles long connecting to existing lines southwest of the site — with Minnkota Power Cooperative owning and operating the resulting infrastructure once built. That's a useful model to understand: rather than waiting on a utility-funded upgrade through a standard queue, a well-capitalized developer can fund the infrastructure itself and hand over ownership to the co-op, which can significantly compress timelines for a well-positioned site.
Are there local land-use or zoning complications specific to North Dakota?
Some, and they're worth knowing about going in. A separate North Dakota data center land dispute — a developer's land purchase deals near Mandan — became a public jurisdictional question when the relevant county stated it had no jurisdiction over the transactions. That's a reminder that data center land deals in North Dakota can run into unsettled questions about which local government actually has zoning or permitting authority, particularly in unincorporated or lightly regulated areas. Confirming which body has jurisdiction over a specific parcel early is worth doing before assuming a standard county-level process applies.
Can I submit land in North Dakota for data center consideration?
Yes. If you own or represent land in North Dakota near existing transmission infrastructure, a rural electric cooperative's service territory, or industrial corridors — inside the Fargo-Harwood area or elsewhere in the state — submit it via our site intake form for a confidential review. No obligation.
Site Intake
Own or represent land in North Dakota?
Submit it for a confidential data center site review. No obligation.
Your information is reviewed privately. We only use submissions to evaluate potential fit and relevant opportunities.
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