2nd Fargo-area data center would use double the power of Harwood site

A data center planned in North Dakota’s Cass County would use nearly twice the power of a data center under construction in the Fargo area. 

Minnesota-based Geronimo Power has filed for a conditional use permit for a data center in Harmony Township, near the Bison Substation north of Mapleton. 

The company also has created a web page about its plans and invited people to discuss the Harmony Energy Park project at its Casselton office and Thursday morning at a cafe in Casselton.

Energy company eyes adding data center west of Fargo

The company describes its planned data center as similar in size to the Applied Digital project near Harwood, north of Fargo. Applied Digital’s Polaris Forge II campus would use up to 280 megawatts of power. 

Geronimo’s project would use 540 megawatts at peak demand, according to the website. 

The data center in Harmony Township would have a similar footprint to the Harwood site, built on 640 acres, according to Geronimo. Construction would take two to four years. 

“Filing the permit application starts the process of discovery to see if a data center makes sense for the community,” Geronimo says on its Harmony Energy Park web page. “What we ask is that the project is given a fair and transparent public review, where the community has the opportunity to hear the facts and participate in that process.” 

Geronimo says peak water demand would be 20,000 gallons per day. It would use a closed-loop system cooling system, similar to a car radiator. 

The company says the data center would be powered by new electricity generation. Existing power customers in the area would be protected from rate increases under a plan submitted by Otter Tail Power. The plan for what is called a large load tariff is under review by the North Dakota Public Service Commission.

The Harmony Energy Park site includes a 200-megawatt solar farm that Geronimo is building next to the Bison Substation. It also wants to add a 200-megawatt battery storage facility at the site. 

Harmony Township resident Dustin Burchill spoke at a community meeting in Casselton on Sept. 15. He cited a second Geronimo solar project, which PSC documents show as being 4 miles northeast of Casselton. 

A proposal for a 500-megawatt wind farm northwest of Casselton also has been filed with the PSC, though Geronimo said it is not part of the data center project.

Other potential energy projects include a power line from the Bison Substation to Hankinson and the Bakken East natural gas pipeline.

“They’re setting up the Casselton-Mapleton area as a major energy hub,” Burchill said. 

Burchill on Sept. 22 became chair of the Harmony Township Board of Supervisors, which faces questions about zoning changes that were made.

Burchill says township officials are awaiting an opinion from the township’s attorney on whether a conflict of interest involving former township supervisor Tom Roden might nullify zoning changes. A phone number for Roden Farms gave a busy signal multiple times all afternoon Tuesday.  

Roden had agreed to sell land to Geronimo Power for the data center site but didn’t disclose that deal when voting on the ordinance changes, The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead reported. 

Burchill said zoning changes included changing allowable noise levels and removing some nonresidential buildings, such as farm shops, from within the 1-mile setback area, making it easier to site a data center. 

The Harmony board meets next on Oct. 20. 

That same week, on Oct. 23, the PSC is holding a hearing in Casselton on the Harmony battery storage project. 

Reach North Dakota Monitor deputy editor Jeff Beach at [email protected]