An electric transmission substation in Bismarck on April 17, 2026. (Photo by Michael Achterling/North Dakota Monitor)BISMARCK, N.D. (North Dakota Monitor) — North Dakota electricity rates are the lowest in the country. The six candidates vying for two seats on the state agency that regulates utilities have different ideas on how to keep it that way. The two incumbents, Jill Kringstad…
HARWOOD, ND – MAY 06, 2026: Construction workers working at the Applied Digital Data Center site in Harwood, N.D.BISMARCK, N.D.(North Dakota Monitor) — Data center development is a growing area of concern in North Dakota and has become an issue in the election for two seats on the Public Service Commission, the agency that regulates energy infrastructure in the state….
HARWOOD, ND – MAY 06, 2026: Construction workers working at the Applied Digital Data Center site in Harwood, N.D.BISMARCK, N.D. (North Dakota Monitor) — Tech corporations are coming to North Dakota farm fields to build massive, resource-intensive computer warehouses that feed artificial intelligence. But with minimal public oversight, residents and local governments are struggling to manage the rapid infrastructure sprawl….
A wind turbine is pictured east of Wilton in central North Dakota. (Photo by Kyle Martin/For the North Dakota Monitor)GLEN ULLIN, N.D. (North Dakota Monitor) — The public will get a chance to comment on a Morton County wind farm and powerline project. The North Dakota Public Service Commission has set a public hearing for 10 a.m. May 18 at…
Cranes work to position concrete panels at the site of the future Applied Digital data center near Harwood, North Dakota, on March 4, 2026. (Photo by Jeff Beach/North Dakota Monitor)HARWOOD, N.D. (North Dakota Monitor) – The North Dakota Public Service Commission has approved a power project to serve a data center that is under construction north of Fargo. The $110…
Commissioners Jill Kringstad, right, and Randy Christmann listen to testimony April 2, 2026, at a Public Service Commission hearing in Fargo, North Dakota. (Photo by Jeff Beach/North Dakota Monitor)BISMARCK, N.D. (North Dakota Monitor) — North Dakota Public Service Commission on Wednesday approved a temporary variance allowing preliminary construction activities to proceed for power projects to serve a data center north…
North Dakota Supreme Court Chief Justice Lisa Fair McEvers, left, asks a question during oral arguments at the North Dakota State Capitol on April 2, 2026. At right is Justice Doug Bahr. The court has been asked to hear arguments in a case over a proposed powerline. (Pool photo by Tanner Ecker/Bismarck Tribune)BISMARCK, N.D. (North Dakota Monitor) — With a…
Minnkota Power executive Brendan Kennelly speaks with an attendee of a Public Service Commission hearing in Fargo, North Dakota on a powerline project north of the city. (Photo by Jeff Beach/North Dakota Monitor)FARGO (North Dakota Monitor) — The cost of the powerline and substation needed by a data center north of Fargo has risen from $75 million to $110 million,…
A residential natural gas meter from Northern State Power, now part of Xcel Energy. (Photo by Jeff Beach/North Dakota Monitor)FARGO (North Dakota Monitor) — Natural gas customers of Xcel Energy in North Dakota will see their rates go up more than 10% on April 1. The North Dakota Public Service Commission on Wednesday approved an interim rate increase while a…
MINOT, N.D. (KVRR) — The Democrat who lost to Julie Fedorchak for North Dakota’s lone U.S. House seat in 2024 is running against her again. In his campaign release, Trygve Hammer said, “Right now we have no voice in Congress”. Hammer is a retired Marine, former educator and oil field roughneck and current political columnist. He says the issues they…
