Summary — HB 1427 (North Dakota) — Public Service Commission authority over data center siting (Withdrawn)
Status
- Bill number: HB 1427
- Title (short): Amend and reenact sections 49‑22‑02, 49‑22‑03, 49‑22‑07, 49‑22‑07.2, 49‑22‑08, 49‑22‑08.2, 49‑22‑09, 49‑22‑09.2, 49‑22‑14, 49‑22‑16, 49‑22‑20, 49‑22‑21, 49‑22‑22, 49‑22‑24, 49‑22‑25 NDCC — authorize Public Service Commission to regulate siting compatibility for data centers; provide a penalty.
- Introduced: Nov 20, 2024
- Recent procedural notes (from provided record): Read 1st time 2025‑03‑11; referred to Public Education. Overall status shown as: Withdrawn from further consideration.
- Source: Text excerpt from the bill (House Bill No. 1427, 69th Legislative Assembly)
Purpose / Intent
- To add "data centers" (and related operations such as data mining and energy‑consuming expansions) to North Dakota’s existing siting and routing statutory framework that currently covers energy conversion and transmission facilities. The bill seeks to require certificates/permits and to give the North Dakota Public Service Commission (PSC) explicit authority to review, approve, and regulate the location, construction, and operation of data centers to minimize adverse environmental and community impacts.
Key provisions (as shown in provided excerpts)
- Policy statement amended to expressly include data centers alongside energy conversion and transmission facilities; no such facility or data center may be located, constructed, or operated without a certificate of site compatibility or route permit under chapter 49‑22.
- Definitions expanded to add a statutory definition of “data center” — a structure (or portion of a structure) that primarily contains electronic equipment used to process, store, or transmit digital information, perform data mining, and that requires environmental control/electrical infrastructure.
- “Construction” definition amended to explicitly cover actions relating to new data centers and to improve or expand an existing data center operation that involves energy consumption.
- Exemption/notification process: parties conducting certain activities within previously permitted geographic locations must certify in writing to the PSC that activities will not affect exclusion areas or will comply with prior siting conditions. If activities are expected to impact an “avoidance area,” the utility or data center must notify the PSC, provide reasons why impact cannot be avoided, and obtain written PSC approval; a PSC failure to act on the notice within 30 days is treated as deemed approval.
- The bill would integrate data centers into other procedural and protection provisions in the chapter (full text truncated in provided materials).
- Provides for a penalty for violations (bill summary indicates a penalty is included, but the provided excerpt does not state the amount/type).
Who would be affected
- Data center developers/operators and prospective data center projects in North Dakota.
- Utilities and transmission project developers where data centers intersect electric infrastructure siting.
- Landowners, local governments, and communities near proposed data center sites (environmental, land‑use, and community impacts).
- The North Dakota Public Service Commission (added duties and review authority), and potentially state environmental and permitting agencies.
Procedural/timeline aspects and uncertainties
- The bill makes certificate/permit approval a prerequisite for siting, construction, or operation of data centers — creating an additional regulatory step prior to development.
- The provided text indicates a 30‑day deemed approval rule for certain notifications to the PSC regarding avoidance‑area impacts.
- The public record provided here is incomplete/truncated; many implementation details, the full range of commission powers, administrative timelines, and the specific penalty language are not included in the supplied excerpt.
- Final status in the supplied materials: withdrawn from further consideration.
Potential impacts (practical effects)
- Increased oversight and permitting requirements for data centers may raise pre‑development compliance costs and project timelines, particularly for sites near environmentally or culturally sensitive “avoidance” areas.
- Could strengthen environmental and land‑use protections by subjecting data center siting to the same state PSC review as large energy facilities and transmission corridors.
- May shift siting decisions, impose mitigation conditions, or influence the location of future data centers in North Dakota.
Note on sources and scope
- This summary is based on excerpts and a mixed record supplied by the user. The full bill text (beyond the provided excerpts) and any committee reports, fiscal notes, or amendment history would be needed to provide a complete legal and fiscal analysis. The specific penalty provision referenced in the bill title/summary was not present in the supplied text.
